The Secretary-General of CPD reveals it is time to operate on the NBTC, urging the swift election of a new NBTC Chairperson to genuinely perform duties in the public interest of the nation.
Mr. Metha Maskhao, Secretary-General of the Campaign for Democracy Committee (CDC) and coordinator of the Economic Democracy Network, commented on reports that Dr. Sarana may travel to attend the NBTC meeting No. 23/2026 on Monday, 27 July 2026, after flying back from a mission in the United States, because there is a pending agenda item concerning the USO Fund project, and that some staff members would come to offer him moral support.
In reality, Dr. Sarana can no longer attend the meeting and will have to be turned away by the remaining NBTC commissioners, because the selection committee has issued a ruling that is considered final — deeming him to have relinquished his right and to have never previously held the position of NBTC Chairperson. He therefore retains no authority whatsoever to attend meetings, deliberate on any matter, make any appointments, or file any administrative court cases. All that remains is the subsequent ruling on whether Dr. Sarana must return his salary and remuneration — which is estimated to exceed 100 million baht, derived from a monthly salary and opportunity-cost compensation of over 450,000 baht, plus 150,000 baht per month for each of four advisers, not including meeting allowances and the considerable travel expenses incurred on overseas official duties. Several legal experts are of the view that if he had acted in good faith from the outset, the law may have allowed for leniency and he may not have been required to return the salary and remuneration.
The selection committee examined only the issue of Dr. Sarana's employment as an hourly-rate physician between 8 January and 12 April 2022, on the grounds that he had resigned from government employment and was working as an hourly-rate doctor — which revealed that he possessed a prohibited characteristic. He was therefore deemed to have "relinquished his right" before the royal appointment was submitted in accordance with the law. However, in reality, Dr. Sarana had not resigned from his position as a "university employee" before 8 January 2022 as required by the deadline set by the President of the Senate; he remained an employee until 12 April 2022, as confirmed by a letter of certification from Mahidol University issued prior to the royal appointment. This may therefore constitute an additional offence on two counts as reported to the Senate's ICT Committee.
Meanwhile, personal income tax records (P.N.D. 90) from the Revenue Department reveal that Dr. Sarana continued working as an hourly-rate physician at Ramathibodi Hospital after his royal appointment as NBTC Chairperson, earning nearly 1 million baht per year from that source, while his income from private hospitals may have been several times higher.
The damage inflicted on the NBTC has therefore been enormous, regardless of whether Dr. Sarana truly acted in good faith or knew from the outset that he was in violation of the law yet continued to perform overlapping duties even after being royally appointed as NBTC Chairperson. The double-voting deliberations, the exercise of authority to appoint individuals and permanent advisers, and the vote on a business merger that may give rise to a monopoly are all major problems that will require the NBTC to undergo surgery in the future, so that the NBTC can truly perform its duties in the public interest of the nation.
In my view, under Section 20, Paragraph Six of the NBTC Act, while awaiting the Office of the Senate Secretariat to recruit a new NBTC commissioner to replace Dr. Sarana, the six remaining NBTC commissioners must convene a meeting to promptly elect an acting interim chairperson and select a new acting secretary-general, so that there is a legally sound office. The office, through the new acting secretary-general, should then formally notify the Senate and the Prime Minister, while also setting a date for the election of the new NBTC Chairperson in accordance with the law. In the meantime, the NBTC, through the acting interim chairperson, can also appoint an acting deputy secretary-general in order to enter the process of awaiting a structural transition. Once the new NBTC Chairperson has received the royal appointment, the search for a permanent NBTC Secretary-General can then proceed.
As for this coming Monday, 27 July 2026, there are reports that staff and employees reporting for duty on that day will be mobilised to come and offer moral support for Dr. Sarana as he enters the meeting room at 9:00 a.m. I would like to invite those staff and employees reporting for duty on that day to instead join in the surgery on the NBTC, and to go and offer their moral support to the new acting NBTC Chairperson who will be elected at the meeting in his place.
