The military junta has removed State Railway of Thailand governor Prapat Chongsanguan in the wake of the rape and murder of a 13-year-old girl on an overnight train.
The decision was announced in the National Council for Peace and Order's (NCPO) Announcement No.89 at about 7pm on Thursday and took immediate effect.
It said the removal was to “ensure orderly administration in the SRT and more appropriateness” and gave no other details.
Mr Prapat has served as SRT governor for a little over a year and is one of the seven directors on the SRT board.
Prapat: Sacked after murder
He has been under mounting pressure to resign after a train staff member, Wanchai Saengkhao, allegedly raped and killed the girl, nicknamed Nong Kaem, on a night train from Surat Thani to Bangkok early on Sunday.
But he said quitting the job could be seen as fleeing the problem and he should remain in office so that there was still someone in charge to give orders and take preventive measures to restore public confidence in the train service.
Mr Prapat’s dismissal came hours after Soithip Traisuth, permanent secretary for transport, revealed that the junta had picked former Thailand Post president Ormsin Chivapruck as new chair of the SRT board of directors.
The NCPO appointed Mr Ormsin on Wednesday but the appointment was only made public by Ms Soithip on Thursday.
Ms Soithip said Mr Ormsin’s appointment was made at the right time to restore public confidence in the SRT and review the governor’s work performance an agenda priority following the high-profile murder.
Before being removed from his position, Mr Prapat announced the SRT would carry out random urine drug and narcotic testing on its employees and deploy staff to patrol train carriages during night hours to ensure safety, staring from today. A committee will be set up to take charge of this task.
On Friday, the SRT will institute a ban on alcohol consumption at stations and onboard the trains.
The SRT will arrange at least one all-female passenger carriage on every overnight train in the next two weeks. Mr Prapas also pledged to review the qualifications and backgrounds of 90 SRT staff who were recruited at the same time as Mr Wanchai.