D S I To Charge Bangkok Officials Over Bt190Bn Deal: Skytrain Controversy

[DrFloyd]

DSI was the Democrat's political police when they were in power .

Now it's the other way round.

Why are you people surprised in anyway ?

[geriatrickid]

As this prosecution is based on post-coup legislation, can we expect those who declare anything related to the coup as evil to now heartily defend the BMA?

The laws concerning bribery and corruption were on the books long before the coup.

Please explain how the criminal charges are influenced by the constitutional changes effected by the military junta.

Bribery is bribery, and misappropriation of public funds was always a criminal offense, at least for the past 50 years wasn't it?

Maybe you didn't read the OP.

"It's clear the suspects have violated a -coup order giving the authority to make decisions on the rail-based system to the Interior Ministry or the interior minister," Pol Lt-Colonel Tawan Mangkang, head of the DSI's investigations, said yesterday.

And you did not read what I wrote, that the laws relating to misappropriation of public funds and bribery were on the books long before the law was slightly changed after the coup. There were always laws in place. The actions in this case were so brazen, so flagrant, that one did not need the additional language offered in the rewrite to make the charge of corruption. As such, one cannot be accused of supporting the coup if one applauds the attack against the corrupt BMA officials.

[geriatrickid]

As this prosecution is based on post-coup legislation, can we expect those who declare anything related to the coup as evil to now heartily defend the BMA?

The laws concerning bribery and corruption were on the books long before the coup.

Please explain how the criminal charges are influenced by the constitutional changes effected by the military junta.

Bribery is bribery, and misappropriation of public funds was always a criminal offense, at least for the past 50 years wasn't it?

Well said. Pity that you & a number of other like-minded individuals wouldn't apply this principle to Thaksin's corruption.

If there were allegations of corruption, they should have been brought in a non political manner, just as the BMA charges are now being brought. There is no political interferencein the prosecution of the BMA affair. The charges against Thaksin were used as a means to get rid of a popularly elected official that caused concern to the entrenched elites. If Thaksin was guilty of corruption, then the book should be thrown at him. However, the charges should have been brought by an independent judiciary and prosecuted in a transparent manner. This is one of the reasons why the international community did not take the conviction seriously. It was intermingled with a coup and the denial of basic human rights to the people of Thailand when a military junta took over. The net result was that when the electorate was given a choice they repudiated the self appointed saviour of Thailand, Abhisit and said thank you General Pem, now please go away.

[rubl]

Maybe you didn't read the OP.

"It's clear the suspects have violated a -coup order giving the authority to make decisions on the rail-based system to the Interior Ministry or the interior minister," Pol Lt-Colonel Tawan Mangkang, head of the DSI's investigations, said yesterday.

And you did not read what I wrote, that the laws relating to misappropriation of public funds and bribery were on the books long before the law was slightly changed after the coup. There were always laws in place. The actions in this case were so brazen, so flagrant, that one did not need the additional language offered in the rewrite to make the charge of corruption. As such, one cannot be accused of supporting the coup if one applauds the attack against the corrupt BMA officials.

Bribery? Corrupt BMA officials ? REad the OP again, dear gKid. There is no charge to be made regarding 'bribery' or 'misappropriation of public funds', only one of 'malfeasance' (Law term for 'evil doing') described by Pol Lt-Colonel Tawan Mangkang as "illegally bypassing the interior minister".

[geriatrickid]

Bribery? Corrupt BMA officials ? REad the OP again, dear gKid. There is no charge to be made regarding 'bribery' or 'misappropriation of public funds', only one of 'malfeasance' (Law term for 'evil doing') described by Pol Lt-Colonel Tawan Mangkang as "illegally bypassing the interior minister".

Read the old misappropriation of public funds passage. The current wording is the cleaned up version.

Give the process some time. The water is not hot enough yet to get the corrupt ones squealing.

[bigbamboo]

As this prosecution is based on post-coup legislation, can we expect those who declare anything related to the coup as evil to now heartily defend the BMA?

The laws concerning bribery and corruption were on the books long before the coup.

Please explain how the criminal charges are influenced by the constitutional changes effected by the military junta.

Bribery is bribery, and misappropriation of public funds was always a criminal offense, at least for the past 50 years wasn't it?

Well said. Pity that you & a number of other like-minded individuals wouldn't apply this principle to Thaksin's corruption.

