Scholar backed as new chair

An academic is being put forward as the next State Railway of Thailand (SRT) board chairman.

The move comes after all seven board members resigned as part of a shake-up initiated by Transport Minister Chadchat Suttipunt.

The minister said he would back Boonsom Lerdhirunwong, dean of Chulalongkorn University’s faculty of engineering, to be the new board chairman.

Mr Chadchat will discuss the appointment with Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, but he said he expected the prime minister to approve it, because Mr Boonsom was a former board member and had the necessary qualifications to oversee the SRT.

A list of prospective board members is expected to be tabled for discussion by the cabinet at a meeting next Tuesday.

The change comes after all seven SRT board members led by Soithip Trisuddhi, the deputy permanent secretary for transport, stepped down on July 26.

Mr Chadchat said the resignations were not politically motivated, but that the changes were intended to improve efficiency in the SRT.

The SRT is largely involved in structural work and it needs a professional engineer to help the agency, he added.

‘‘The change is designed to put the right person in the right job. There is no personal conflict,’’ the minister said, praising the former chairwoman for her work.

One potential candidate to join Mr Boonsom on the new board is Chula Sukmanop, director-general of the Office of Transport and Traffic Policy and Planning. This is because he is already in charge of transport project blueprints, the minister added.

The new board members will restructure the SRT to improve efficiency, adjust revenue-generating schemes and develop plans to build mass transit links and twin tracks across the country, he added.

Ms Soithip said the mass resignation was not unusual and would clear the way for an entirely new board.

Mr Chadchat is an alma mater of Chulalongkorn’s faculty of engineering.