In his capacity as board chairman of THAI, finance permanent secretary Lavaron Sangsnit said at a special board meeting held yesterday that the company had taken a major step in moving the organisation forward after some operations had been stalled due to the absence of legally required subcommittees, reports the Bangkok Post.
In line with regulations for large listed companies with a full board of 15 directors, four key subcommittees were appointed: the executive committee, risk management committee, nomination and remuneration committee, and audit committee.
Mr Lavaron said allocating positions was complex because of legal requirements. For instance, all members of the audit committee must be independent directors, with at least three required, and they are barred from holding positions on certain other subcommittees, he noted.
The special meeting also appointed authorised signatories to replace those whose terms had expired or who had left their positions.
The Civil Court had earlier ordered the suspension of certain actions, preventing the appointment of new signatories and causing important corporate transactions to be delayed. Once the court allowed the operations to resume, the company moved swiftly to make the appointments to ensure continuity in executing contractual and legal transactions, said Mr Lavaron.
However, he insisted there was no agenda item regarding the purchase of new aircraft at the meeting.
Referring to the next steps, Mr Lavaron said the company would hold a regular board meeting on Jan 19, followed by a general meeting in February to discuss Thai Airways’ strategy. New professional directors would participate and present their visions to provide a clearer business direction.
"We are preparing for a strategic meeting to lay out the company’s future business direction, with a focus on professionalism and transparency. We believe that establishing a solid governance structure will help build investor confidence and reflect a more positive long-term outlook for the company.
“The ultimate goal of the management team and the new board is to operate professionally, transparently, and generate strong performance so dividend payments can resume, which will ultimately be reflected in investor and shareholder confidence," he said.
Regarding the issue of the company’s creditor cooperative groups that converted debt into equity and are preparing to sell their shares, Mr Lavaron said this is their right, and from Feb 4 there would no longer be any restrictions related to the lock-up period.