Bangkok--21 Apr--Aziam Burson-Marsteller
Ratchaburi Electricity Generating Holding PCL (RATCH)’s Board of Directors has approved the appointment of Mr. Narong Sitasuwan as the company’s Managing Director, replacing Mr. Boonchoo Direksathapon. The new appointment takes effect April 21, 2006.
Outgoing Managing Director Mr. Boonchoo assumed leadership of Ratchaburi Holding on April 1, 2000 and served in the post for more than six years. During his tenure, Mr.Boonchoo focused on boosting Ratchaburi Holding’s investments in power generating businesses and related enterprises to increase the company’s revenues. Currently, the company has interests in four power plants, including Ratchaburi Power Plant, Tri Energy’s power plant, Ratchaburi Power’s combined cycle power plant, as well as the Nam Ngum-2 hydropower project in Laos. Ratchaburi Holding’s current total power generation capacity is nearly 4,500 megawatts and the company has total assets of 69.494 billion baht.
In addition to expanding investments, Mr. Boonchoo also introduced efficient expense management methods to increase revenues. Over the past six years, the company has implemented three debt restructuring plans, reducing interest expenses by approximately 5 billion baht.
To mark the end of his leadership at Ratchaburi Holding, Boonchoo said, “I’m very proud to say that Ratchaburi Holding has firmly established itself and today is a sound company marked by good corporate governance. This means we are guided by and observed principles of honesty, fairness and good corporate citizenship to deliver the best value to all our shareholders and stakeholders. These achievements can be attributed to the hard work of all parties involved and I would like to extend my deep appreciation to everyone. I believe that my successor, Khun Narong’s long experience in overseeing power plants will continue to drive the advancement of our company.”
Mr. Narong, Ratchaburi Holding’s incoming Managing Director, is committed to continuing the company’s business mission by focusing on investments in Thailand and neighboring countries. Ratchaburi Holding’s priorities for this year include participating in a new round of IPP bidding for the development of new power plants either at the existing Ratchaburi power plant or at Tri Energy power plant locations and undertaking negotiations to co-invest in 2-3 greenfield power plant projects in Laos.
As the new Managing Director, Narong said, “I realize that my responsibilities to achieve Ratchaburi Holding’s vision and mission will be a challenge. Our mission is to increase investments and offer the best return to shareholders, our employees and society. I’m deeply thankful to Khun Boonchoo for his excellent positioning of the company and I am committed to doing my best to continue the successes.”
Prior to assuming the position, Mr. Narong was Senior Deputy Governor for the Power Generating Group at the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT). With over 30 years of extensive experience in power plant efficiency management, operation and maintenance and fuels for power production, he is locally and internationally recognized as one of Thailand’s premier power production experts.
Narong Sitasuwan, 57, obtained a Master’s Degree in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from the Illinois Institute of Technology and Positioning Utility Executive for Change certification from the University of Idaho in the United States. In addition, he participated and received certificates for two accreditation programs — the Eighth International Training Program on Utility Regulation and the Director Accreditation Program — conducted by the Thai Institute of Directors Association.
For further information, please contact:
Wiwan Phayakvichien or Saowanee Rattanakit
Public Relations Department
Ratchaburi Electricity Generating Holding PCL
Tel: 0 2978 5222-4
Fax: 0 2937 9541