The State Enterprises Policy Commission or superboard yesterday gave a mandate for seven loss-ridden state enterprises including embattled Thai Airways International (THAI) to launch rehabilitation plans next month.
The superboard, which met yesterday and was chaired by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, will hold executives, management teams and staff of ailing state enterprises jointly responsible if their rehabilitation plans fail to get off the ground by next March.
However, the meeting did not elaborate on what action would be taken against them.
THAI yesterday submitted to the superboard its short-term "quick win" plan to cut expenses by 3 billion baht in the fourth quarter.
Ekniti Nitithanprapas, director-general of the State Enterprise Policy Office, said THAI needed to cut more unnecessary expenses and retain an appropriate number of employees.
The national carrier had been instructed to propose the short-term plan to the superboard this month.
Finance Minister Apisak Tantivorawong said THAI's rehabilitation plan looked good, but there could still be some problems in implementation.
Gen Prayut said THAI executives should tell its employees the truth about the airline's current financial status and how all staff should cooperate with management to execute the rehabilitation plan and enable the carrier to stay afloat.
"All executives, management teams and employees should together take responsibility if the company fails to implement the rehabilitation plan," Gen Prayut told the meeting.
He said the Finance and Transport ministries should also reconsider a long-term plan for THAI after the short-term measures had been implemented.
The State Railway of Thailand (SRT) was also ordered to rev up preparation of its land development plan for its non-core business.
It must propose the plan to the superboard this month.
The SRT was told to earmark its plots in Bangkok to establish a marketplace to raise proceeds.
The Transport, Interior and Finance ministries were ordered to work jointly on the SRT's business development plan.
The meeting also ordered the Bangkok Mass Transit Authority (BMTA) to propose a rehabilitation plan this month to increase revenue.
The BMTA was also told to speed up its plan to buy 489 natural gas for vehicles (NGV)-compatible buses to cut operating costs.
It was also told to revise its plan to buy another 3,000 NGV buses and instead focus on electric buses.
The Islamic Bank of Thailand was ordered to speed up seeking new partnerships in order to improve its asset management, while the Finance Ministry is committed to maintaining its stake in the bank.
The superboard also acknowledged the rehabilitation plans of TOT Plc and CAT Telecom but noted that the latter was very late in implementing its plan.
However, it lauded the Small and Medium Enterprise Development Bank of Thailand for implementing its rehabilitation plan on schedule.