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Sukavich Rangsitpol (Template:Lang-th RTGS: Sukkhawit Rangsitphon; born 5 December 1935) is a Thai business executive and politician. He served as deputy prime minister (1994, 1996–97) and minister of education (1995–97) of Thailand.

Life and career

Sukavich completed a bachelor's degree in political science at Thammasat University in 1960 and the Management Development Program of Asian Institute of Management, Manila in 1976. He started working as a sales representative for Caltex Oil Thailand in 1961, being promoted to sales supervisor, district manager, general sales manager and general manager over the following decades. He finally served as chairman and managing director of that company during the early 1990s.

Sukavich became a Senator in 1987, was appointed to the National Legislative Assembly after the coup d'état in 1991, and returned to the Thai Senate in 1992.

Between 1993 and 1994 he was the governor of the Expressway and Rapid Transit Authority of Thailand (ETA).

In 1994, Sukavich joined the New Aspiration Party (NAP) of retired general Chavalit Yongchaiyudh and was appointed deputy prime minister in Chuan Leekpai's cabinet in October of the same year. Together with Chamlong Srimuang and transport minister Vichit Surapongchai he formed a team to tackle Bangkok's traffic problems. However, he lost that position after a few weeks. Sukavich was appointed minister of education in Banharn Silpa-archa's cabinet in July 1995. In addition, he was the secretary-general of the NAP from 1995 to 1997. He was alleged to have contributed 100 million baht to the party's campaign fund.

As Minister of Education, Sukavich launched a series of education reforms in 1995. The aim was to enhance the quality of education from 1995 to achieve educational excellence by 2007.

He was elected to the House of Representatives in 1996, representing Bangkok's 13th constituency. After New Aspiration's electoral victory, Sukavich again was a deputy prime minister in Chavalit Yongchaiyudh's cabinet in addition to his post as Minister of Education. Moreover, he served as Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO) council president in 1996.

He was involved in a long-running scandal over the purchase of overpriced computers for schools, but was cleared of any wrongdoing during a subsequent defamation suit. Sukavich was also criticised for keeping in force a ban on "gender/sex deviant" and "wrong-gendered" (i.e. homosexual and transsexual) students at the Rajabhat teacher training institutes, saying that "homosexuals are no different to drug addicts who need treatment. ... I do not want these people to be role models for children." He retired from the ministerial post in August 1997, being replaced by his intra-party rival Chingchai Mongcoltam, who lifted the anti-gay ban.

Sukavich also lost the deputy premiership in November 1997 when Chavalit was ousted by a no-confidence vote during the Asian financial crisis.

In 2001 Sukavich was re-elected as member of parliament, being number three of the New Aspiration Party list. Together with party leader Chavalit Yongchaiyudh and most of the NAP lawmakers, he switched to the Thai Rak Thai Party (TRT) of prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra later in the same year.

In 2005, he was re-elected once again, this time a representative of the TRT party list. As one of 111 executive members of the TRT, he was banned from political activities for five years after the 2006 coup d'état. He expressed no wish to return to politics after the ban expired.

References

1. "Nattapol Rangsitpol: Executive Profile & Biography". Bloomberg. Retrieved 2019-06-27.
2. "Sukavich Rangsitpol: Chairman and Managing Director, Caltex Oil (Thailand) Limited". Business Review. 21: 30. 1992.
3. Royal Thai Government Gazette. 104 (74): 4. 19 April 1987. {{cite journal}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
4. Royal Thai Government Gazette. 108 (53): 13. 25 March 1991 http://www.ratchakitcha.soc.go.th/DATA/PDF/2534/A/053/1.PDF. {{cite journal}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
5. Paul Handley (1993). "Road to Nowhere: Thais and investors continue to haggle over highway". Far Eastern Economic Review. p. 152.
6. ^ Tom Wingfield (2002). "Democratization and economic crisis in Thailand". In Edmund Terence Gomez (ed.). Political Business in East Asia. Routledge. p. 269.
7. Economist Intelligence Unit, ed. (1994). Country Report: Thailand, Myanmar (Burma). p. 21.
8. Dachakupt, Pimpan (1999). "The current innovation in curriculum development in Thailand". International Journal of Curriculum Development and Practice. 1: 93–101. Retrieved 18 September 2018.
9. "Visits of the SEAMEO Council President 1996". SEAMEO Library. Retrieved 12 November 2018.
10. "All Quiet on Western Front". Bangkok Post. 28 February 2002.
11. Rosalind C. Morris (1997). "Educating Desire: Thailand, Transnationalism, Transgression". In Phillip Brian Harper (ed.). Queer Transexions of Race, Nation, and Gender. Duke University Press. pp. 53–79, at p. 54.
12. Peter A. Jackson (2002). "Offending Images: Gender Sexual Minorities, and State Control of the Media in Thailand". In Russell H. K. Heng (ed.). Media Fortunes, Changing Times: ASEAN States in Transition. Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. pp. 216–217.
13. "การกลับมาของบ้านเลขที่ 111 ไม่มีอะไรเปลี่ยนแปลงที่ "หลังฉาก"". Siam Intelligence. 5 June 2012.

External links

• 1935 births
• Living people
• Chevron Corporation people
• Thai chief executives
• New Aspiration Party politicians
• Thai Rak Thai Party politicians
• Deputy Prime Ministers of Thailand
• Ministers of Education of Thailand
• Members of the Senate of Thailand
• Members of the House of Representatives (Thailand)