Chatumongol Sonakul

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article or section needs to be wikified to meet Wikipedia's quality standards.
Please help improve this article with relevant internal links. (March 2008)

This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards.
Please improve this article if you can. (March 2008)

This article needs additional citations for verification.
Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (March 2008)

Mom Ratchawongse Chatumongol Sonakul is a former Governor of the Bank of Thailand. Chatumongol led the central bank from 1998 to May 2001, when he was dismissed by the Thaksin Shinawatra government over policy conflicts. Afterwards, he became a critic of the government. He noted that under Thaksin's populist policies, "people who got money did not think hard about how to use it. People who got motorcycles became motorcycle taxi drivers. Many got rich. But when more people became motorcycle taxi drivers, they ended up earning just 100 baht [approximately US$3] a day. I used to survey some of those drivers. Many said they would not vote for [Thaksin's] Thai Rak Thai party anymore."^[1]

LIFE STORY

Nicknamed "Tao" (turtle), M.R. Chatumongkol is almost uniformly considered to be the most capable and honest civil servant in modern Thailand. M.R. Chatumongkol is a second generation prince from one of Thailand's most noble families (Sonakul). He is an honors graduate of Cambridge University in England and Harvard University. He rose up through the civil sevice through the Finance Ministry, initially serving as Director-General of the Tax Department. He is regarded as a tax expert, who introduced the 7% Value Added Tax (VAT) to Thailand after the 1997 financial crisis. For the first time, Thailand began to be able to collect taxes through the VAT and generate a surplus. M.R. Chatumongol's next positions were as Deputy Permant Secretary then Permanent Secrtary of the Finance Ministry, the highest permanent position. He was known for his independence, macro views, and incorruptibility. When Thaksin Shinawatra appointed M.R. Chatumongkol to be the Governor of the Bank of Thailand, an independent agency, it was after a period when the BOT's role had been seriously diminished due to the former governors' failed policy to use Thailand's reserves to defend the Baht against attacks from currency speculators led by George Soros. Thailand's reserves were wiped out, forcing the next Finance Minister, Thanong Bidaya, to acquiesce in the IMF's demand that Thailand float the Baht (which resulted in a huge effective devaluation almost in half from its traditional 25 Baht to US$1 peg). Dr. Thaksin and M.R. Chatumongkol had different interest rate policy views. As noted, Thaksin eventually dismissed M.R. Chatumongkol and replaced him with M.R. Pridiyathorn Devakul. In a survey published in The Wall Street Journal at the time, M.R. Chatumongkol had the highest favorable rating among foreign invesors of about 80%. M.R. Chatumongkol had been reported as a leading candidate to be Prime Minister in the English language press after the September 2006 coup d'etat against the Thaksin government. His son, M.L. Apimongkol Sonakul, was elected to be a Democrat Party M.P. in Bangkok in the former seat of Dr. Charoen Kantawongs. Also U.K. educated, the young Apimongkol distinguished himself quickly and became Deputy Party Spokesman for the Democrats. He is polite and soft spoken and very knowledge about energy and science issues.