Luxury Furniture Fuss as State Audit Office Faces Backlash

[snoop1130]

File photo for reference only

 

Details of extravagant expenses for Thailand's new State Audit Office (SAO) have ignited public outrage, particularly on social media, after the building collapsed in Friday's earthquake. The STRONG Anti-Corruption Thailand Facebook page brought the issue to light by revealing the exorbitant costs tied to the building's furniture and fittings.

 

Highlighted among these expenses is a conference chair priced at an astounding 97,900 baht, with 28 chairs purchased solely for two rooms. Additionally, luxury handwoven nylon carpets and leather-upholstered sofas were part of the lavish spending, with carpets in the chairman's office priced at 110,000 baht each.

 

 

 

Public reaction has been fierce, with many Thai citizens voicing anger over what they perceive as a blatant misuse of taxpayer funds. Social media erupted with statements criticising the SAO, questioning their capacity to audit government spending effectively when their own expenditures appear so unchecked.

 

The civic outcry calls for enhanced transparency and accountability, pressing the SAO for a justification of such grandiose spending, especially amid governmental cost-cutting measures in other areas. The situation underscores the pressing need for reforms to ensure more prudent use of public money, reported Bangkok Post.

 

-- 2025-04-03

 

 

[JoePai]

555 so the pigeons coming home to roost ?

[MikeandDow]

Just pure corruption !!   is there No due diligence carried out on the tax payers money ??

any body check purchase orders ??  people who are responsible such be prosecuted

[scorecard]

8 hours ago, JoePai said:

555 so the pigeons coming home to roost ?

I guess some members can recall the vert outrage cost for clocks for the new parliament building. 

[Mr Meeseeks]

15 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

Social media erupted with statements criticising the SAO, questioning their capacity to audit government spending effectively when their own expenditures appear so unchecked.

 

They are just doing what comes naturally to them. 

[maddox41]

Well it's  Thailand the corrupt audit the corrupt nothing to see here. 

Part of the fabric in Thailand 

 

[hotchilli]

16 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

 

Highlighted among these expenses is a conference chair priced at an astounding 97,900 baht, with 28 chairs purchased solely for two rooms. Additionally, luxury handwoven nylon carpets and leather-upholstered sofas were part of the lavish spending, with carpets in the chairman's office priced at 110,000 baht each

Furniture and luxury fittings bought before the building, it was still in what looked like a skeletal structure?

Someone was jumping the gun with the cheque book

[BangkokHank]

Hey, they need to be comfortable while stealing taxpayer money, don't they?

[klauskunkel]

16 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

Public reaction has been fierce, with many Thai citizens voicing anger over what they perceive as a blatant misuse of taxpayer funds. Social media erupted with statements criticising the SAO, questioning their capacity to audit government spending effectively when their own expenditures appear so unchecked.

 

Looks like that quake indeed came too early...

[BangkokReady]

16 hours ago, MikeandDow said:

Just pure corruption !!   is there No due diligence carried out on the tax payers money ??

any body check purchase orders ??  people who are responsible such be prosecuted

 

Corruption?  This is how public money is spent.  Very cushy offices for all these types.  All above board and authorised by... themselves!

[Kwausie]

It’s strange they didn’t spend more money on the foundations!

[proton]

More to be angry about than furniture, such as manslaughter charges. No news about the dead or nationalities, compensation or arrests and charges. seven days is about up.

[renaissanc]

Corruption in the construction. Corruption in the Purchasing Department. Corruption among government officials. Corruption in the investigation process as well too maybe? I expect the Chinese company will soon be cleared of all wrongdoing "for a lack of evidence" in exchange for gifts provided by pastry box lorries.

[Emdog]

You all are being to harsh: all that expensive furniture and such was to provide samples of ways money could be corruptly spent. Train those young investigators what to look for...

[paul1804]

Well its Thailand isn't it and the rest of south east Asia mostly the same!!

[Ombra]

'luxury handwoven nylon carpet'  .... 'Luxury' and 'nylon' are not words that I expect to see together. And if it is nylon, who would notice it is hand woven?

[scorecard]

3 hours ago, BangkokHank said:

Hey, they need to be comfortable while stealing taxpayer money, don't they?

For Thais the paramount point is impressing other people with the level of luxury and design and cost compared to other ministries and other countries. . Even though 99% of the folks who will see these chairs are the same people at every meeting. 

I went to many meetings of one ministry (which has a big global impact), the furniture was replaced several times, obviously very very expensive, same for the crockery, all part of trying to impress people. Plus a famous Thai pastry chef was an employee and made cakes, pastries for every meeting and personally served them to the seniors in every meeting. Same for coffee, a famous coffee roaster on staff and at every meeting; Thai man who spoke good English. As folks arrived he asked them if they liked fresh coffee then asked questions about their favorite coffee. I answered 'I like hilltribe coffee'. He froze.  

The Head of the ministry changed and a Tai man who had worked abroad in the same industry was appointed to the position. He shook things up; he issued and instruction that furniture was not to e changed or swapped for 10 years, he cancelled the pastry chef and the coffee expert. 

Then he discovered the cakes/pastries were being bought daily by a team of 4 staff, all bought from a nearby famous Thai restaurant / bakery. The team of 4 was a leader who chosen because she came from a famous Thai family. CEO cancelled that and instructed that a junior staff member go alone to the bakery and buy standard cakes / pastries.

 

In another post I will share how the new CEO shook up / reorganized the existing HR department. 

[Guderian]

19 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

luxury handwoven nylon carpets

 

Spot the oxymoron! lol

[UbonEagle]

Was probably a trade off for the substandard reo bar in the concrete 🤔

[PETERTHEEATER]

2 hours ago, Ombra said:

'luxury handwoven nylon carpet'  .... 'Luxury' and 'nylon' are not words that I expect to see together. And if it is nylon, who would notice it is hand woven?

Exactly! If, by 'nylon' the author means synthetic fibre then it will almost certainly be machine made.

I should expect the Chairman's office to carpeted in wool based imported from UK 🫠

[scorecard]

4 hours ago, BangkokReady said:

 

Corruption?  This is how public money is spent.  Very cushy offices for all these types.  All above board and authorised by... themselves!

Not only in Thailand. 

 

I recall an oil giant deciding on a new very high (from memory about 30 floors) regional HQ in a big western city.

 

The primary design approach was a round building, with lots of small and medium size rooms all totally round.

 

When the building was well underway furniture needs were on the agenda and it was then realized that standard square / rectangular tables, desks and whatever would ruin the 'roundness' approach.

 

So individual furniture pieces were ordered to suit each round room (all rooms) all with round sides / round edges etc. 

 

The additional cost was millions and delayed 'move in' by a couple of years meaning that the lease on the existing leased building had to be renegotiated at great cost because the owner had already signed a lease for a new tenant who was all ready to move in.