A heart-stopping crisis: How Prof Sarana shook Thai telecoms

Sarana Boonbaichaiyapruck’s disqualification as chief of Thailand’s telecom regulator has raised legal doubts over decisions made during his tenure, including his vote that paved the way for Southeast Asia’s largest telecoms merger.

The Senate committee overseeing selection of the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) decided unanimously on July 17 that Professor Sarana had breached his employment terms by continuing as a physician at Ramathibodi Hospital after joining the commission in January 2022.

The NBTC Act requires commissioners to work full-time and bars them from holding other paid positions. Successful candidates must resign from their previous posts within 15 days of being appointed to the NBTC.

The selection committee, chaired by Supreme Court judge Kiattipong Amatayakul, disqualified Sarana for failing to meet that deadline.

The decision came after it reviewed Sarana’s tax records, which showed income he earned as a temporary physician after taking office at the NBTC.

Right to appeal

Sarana, 66, argued that he had quit as a permanent physician on January 8, 2022, but was duty-bound to honour his scheduled medical appointments while waiting for royal endorsement as an NBTC member.

The renowned cardiologist explained this existing caseload included patients requiring cardiac catheterisation and balloon angioplasty.

He said that following royal endorsement in April 2022, he focused on his role as NBTC commissioner and chairman while also serving as an unpaid volunteer doctor at Ramathibodi Hospital.

Sarana was appointed chairman after a vote by fellow NBTC commissioners appointed earlier that year.

He currently remains in that post, with the Senate panel stating it has no authority to remove him from office. Instead, it is forwarding the disqualification ruling to Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, who will decide whether to seek royal endorsement for the NBTC chairman’s removal.

Sarana has the right to appeal the committee’s decision at the Administrative Court within 90 days.

As of July 22, the NBTC website still listed Sarana as its chairman but had added fellow commissioner, General Sukit Khamasundara, as acting chairman.

Controversial decision

In October 2022, Sarana played a decisive role in the controversial NBTC ruling that cleared the path for a merger between True Corporation and Total Access Communication (DTAC). The plan to combine True’s 32.2 million subscribers and DTAC’s 19.6 million was described as Southeast Asia’s largest telecom and mobile operator merger.

However, critics and consumer watchdogs said it would severely damage industry competition and lead to higher costs for citizens.

The vote on whether the NBTC had the power to block the union of the two major mobile operators was initially split 2:2 with one commissioner abstaining.

Sarana exercised his power as chairman and cast the deciding vote, which ruled that the NBTC had no power to reject the merger. His move led many to question his legal authority in effectively greenlighting the multibillion-baht merger.

A former cardiologist

Born on January 6, 1960, Sarana earned his degree in medicine at Chulalongkorn University in 1983 before attending medical training in the US.

He completed his residency in internal medicine at the University of Southern California in 1986, followed by a cardiology fellowship at Kaiser Foundation Hospital in Los Angeles two years later.

He was later certified as a diplomate by the American Board of Internal Medicine and the American Board of Cardiovascular Disease. In 1993, he earned Thai Medical Council certification as a cardiac specialist.

Sarana launched his career as a cardiologist in 1992 at Ramathibodi Hospital. He also served as director at multiple private companies, as well as the Government Pharmaceutical Organisation.

Following the May 2014 military coup, he was appointed to the National Legislative Assembly (NLA) – which replaced the elected House of Representatives dissolved during the power seizure.

He served in the assembly until 2019, when elections were restored after five years of junta rule. Sarana joined NLA committees on public health and energy, serving as head of a health subcommittee.