Thai government fires Thai Airways CEO for 'damaging tourism image'

The CEO of Thailand's national airline was forced out due to disruptions in passenger flights and delayed baggage handling during the recent floods in Bangkok.

According to Thai public broadcaster Thai PBS and Bloomberg News on the 3rd (local time), the board of directors of Thai Airways, the national airline of Thailand, recently dismissed CEO Chai Iamsiri.

Minister of Tourism and Sports Surasak Pancharnworakun explained that Thai Airways' response to the crisis during the Bangkok floods had damaged Thailand's tourism image and requested the Ministry of Finance, Thai Airways' largest shareholder, to convene an emergency board of directors meeting.

Thai Airways also announced in a notice submitted to the Stock Exchange of Thailand the previous day that it had suspended CEO Tsai and appointed director Sumrit Somning as acting CEO.

Afterwards, former CEO Tsai explained to reporters that he was dismissed immediately after his suspension.

He said he had not been given specific reasons for the board's decision and thought it had something to do with the poor flood response process.

He joined Thai Airways in 1985 and took office as CEO of Thai Airways in February 2023. However, he resigned from his position three months before the expiration of his four-year term in January next year.

According to Thailand's Department of Disaster Prevention and Management (DDPM), 24 people have died in Bangkok and Sa Kaewu due to flooding caused by heavy rain since the 16th of last month.

In Bangkok, where four people died, heavy rain exceeding 330 mm fell from the 24th to the 27th of last month, flooding many parts of the city, and was declared a disaster area. 330 mm is equivalent to the rainfall for the entire month of September.

On the 27th of last month, Thai Airways crews were unable to get to work on time due to flooding, which delayed two flights to Korea for more than 10 hours, and hundreds of Koreans had to stay up all night at Suvarnabhumi International Airport.

Thai Airways' flight to Korea was delayed until the next day, and about 5,600 pieces of baggage were not properly processed at the airport and were left abandoned for a while.

AFP news agency reported that 24 Thai Airways passenger flights were canceled on the 1st and 2nd.

Thai Airways apologized to passengers who experienced inconvenience due to the flight disruption and promised to improve management procedures in the future.