BANGKOK, 24 April 2024: A whistleblower’s efforts to shake the Pacific Asia Travel Association tree this week met with stony silence from its leaders.
The anonymous complaint levelled at PATA chair Peter Semone, who succeeded in gaining another two-year term* earlier this month, came from a PATA board member. There are almost 40 of them on the board, which has an advisory role, but this particular one said they were ready to pull the plug on company membership in protest to what they called a lack of transparency.
The lengthy missive from the longstanding board member concluded: “I am deeply disheartened by the recent election outcome and fear for the future of our organisation. Evidently, PATA no longer upholds the values of transparency, integrity, and accountability that were once its cornerstone. I will advocate terminating our membership in light of these developments.”
TTRW received a copy of the rambling statement on Monday and asked PATA for a response without success. However, the association requested that TTRW send a copy of the whistleblower’s complaint, even though eTurboNews had already published it, citing the damaging and conjectural allegations. PATA officials said they had not seen the email complaint.
The whistleblower begins by saying that while it is “commendable to acknowledge the achievements claimed during (the chair’s tenure), it is equally important to shine a light on the challenges and shortcomings faced by our organisation under his leadership.”
However, the whistleblower failed to shed light on any of the accusations, having launched into an extraordinary rant without providing any substantive supporting evidence. It remains an anonymous tirade without merit until the whistleblower dares to put their name to the accusations and makes an official complaint, backing it up with evidence. PATA is registered in the US as a non-profit association where alleged workplace abuse is vigorously investigated and settled in court.
By the way, determining the source and the possible motivation behind the accusations is not rocket science. There are plenty of leads in PATA’a recent history. So far, PATA has not responded to the whistleblower’s venting and is not likely to do so considering this is one whistleblower who huffs and puffs but can’t blow the house down.
*Serving PATA as its chair is a voluntary post for a maximum of two terms (each term two years).
