Roles and responsibilities of board of directors: Paving new path toward corporate governance in Thailand

Abstract

Board of directors is one of the most essential elements of a corporation. Board members function as representatives of shareholders to monitor the management's performance. Therefore, the board of directors is directly concerned with corporate governance development. However, it is generally found that the roles and responsibilities of board of directors are often ignored. The Asian financial crisis that first started in Thailand in 1997 triggered the interest in the structure and roles of the board of directors as an attempt to improve corporate governance. As a result, several measures have been set up to strengthen the functions of the board after incidences of corporate disasters resulting from the failure of monitoring systems of the board. This includes both regulatory and voluntary measures to improve corporate governance through board of directors. Recommendations for future development of board of directors are also discussed.