On 12 March 2020, Thai Airways President Sumeth Damrongchaitham and Suvarnabhumi International Airport Director Sutheerawat Suwannawat each handed in their resignations, leaving the nation’s airline and its principal gateway without senior executives at a time when COVID‑19 restrictions were wiping out flights and cash flow. Sumeth’s resignation letter, filed after the market closed, spoke of “insurmountable obstacles” in obtaining emergency assistance from the Ministry of Transport.
Sources close to the president said he spent three weeks seeking short‑term credit lines, waivers on landing fees and postponement of aircraft‑lease payments, only to have each request returned without comment. A senior Thai Airways pilot, speaking anonymously, warned that the carrier was burning roughly two billion baht each week while about 70 percent of its network remained grounded, and that Sumeth could no longer “keep begging for help that never arrives.” The airline entered 2020 with a net loss of 12 billion baht for 2019 and liquidity sufficient for barely 90 days of operation.
By early March, Beijing had barred foreign carriers, Japan imposed quarantine on Thai arrivals, and the EU was preparing travel bans that would cut off the airline’s most profitable long‑haul routes. Since taking the helm in 2018, Sumeth, a marketing veteran, had negotiated wage deferrals with unions and parked 38 of the fleet’s 103 aircraft in desert storage to curb maintenance costs.
Yet a cascade of government edicts that closed entire markets faster than the airline could rebook passengers overwhelmed those measures. Sutheerawat’s departure followed a 7 March incident in which 80 Thai labourers, deported from South Korea, evaded health screening at Suvarnabhumi and left the airport in taxis. Health officials later located 75 of them, with four testing positive for COVID‑19.
Airports of Thailand (AoT) president Nitinai Sirismatthakarn said Sutheerawat resigned “to take personal responsibility for the breach.” The episode came after a leaked memo revealed the airport’s request for 200 soldiers and health volunteers to staff exit gates, a request the defence ministry reportedly met with an offer of only 30 personnel. According to an overnight security officer, screening teams were instructed to process 1,400 passengers from a single Korean flight with just three functional thermal scanners.
“The passengers walked past an unmanned checkpoint while police argued over whose job it was to stop them,” the officer, who asked not to be named, said. Sutheerawat, a long‑time AoT executive who oversaw a 30 billion‑baht terminal expansion, had publicly clashed with the army‑led Centre for COVID‑19 Situation Administration over whether military or civilian staff should control access doors. Sources in the transport ministry confirmed he sent three urgent letters asking for reinforcements the week before the breach, none of which received a formal reply.
The resignations have unfolded against a silence from Prime Minister Prayuth Chan‑o‑cha’s administration. Transport Minister Saksayam Chidchob cancelled a scheduled briefing on 13 March and redirected queries to the ministry’s permanent secretary, who declined interviews.
The leadership void adds to industry anxiety: Thai Airways directly employs about 22,000 people and supports an estimated 180,000 tourism‑related jobs, while Suvarnabhumi handled 65 million passengers in 2019 but saw a 45 percent drop in the first week of March, according to AoT data. Aviation analyst Korsak Chairasmisak of Kasikorn Research Center warned that the airport’s revenue could halve in Q2 if border controls persist, and that losing both the airline chief and airport director “signals to creditors and insurers that governance is unraveling,” raising refinancing risk premiums for Thai carriers. Market reaction was swift.
Thai Airways shares slid 15 percent on 13 March to a record low of 6.15 baht, and AoT stock fell 11 percent. Bondholders dumped the airline’s 2023 notes, pushing yields above 11 percent.
Inside the airline’s head office near Chatuchak Park, staff were told on 13 March that unpaid‑leave letters would be issued the following week. A flight attendant with 18 years of service described morale as “the worst since the 1997 crash.” Cabin crew have already accepted a 25 percent pay cut through September; ground staff anticipate similar concessions. At Suvarnabhumi, contract cleaners and baggage handlers staged a protest outside Terminal 1 on 14 March after learning that up to 3,000 outsourced jobs could be eliminated by May, with no severance promised.
“We were told the virus is force majeure, so there will be no severance, but we still have to pay rent,” said 42‑year‑old cargo loader Somsak Rerkwichian. The Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand has pledged a 2 billion‑baht relief package to waive navigation and safety fees for six months, yet airlines argue this amount is insufficient against fixed costs such as US‑dollar‑denominated aircraft leases.
BAR‑THAI estimates that Thai carriers could collectively lose 130 billion baht in 2020 if travel bans extend beyond June. The twin resignations have reignited calls to privatise Thai Airways, which remains 48 percent state‑owned. Former finance minister Korn Chatikavanij remarked that the airline has long been a political tool and that a bankruptcy court and independent management might be the only path to rescue it. Parliament is expected to debate an emergency loan package when it reconvenes in early April.
Until decisive leadership returns, check‑in counters remain closed, runways lie quiet, and aviation workers await a clear direction.
