THE sudden death of the chairman of Thai International Airways, Pandit Bunyapana, on Thursday has unexpectedly provided the air force with an opportunity to regain some control of the struggling airline.
The company's first-vice-chairman, Air Chief Marshal Gun Pimarntip, temporarily succeeds Mr Pandit who was permanent secretary at the Ministry of Finance, Thai International's majority shareholder.
Marshal Gun is now in a stronger position to decide who replaces the carrier's president, the respected professional Chatrachai Bunya-ananta who retires at the end of December.
Also manoeuvring for control of the airline is the Ministry of Transport and Communications.
Thai International had been a fiefdom of the air force - taking both chairman and president positions - until late last year when the then chairman, Air Chief Marshal Kaset Rojananil, was removed for the part he played in trying to keep a military junta in power.
Marshal Gun has said the new president should come from the air force and had threatened to resign in February, saying the air force had been sidelined from any part in running the airline.