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Today, I made a difficult decision regarding @ThaiAirways. But it’s one that I know is in the best interests of every member of the public and of our country.
Today, I made a difficult decision regarding @ThaiAirways. But it’s one that I know is in the best interests of every member of the public and of our country.
I had three choices: find more money for Thai Airways; or, let it go bankrupt; or, refuse to finance Thai Airways, but put it into court-supervised rehabilitation. I decided on the third option.
In this time of crisis when everyone’s livelihood is being destroyed by the Covid catastrophe, we need to keep the nation’s money to help the public in the months ahead: to help farmers, SMEs, the self-employed, and everyone else trying to earn an honest living.
We’ve made good progress in controlling the health crisis. But, the Covid crisis is also a financial crisis that’s destroying the livelihoods of everyone and we still don’t know how much worse it will get.
That’s why I must save the people’s money for future programmes that directly help them survive and then rebuild their lives, and the country’s economy.
Let’s think about why we have Thai Airways? Thai Airways exists to build our country’s reputation and support the prosperity of Thais. For that, it needs to stand on its own feet and compete globally. That is the basis on which I made my decision.
Under this court-supervised rehabilitation process Thai Airways may continue to fly and its staff still be employed but without the government putting in more money. Importantly, it will now be able to start a much-delayed restructuring.
The court will appoint professionals to supervise its rehabilitation and restructuring in a professional way. I hope that we may see again an airline that Thais can be proud about, and which can contribute to the prosperity of Thailand.
