BANGKOK, June 21 – The former president of Thailand’s flag carrier Thai Airways International (THAI) has filed suit at the Central Labour Court in Bangkok charging that the company’s board unfairly removed him as president and chief executive officer, and is seeking compensation of Bt10 million or reinstatement.
The THAI board of directors resolved on May 21, with 12 of its 13 members voting, to terminate Piyasvasti Amranand’s employment contract, effective this month, and to compensate him with six months of his then current salary. The compensation was estimated at Bt6 million.
Citing communication problems as the main reason, board chairman Ampon Kittiampon explained that the panel made its dismissal decision despite Mr Piyasvasti passing his performance assessment with a high score.
Piyasvasti said that the main reason for petitioning the court is that he wants the state enterprise to have a high standard and good governance, particularly because THAI is a listed company.
He said that the THAI board citing communication problems and the differences regarding the procurement of new 38 aircraft as reasons for his contract termination were not clear enough because his key performance indicator (KPI) evaluation was 87 per cent and that THAI profits were Bt3.6 billion during the 1st quarter of 2012.
He could not confirm whether there was political motivation involved in his removal, but the THAI board chairman himself must clarify the decision to the public, otherwise reinstate him to his former positions.
The court set his first hearing on July 24 at 1pm.
