Thailand’s two state telcos TOT Corporation and CAT Telecom will be merged and have been ordered to cut costs by 10% immediately.
Thailand’s cabinet of ministers has approved a state enterprise restructuring plan put forward by the new state enterprise superboard that focuses on the loss-making state enterprises. The two state telcos have been ordered to merge and redundant business units combined. The plan also orders the two to cut costs immediately by 10%.
The plan also calls for all the state enterprises, including national flag carrier Thai Airways, state railways and two banks, to cut their charity budget by 10% and refocus it on objectives that fit the organisation.
All of the country’s 56 state enterprises were ordered to be more transparent and adopt best practices in corporate governance. Specifically the plan calls for non-executive independent directors to be appointed to their boards of directors while at the same time ordering board member pay to be cut to reasonable levels.