Somyot Poompunmuang, president of the Football Association of Thailand (FAT), on Friday dashed any hopes that Thailand caretaker coach Sirisak Yodyardthai may have harboured for a full-time role.
Pol Gen Somyot's announcement came hot on the heels of the War Elephants' 1-0 victory over the China Cup hosts on Thursday night that took the Thais to the final.
In Monday's final, Thailand will meet Uruguay who beat Uzbekistan 3-0 on Friday.
China and Uzbekistan will play in the third-place play-off on the same day.
The FAT president lauded Thailand's triumph over Team Dragon but said there were regulations in place that rule out Sirisak's appointment as a full-time coach because he has yet to earn an AFC pro licence.
"Sirisak and his deputy Choketawee [Promrat] have done a good job since the Asian Cup and I admire their contributions, but we have to follow the rules and regulations," said Pol Gen Somyot.
"Moreover, the FAT only granted Sirisak and Choketawee an extension until the end of the China Cup and that is when our commitment ends."
Pol Gen Somyot added that a search was already underway to find a full-time coach for the national team.
"I have had a list of potential candidates for the job in my mind and we did approach some of them. Unfortunately they turned down our offer for varying reasons," he said.
"We have to take into account a number of different factors, but we will increase our efforts to find the right man for the job after the China Cup."
Sirisak was appointed Thailand interim boss after the War Elephants' 4-1 loss to India in the Asian Cup in January which led to the sacking of Serbian coach Milovan Rajevac.
Sirisak then guided the team to the last-16 round before losing 2-1 to China.
Meanwhile, Chanathip Songkrasin, the star of Thailand's victory on Thursday night, is adamant that it was the team effort, and not his personal heroics, that sealed the War Elephants' place in the final of the China Cup.
Consadole Sapporo playmaker Chanathip said before the clash in Nanning that memories of the loss to China in the Asian Cup "still hurt me a lot" and admitted that he had "revenge" on his mind.
The Chinese defenders had trouble in restricting his movements on the pitch and Chanathip was the one who delivered the match-winning goal to the Thais in the 33rd minute.
"It was an exciting match and the thing that helped me put on a good show was the support that I received from my teammates," said Chanathip.
"We had very little time in training together, but throughout 90 minutes, we tried to help one another and were eager to win the match.
"We knew it would be a difficult game for us but we played without any pressure.
"We lost to them in the Asian Cup and we wanted to take revenge. We are very happy we have done that.
"The tournament is not over yet, so we have to continue our hard work and hopefully create a good result in the final as well."
New China coach Fabio Cannavaro, captain of Italy's World Cup-winning side in 2006, said his squad need to accelerate in their development but also stressed there was no quick fix on the horizon.
"No magic can be made in just five days, at least I cannot do that," said Cannavaro.
