Finance Minister Ekniti Nitithanprapas is set to convene an urgent board meeting over employee protests demanding the resignation of Chatchai Sirilai, president of the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC).
Mr Ekniti, also deputy prime minister and chairman of the BAAC board, said on Tuesday the meeting would be held this week to consider complaints about Mr Chatchai's management following a protest by employees demanding fairness in the bank's administration.
"I sent a representative to receive the letter of complaint, and as chairman I must bring the matter before the board so we can act proactively and ensure fairness to all parties in accordance with the review process," he said.
About 500 BAAC employees, led by the state enterprise labour union, staged a symbolic protest on Monday. They held signs bearing the hashtag #SaveBAAC and called on senior management, particularly the president, to take responsibility for problems within the organisation.
The gathering grew tense as employees criticised the management approach and urged executives to address problems affecting staff and the bank's operations. They also called on Mr Chatchai to consider stepping down.
The union submitted eight demands to the finance minister, including the immediate suspension of Mr Chatchai and an investigation into allegations of excessive and inappropriate spending.
It also sought an assessment of whether spending on BAAC procurement projects represented value for money. The union said the spending ran counter to efforts to control expenses at regional offices and had affected customer services.
The union urged the minister not to renew Mr Chatchai's contract for a second term, saying his management approach was unsuitable for overseeing the agricultural sector.
It also called for an investigation into senior executives accused of making disparaging comments and failing to serve retail depositors adequately. Serving such customers should be a core BAAC responsibility, including through policies encouraging broad and sustainable saving with the bank, it said.
The union further sought an investigation into concerns that funds or benefits received from insurance companies may have been managed off the balance sheet and outside BAAC's accounts.
Mr Chatchai allegedly interfered with the work of the subcommittee responsible for considering appeals.