If there were allegations of corruption, they should have been brought in a non political manner, just as the BMA charges are now being brought. There is no political interferencein the prosecution of the BMA affair. The charges against Thaksin were used as a means to get rid of a popularly elected official that caused concern to the entrenched elites. If Thaksin was guilty of corruption, then the book should be thrown at him. However, the charges should have been brought by an independent judiciary and prosecuted in a transparent manner. This is one of the reasons why the international community did not take the conviction seriously. It was intermingled with a coup and the denial of basic human rights to the people of Thailand when a military junta took over. The net result was that when the electorate was given a choice they repudiated the self appointed saviour of Thailand, Abhisit and said thank you General Pem, now please go away.

Have you ever tried throwing a book from Bangkok to Dubai?

[geriatrickid]

Does the upcoming Gubnatorial elections have anything to do with this or is it just coincidence?

Fair question, especially since the incumbent governor doesn't have the full backing of the democrats that select the candidates. However, the investigation is at least a couple years old.

Amazing they can spend a couple of years investigating something that happened this year.

Although the investigation was made public in May 2012, the allegations regarding the procurement and services related to Siemans date back some time. Remember the much delayed airport expansion and the investigations there? This specific case relates to the maintenance and procurement for the expansion, however, it is directly related to other service and procurement activities. Remember Al Capone? They investigated him for years, but could never nail him, except for the one opportunistic tax compliance issues. When you go after corrupt officials, you take anything you can.

Please accept my condolences that the Democrat party has been implicated in another massive corruption scandal.Perhaps you can take solace in mr. Abhisi's consistency of staying silent when his party faces these sort of events.

[bigbamboo]

Does the upcoming Gubnatorial elections have anything to do with this or is it just coincidence?

Fair question, especially since the incumbent governor doesn't have the full backing of the democrats that select the candidates. However, the investigation is at least a couple years old.

Amazing they can spend a couple of years investigating something that happened this year.

Although the investigation was made public in May 2012, the allegations regarding the procurement and services related to Siemans date back some time. Remember the much delayed airport expansion and the investigations there? This specific case relates to the maintenance and procurement for the expansion, however, it is directly related to other service and procurement activities. Remember Al Capone? They investigated him for years, but could never nail him, except for the one opportunistic tax compliance issues. When you go after corrupt officials, you take anything you can.

Please accept my condolences that the Democrat party has been implicated in another massive corruption scandal.Perhaps you can take solace in mr. Abhisi's consistency of staying silent when his party faces these sort of events.

Interesting that Geriatrickid should mention Al Capone, another famous tax dodger, in relation to Thaksin.

The similiarity was that both had a charge sheet as long as your arm and the law knew the only way they could avoid fighting an endless legal battle was to go for one case they knew they could win.

The difference was Thaksin proved to be even more artful than Capone.

[Moruya]

Cognitive dissonance at the DSI,

it doesn't have to make sense unless you FOLLOW THE MONEY.

Following the laws entotal is optional, unless it pays really well.

30 years of graft cut off at the past, and denied to the PTP cronies.

Of course there will be a full court press to loosen the spigots of cash

for the current powers that be.

Instead of trying to dazzle with your access to a thesaurus, how about just saying that you deny the allegations and wish to instead blame the PTP for this?

It would make it much easier for regular folks like me to follow along if you just wrote "I blame Thaksin".

I didn't need a thesaurus. Nor would I think the vast majority of Anglo Saxon Homo Sapiens do. Nor the Central and Eastern Europeans

[rubl]

Unlike some suggest there is no misappropriation of funds. There is a previous Interior Minister Yongyuth who said the mandate for the rail system in Bangkok lies with the Ministry of Interior.

2012-06-08

"The Bt190-billion contract awarded to the operator of the Skytrain may become void if evidence shows the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) had no right to seal the deal, Department of Special Investigation (DSI) chief Tharit Pengdit said yesterday."

http://www.thaivisa....void-dsi-chief/

2012-06-08

"Pheu Thai Party members have vigorously attacked the contract. In response to a complaint filed by Pheu Thai MPs, the DSI has investigated alleged irregularities in the contract. Accused of wrongdoing are Sukhumbhand, Thirachon and many more officials."

http://www.nationmul...N-30187867.html

It starts to look like the battle with then PM Thaksin who obstructed BTS extension just because Bangkok had a Democrats governor. Obviously this will go very well with all Bangkok residents who rather sit in their brand new car in a traffic jam than use Democrats promoted BTS, BRT, MRT

[whybother]

Does the upcoming Gubnatorial elections have anything to do with this or is it just coincidence?

Fair question, especially since the incumbent governor doesn't have the full backing of the democrats that select the candidates. However, the investigation is at least a couple years old.

