Sukavich Rangsitpol

Rangsitpol 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.[2]

Rangsitpol was Senator in 1987,[3] National Legislative Assembly in 1991,[4] and Senator Thai Senate in 1992.

Between 1993 and 1994 he was the governor of the Expressway and Rapid Transit Authority of Thailand (ETA).[5]

In 1994, Rangsitpol 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.[6] Together with Chamlong Srimuang and transport minister Vichit Surapongchai he formed a team to tackle Bangkok's traffic problems.[7] 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.[6]

Rangsitpol as Minister of Education 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.[8]

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.[9]

When Rangsitpol was appointed education minister in 1996 he became embroiled in a long-running scandal over the purchase of overpriced computers for schools,[6] but was cleared of any wrongdoing during a subsequent defamation suit.[10] 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,[11] 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.[12]

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

In 2001 Rangsitpol 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.[13]