Speculation is rife that Industry Minister Chakramon Phasukvanich will be removed from the cabinet, but he has shrugged off the rumours.
However, he hopes Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha will find a replacement who is suited to the job, particularly handling the main task of finding a way to boost the economy. He said any replacement should know how to lead and work alongside government officials and ultimately be forward thinking for the sake of the country.
Early this week, business leaders complained the government's economic team was too slow in tackling the immediate crisis. They also said the government had simply missed the point, so they were unable to address the main issue.
"To be honest, if they want to remove me from the cabinet, I don't have any problem at all. Actually, when they asked me to join I really expected to have a chance to work at the Industry Ministry for about one year, and now it's been a year, so I'm fine with that," Mr Chakramon said.
He said that in his year in office, most of his job involved setting up the system and restructuring some functions and some departments with the aim of addressing corruption.
"For this ministry, I personally see nothing much to worry about, as the significant issues have already been solved, so a newcomer can work here easily going along with the system," Mr Chakramon said.
However, he questioned the reason for the reshuffle.
"If the cabinet reshuffle is due to the slowdown in the economy, who can guarantee the newcomers will be able to turn it around? The slowdown was due to many factors. Some can be controlled, but the world economy is absolutely uncontrollable," he said.
But Mr Chakramon said the most urgent task for anyone in charge of economic affairs must be finding a strong remedy to boost domestic consumption.
"The government believes people still have money in their pockets but don't spend because they're not sure about future income since they see so many depressing factors. The government must find effective measures to boost confidence," he said.