Gen Yodyuth Boonyatikarn has quit as chairman of the Mass Rapid Transit Authority of Thailand (MRTA) board, saying he wants to focus on his role at the National Legislative Assembly (NLA).
He said yesterday the NLA must deliberate numerous pieces of legislation, and as such he would prefer to dedicate his time to this.
Gen Yodyuth Boonyatikarn denies the political motive. (Bangkok Post file photo)
Gen Yodyuth dismissed rumours that he quit as the MRTA's board chairman to pursue an ambition to become transport minister.
He said his resignation will create an opportunity for a new board chairman to step in, which will coincide with the selection of the new MRTA governor.
This will mean both can begin their work together.
Acting MRTA governor Rithika Suparat said Gen Yodyuth's resignation needs to be sent to the Transport Ministry, which would report the matter to the cabinet meeting later.
The authority to select the new board chief rests with the government, in which either the deputy prime minister or the transport minister could propose the name, Mr Rithika said.
Mr Rithika dismissed reports that Gen Yodyuth resigned because of a conflict with senior government figures over the selection of the new MRTA governor, saying this is unlikely to be the case.
An MRTA source said the new board chairman must be appointed quickly as there is a huge backlog of electric train projects, worth hundreds of billions of baht.
These include the Green Line project, where various problems remained unsolved, the source said.
The MRTA, the source said, also needs to lay out commercial development plans for the electric train projects, and to clear areas set aside for the train projects so that construction can get under way, as well as prepare work for the upcoming Spider cards, which will eventually connect ticket payments for all modes of transport in Bangkok.
The source said the MRTA board meeting on Nov 15 is likely to be deferred to December, since the board chairman has stepped down.
Several directors of the board are also about to finish their terms within this month, he noted.
With the postponement, the outcome of the governor selection would be presented at the board meeting either in December or early next year.
There are six applicants for the MRTA governor post, according to the source.
They are MRTA advisers Ronnachit Yaemsaard and Theeraphan Tachasirinugune; MRTA deputy governor for engineering and construction Pakapong Sirikantaramas; former MRTA governor Yongsit Rojsrikul; Sarawut Srisakun, director of Chiang Mai Night Safari; and Krit Thanisarapong.
Meanwhile, the source said a complaint was sent internally to the director of the MRTA's Legal Affairs Department about mistakes committed by a deputy governor in relation to the second contract of the Blue Line electric train extensions from Sanam Chai to Tha Phra.
The source said these mistakes raised the cost of the extensions by hundreds of millions of baht.
