Top awards for hospital and PTT

The awards for 2007 were presented by Deputy Prime Minister and Industry Minister Suwit Khunkitti.

Peerapong Achariyacheevin, PTT executive vice president for natural gas transmission, attributed the victory to the firm's ability to fulfil its commitments to customers.

"We have maximised the benefits of the transmission pipelines and minimised [negative] environmental impact. Our venture has won community acceptance while our human resources have been constantly improved," he said.

Associate Professor Sumet Peeravud, director of Songklanagarind Hospital, said the award marked the result of years spent on improving the organisation.

However, no Thai firm was given the more prestigious Thailand Quality Award (TQA) last year. The TQA demanded its winners rack up 650 points and satisfy seven key areas: leadership; strategic planning; customer and market focus; measurement, analysis and knowledge management; human resources; process management; and business results.

To qualify for the TQC, firms need to score between 351 and 650 points.

Based on the well-known Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, the award aims to raise domestic and international recognition for local companies.