The cabinet will appoint the director-general of the newly-established Rail Department tomorrow, according to a source.
The permanent secretary for transport, Chaiwat Thongkamkoon, had submitted two names to Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak, which would later go to cabinet at its meeting tomorrow, he said.
The source said the administration wants to make sure the department is established before the new government is sworn in.
The candidates whose names were submitted to the deputy premier are Chirute Visalachitra, the current deputy permanent secretary of the Transport Ministry, and Sarawut Songsivilai, currently the director of the Office of Transport and Traffic Policy and Planning (OTP).
That said, both Mr Chirute and Mr Sarawut told the Bangkok Post that they had been unaware of the nomination.
Among the responsibilities of the Rail Department's director-general is to improve the safety and quality of services across Thailand's rail network by using the Key Performance Index (KPI) as a benchmark.
The director-general will also have to keep fares across Bangkok's transit system "fair" -- both for the operators and their customers.
"The department chief must be able to work alongside the private sector, as well as the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, as the capital's mass transit system is a part of the department's responsibility too," the source said.
The department was only recently established on April 15, after it received a royal endorsement with details published in the Royal Gazette.
A legacy of the military-appointed regime, the department functions as both a policymaker and a regulator for the country's rail network.
Over the next 10 years, the department will oversee the government's ambitious plan to develop the 6,000-kilometre rail network across the country.
