The belief that a CEO-management style is superior to the present system of
government has accelerated the process of prime ministerialisatdon in Thailand.
First, for some, the word "CEO" connotes modernity and efficiency. No longer
are government bureaucrats called director-generals and permanent secretaries.
They are instead called CEOs like company CEOs. Heads of units at every level
of the hierarchy are called CEOs. But at the top there is the super CEO who
oversees everyone like a company CEO. In government, all CEOs are therefore
under one single pyramid. The Prime Minister is the supreme authority. This is
the reason why the Thaksin government has called provincial governors and
ambassadors "CEOs." As CEOs, provincial governors and ambassadors are like
branch managers of a company. They are representatives of the super CEO. They
must do what the super CEO Prime Minister tells them to do. No more, no less.
If the Thaksin government wants them to be "salesmen," they have to do so. The
problem is, as a critic pointed out, the ambassadors' duties are not only just to