BANGKOK, 24 May 2015 – The cabinet has approved three core measures to keep Thai aviation on track to meet The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) standard, hoping to relieve the crisis within ICAO deadline, revealed deputy government spokesman Sansern Kaewkamnerd.
The first measure is to add 48 positions of civil servants holding special and technical expertise to the structure of the Department of Civil Aviation (DCA). The second measure, as suggested by the ICAO, is to improve the structure of civil aviation authorities by clearly separating those in the operational role from others in the regulator’s role.
According to the cabinet resolution, the country’s cilvil aviation service will be divided into four branches. The Transport Ministry remains responsible for aviation policy whereas the Office of National Civil Aviation of Thailand will be established to take the role of regulator. ‘Department of Airports’ will be set up to be responsible for operational affairs, replacing the current DCA. Lastly, the Aircraft Accident Investigative Unit must be independent from the regulator and will report directly to the Office of the Prime Minister.
The third measure is to standardize aviation laws. The cabinet agreed to use Section 44 of the interim constitution in order to speed up the law amendment and ensure the legal changes will be done by deadline of ICAO.
Maj-Gen Sansern said that the government effort to solve the Thai civil aviation problems has considerably progressed. He affirmed that pending the outcome of ICAO considerations, the government will do its best to address the issue.
