Another PATA director departs
BANGKOK 15 July 2010 – Pacific Asia Travel Association and its director for board and foundation relations, Ratana Poopitakchatkaew, parted company 30 June.
She had worked with the association for 12 years joining as the first Thai staff member of PATA when it relocated its headquarters from San Francisco to Bangkok in 1998.
Relations were strained with the current management after former president and CEO Peter de Jong resigned in 2008.
Ratana Poopitakchatkaew
PATA’s CEO, Greg Duffell limited his comments to what was presented on the association’s website which read: “PATA regretfully announces that Ratana Poopitakchatkaew, affectionately known to many PATA members as Khun Ratana, has decided to move on to greener pastures.”
However, as the highest paid Thai executive at head office, she commanded a position of unprecedented trust and responsibility that involved office administration, board meeting procedures and also included work on the annual audits and financial statements requiring annual trips to the US to meet with the auditors.
Her departure follows that of the director of communications, Dale Lawrence, earlier in June, but is considerably far more damaging for PATA’s reputation due to the respect she commanded within the association’s board of directors.
The decision to let Ms Ratana go must have been approved by the small, but powerful executive board. It took over all the business and management related powers previously held by the larger board of directors following last year’s adoption of new by-laws.
This makes it very unlikely that any of the board members will come to Ms Ratana’s defence, although sources close to PATA believe she may have been made a scapegoat and pressured unfairly to resign.
PATA delayed the announcement of Ms Ratana’s departure until yesterday, 14 July, although her last working day was 30 June.
On 22 June, TTR Weekly reported that PATA’s executive board has appointed a law firm to investigate management responsibility for a US$63,000 loss incurred during its 2008 fiscal year placed incorrectly under the category administration costs.
Mr Duffell told this publication during an interview, 21 June, that he had uncovered the loss shortly after he took over the top post, in early 2009, from former president and CEO, Peter de Jong.
During that interview, Mr Duffell confirmed the law firm would seek answers to four or five questions, from two staff members, (one based in head office and the other in the US) the audit firm in the US, the former CEO and president, Peter de Jong and former vice president operations, Michael Yates.
At the time he said “it should take about 10 days for the appointed lawyers to do the interviews and complete the answers.”
BACKGROUND: http://www.ttrweekly.com/site/2010/06/law-firm-called-in-over-pata-loss/
I reall dealing with PATA in my capacity as a Chairman of industry association based in Singapore. I had to interact with both Mr De Jong and Ms Rattana over the years who I came to realise were both highly professional and competent individuals. I would not hesitate to continue to be associated with both of them and invite them to be part of Singapore’s industry development plans.
Whatever the real reasons for the departure of PATA’s most senior Asian employee you can be sure the membership will have had to fork out a fortune by way of a golden parachute, as Thai labour law is very much in favour of the departing. How long can this feeble organisation survive if all it does is fire senior staff? The previous regime got platinum parachutes, further eating into membership contributions. Khun Ratana also held the key to many of the Thailand relationships, including the one involving work permits. Let’s hope the new communications dolly has her papers all sewn up, because revenge is a common reaction by Thai staff when a colleague is badly treated or removed.