The prime minister said he had talked with Somkid about the issue and the latter had denied having told the media the government was going to overhaul the selection of provincial governors.

Somkid told him that governors of key provinces must have a vision for development and have served for a sufficient time to ensure results, General Prayut Chan-o-cha said.

“But all of this must be in line with the Interior Ministry’s selection process,” the prime minister said.

“The prime minister cannot order who should become provincial governors. This is in the process of being discussed and it’s Somkid’s idea. He wants governors with strong vision, who can initiate projects by themselves,” Prayut said.

Earlier yesterday, Interior Minister Anupong Paochinda angrily dismissed media reports that the government was going to overhaul the selection of provincial governors to ensure that professional managers get the job.

The reports quoted Somkid as saying the criteria for selecting provincial governors, especially those in charge of large provinces, should be improved so that they are more capable of handling development tasks.

Somkid, who oversees economic affairs, said the prime minister had agreed with the idea, according to the reports.

Anupong said yesterday there was no such plan and that the reports were groundless.

“What is the media’s source of that news? There is no such plan at all. I tell you all I know,” the interior minister said when asked to comment on the matter.

“I have no special plan for this matter. And the prime minister has said nothing about it. That’s all the truth. If you want to write a novel, go ahead,” he added, appearing disturbed.

However, Anupong confirmed that during a meeting earlier yesterday Somkid had talked to him about the need for “proper selection” of governors to ensure effective economic development in their provinces – because officials would need to deal with large budgets that would be allocated to their provinces.

“So the governors for those provinces need to be capable, particularly those in charge of provinces with special economic zones,” Anupong said.

However, he said they had not discussed any changes to the current selection system of provincial governors. “That’s all I know. And the prime minister has never said anything about this matter.”

Meanwhile, Grisada Boonrach, the permanent secretary for the Interior Ministry, said the issue involved his minister’s authority, adding that he would wait for a Cabinet decision on the selection of governors.

Earlier, Somkid suggested that provincial governors should serve a longer term – four to five years, instead of a year or two at present – for the sake of continued development. He also said that future governors must be able to give clear guidelines for local development.

Without good strategies, development in populous provinces would continue to stall despite large allocations of state funds to those provinces, he said.