Amazing they can spend a couple of years investigating something that happened this year.

Although the investigation was made public in May 2012, the allegations regarding the procurement and services related to Siemans date back some time. Remember the much delayed airport expansion and the investigations there? This specific case relates to the maintenance and procurement for the expansion, however, it is directly related to other service and procurement activities. Remember Al Capone? They investigated him for years, but could never nail him, except for the one opportunistic tax compliance issues. When you go after corrupt officials, you take anything you can.

Please accept my condolences that the Democrat party has been implicated in another massive corruption scandal.Perhaps you can take solace in mr. Abhisi's consistency of staying silent when his party faces these sort of events.

You are making things up and looking a bit silly.

Read the OP. The case is to do with the BMA giving a 30 year deal to run the BTS.

It has nothing to do with procurement or Siemens.

Sent from my HTC phone.

Edited December 28, 2012 by whybother

[geriatrickid]

]

You are making things up and looking a bit silly.

Read the OP. The case is to do with the BMA giving a 30 year deal to run the BTS.

It has nothing to do with procurement or Siemens.

Sent from my HTC phone.

Making things up?

Are you denying that there have been multiple allegations of corrupt practices with the BTS procurement and maintenance contracts since Day 1?

Are you denying that the airport expansion project was not subject to an investigation?

As I wrote, this specific case, while in respect to a stated 30 year maintenance and procurement contract is tied back to the previous dealings. In plain language, there have been allegations and investigations ongoing for a decade. The government is finally acting on this specific case, but the evidence will show that the relationships and allegations go back several years. The investigation was made public in April/may 2012, but the anti corruption officials had their eyes on the BTS dating back to the Abhisit era.

[whybother]

Making things up?

Are you denying that there have been multiple allegations of corrupt practices with the BTS procurement and maintenance contracts since Day 1?

Are you denying that the airport expansion project was not subject to an investigation?

As I wrote, this specific case, while in respect to a stated 30 year maintenance and procurement contract is tied back to the previous dealings. In plain language, there have been allegations and investigations ongoing for a decade. The government is finally acting on this specific case, but the evidence will show that the relationships and allegations go back several years. The investigation was made public in April/may 2012, but the anti corruption officials had their eyes on the BTS dating back to the Abhisit era.

Finally? The deal only took place in April / May 2012.

BANGKOK, 4 May 2012 – Bangkok Governor MR Sukhumbhand Paribatra yesterday presided over the signing of a contract between Krungthep Thanakhom and Bangkok Mass Transit System Plc (BTSC) that will allow the BTSC to solely operate the BTS current and future routes for another 30 years.

http://thaifinancialpost.com/2012/05/04/bma-extends-bts-concession-with-btsc-for-another-30-years/

Dating back to the Abhisit era? It opened in 1999. Procurement would have been going on for years before that.

As this prosecution is based on post-coup legislation, can we expect those who declare anything related to the coup as evil to now heartily defend the BMA?

The laws concerning bribery and corruption were on the books long before the coup.

Please explain how the criminal charges are influenced by the constitutional changes effected by the military junta.

Bribery is bribery, and misappropriation of public funds was always a criminal offense, at least for the past 50 years wasn't it?

"The criminal charges" aren't about misappropriation of funds. They aren't about bribery. They aren't about previous dealings. And they aren't about Abhisit.

[Thai at Heart]

Unlike some suggest there is no misappropriation of funds. There is a previous Interior Minister Yongyuth who said the mandate for the rail system in Bangkok lies with the Ministry of Interior.

2012-06-08

"The Bt190-billion contract awarded to the operator of the Skytrain may become void if evidence shows the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) had no right to seal the deal, Department of Special Investigation (DSI) chief Tharit Pengdit said yesterday."

http://www.thaivisa....void-dsi-chief/

2012-06-08

"Pheu Thai Party members have vigorously attacked the contract. In response to a complaint filed by Pheu Thai MPs, the DSI has investigated alleged irregularities in the contract. Accused of wrongdoing are Sukhumbhand, Thirachon and many more officials."

http://www.nationmul...N-30187867.html

It starts to look like the battle with then PM Thaksin who obstructed BTS extension just because Bangkok had a Democrats governor. Obviously this will go very well with all Bangkok residents who rather sit in their brand new car in a traffic jam than use Democrats promoted BTS, BRT, MRT

I think it's fair to say that it was more a matter of where the backhander was paid. Appears that the bma might not have had the right to sign the deal and someone got pissed off that they missed a massive payday.