Prasarn emerges as the front runner for BOT governor as four candidates make their caes; Selection panel to pick two names in the next two days and forward them to Korn
Prasarn Trairatvorakul, president of Kasikornbank, has emerged as the top candidate for the Bank of Thailand (BOT) governor's post after going head to head with three others in the final round.
The three other candidates are Bandid Nijthaworn, BOT deputy governor; Thirachai Bhuvanatnaranubala, secretary general of the Securities and Exchange Commission; and Pisit Leeatham, a former deputy finance minister. All the candidates sat through interviews and made their presentations in front of the search committee yesterday.
The committee, chaired by Snoh Unakul, a former BOT governor, allowed the candidates 30 minutes each to present their ideas on how they were planning to manage the central bank.
Committee member Sompol Kiatpaibul said: "We let the candidates write their own biography, their educational background, their work experience and also their vision on how the BOT should be run. Then we interviewed them and gave each of them an equal time of 30 minutes to tell us about their ideas."
Sompol said the sevenmember committee would cast votes over the next two days before forwarding at least two names to Finance Minister Korn Chatikavanij for final decision. The panel has until June 30 to submit the names.
In their vision presentation, the candidates were required to show their views on how to manage the BOT, run the macroeconomic and monetary policy, supervise the financial institutions and lastly manage the payment system.
Prasarn, who is also chairman of the Thai Bankers' Association, is a Harvard graduate and began his career at BOT before moving on to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and is now serving as president of Kasikornbank. He is well recognised for his intellectual force and integrity.
Bandid, currently the BOT deputy governor, is a favourite candidate among the BOT staff because he is a bona fide insider, spending his entire career at the bank. Besides, he has a broad experience in macroeconomics, monetary policy and financial institution supervision.
Thirachai, secretarygeneral of the SEC, is keen on both bank supervision and capital market development. A chartered accountant with a degree from England, Thirachai spent several years at BOT supervising financial institutions. He is now serving his second term as secretarygeneral of the SEC.
Former deputy finance minister, Pisit, also started out at the Bank of Thailand. A graduate from Erasmus University in Holland, Pisit worked closely with Nukul Prachuabmoh, the former BOT governor, and was later appointed as spokesman of the central bank. He became deputy finance minister and worked side by side with then finance minister Tarrin Nimmanahaeminda to tackle the 1997 financial crisis. In his paper presented to the search committee, Pisit offered an overall macroeconomic view.
Last month, Korn told The Nation that he would pick a name from the search committee's recommendations and present it to the Cabinet for approval.
The CEO of a majorlisted company said: "Prasarn would most likely make it because he is most suitable for the job compared to other candidates."
The CEO of a major commercial bank echoed this view, saying that Prasarn's experience at the central bank, the SEC and at Kasikornbank made him very suitable for the job.
Tarisa Watanagase, the current BOT governor, is due to retire at the end of September and her successor should start working from October 1.
A source said Korn appeared to favour Prasarn over Bandid and Thirachai, though Pisit could turn out to be a surprise candidate.