A senior revenue official sacked for cheating the state of over 3 billion baht in tax refund

[NextStationBangkok]

How could they withdraw such huge amounts from Government treasury ?

Do they have private ATM machines at their home provided by banks ?

Sounds like they are hiding a big pumpkin in a small plate of rice!

[OOLEEBER]

Off with his head!

[slipperylobster]

Give them a publlic execution!...Maybe it will make others start to think...

Or a free vacation to North Korea, and a consultation with Kim...make sure you give him sleeping pills first....and don't forget to tell him to bring some body armor.

Edited May 15, 2015 by slipperylobster

[rethaier]

Title of the article says "billion" but the article itself mentions "million".

What is it?

3,209 million = 3.209 Billion. Oh my.....

[cumgranosalum]

No way a civil servant can siphon off 3 billion Baht without those above him knowing about it.

Even if his bosses claimed to be ignorant, they should be fired for gross negligence of supervision.

Anyway, I don't feel so bad now when I omit things from my tax returns.

Nick Leeson managed to do it without arousing any suspicions at first.

if you think that is a valid comparison then you need firstly to read the OP and secondly get up to speed on Nick Leeson

[Baerboxer]

No way a civil servant can siphon off 3 billion Baht without those above him knowing about it.

Even if his bosses claimed to be ignorant, they should be fired for gross negligence of supervision.

Anyway, I don't feel so bad now when I omit things from my tax returns.

Nick Leeson managed to do it without arousing any suspicions at first.

nick leeson worked for an investment bank and was a derivatives traders using highly leveraged position....no comparison mate

Nick Leeson worked in what was supposedly a highly regulated environment in an organization that thought it had sound procedures, management, supervisory safeguards, and well established rules, checks and authorizations.

This civil servant was an official at the Thai Inland Revenue department .......................................... yeah, no comparison.

[sean in udon]

I cannot get over the fact he wasn't moved to an inactive post. Maybe, hopefully there is change in the air.

I think the difference is simple.

Screw over farmers, foreigners, working class people, that's ok.

Enslave, ransom and kill minority groups and illegal immigrants, that's ok.

Steal from the government and face a shit storm.

Edited May 15, 2015 by sean in udon

[keskeseksa]

The most incredible fact is not that 3 billion have disappeared, but that finally something is being done about this rampant corruption.

Since PM Prayut came to power the list of people arrested for encroachment, embezzlement, Ponzi schemes, abuse of authority, is mind boggling against the performance of any previous governments. Maybe there is light at the end of the tunnel. Western power can keep barking that they want elections soon. We know why. The buck does not pass under the table when it comes to mega projects.

[gandalf12]

No way a civil servant can siphon off 3 billion Baht without those above him knowing about it.

Even if his bosses claimed to be ignorant, they should be fired for gross negligence of supervision.

Anyway, I don't feel so bad now when I omit things from my tax returns.

Nick Leeson managed to do it without arousing any suspicions at first.

Nick Leeson wasnt dealing with tax returns

[gandalf12]

I cannot get over the fact he wasn't moved to an inactive post. Maybe, hopefully there is change in the air.

I think the difference is simple.

Screw over farmers, foreigners, working class people, that's ok.

Enslave, ransom, kill minority groups and illegal immigrants, that's ok.

Steal from the government and face a shit storm.

Just like every other country in th world

[Deez]

Should have joined the police force instead. Would get to keep the money and just get transferred

[Baerboxer]

OMG guys!! Havebt any of you gone to school. 3 thousand million is for God sake 3 billon, come on..

Maybe the lot of you should attend school in Scandinavia, and learn some correct stuff!! Geography for the americans and mathematics for the english people.

Glegolo

"english people" - perhaps you could brush up your English language skills along with your Geography too?

"In British English, a billion used to be equivalent to a million million (i.e. 1,000,000,000,000), while in American English it has always equated to a thousand million (i.e. 1,000,000,000). British English has now adopted the American figure, though, so that a billion equals a thousand million in both varieties of English." Oxford Dictionaries.

No wonder the poor Thai journalists get confused.

Edited May 15, 2015 by Baerboxer

[dunks]

Title of the article says "billion" but the article itself mentions "million".

What is it?

I figure 3,209 million is 3.209 billion. But I'm American, and we use periods for decimal places, and commas to separate thousands.

I can understand how some Europeans may read that differently- I often get confused looking at spreadsheets from Euro types.

Aaw thats sweet?. Does metric confuse you too? Poor boy. Isn't it only you American types, the Burmese/Mayanmar and the North Koreans who use imperial measurement in the entire world. I might even be being rude to the North Koreans there ? 5555

[tracker1]

I cannot get over the fact he wasn't moved to an inactive post. Maybe, hopefully there is change in the air.

If he raked off some of the 3 odd billion baht why the hell would they want him to work any longer just go and enjoy it somewhere where we can't find you for a trial

Edited May 15, 2015 by tracker1

[h90]

Understandable that the reds doing a full scale democracy whining now......Prayut is really doing something

[dunks]

At this point with an endless stream of news about corrupt officials,

I am starting to wonder there are any officials that are NOT corrupt.

The system is broken here, all it does is plug in new crooks. ;-(

I completely agree! Not just here though. It's everywhere. Just look at the UK and the US!

[dunks]

OMG guys!! Havebt any of you gone to school. 3 thousand million is for God sake 3 billon, come on..

Maybe the lot of you should attend school in Scandinavia, and learn some correct stuff!! Geography for the americans and mathematics for the english people.

Glegolo

And English and typing skills for the Scandinavians ?

[Tatsujin]

Curiously, nowhere in the article does it allude to WHY this guy and his cohorts were allegedly running this scheme...

Veteran TV readers can only assume, that some kind of commission or kickback scheme was operating, where the government guys were getting or taking a cut of all the illegal/inflated tax returns they were processing/approving.

Surely, they weren't just doing to it to be the Thai version of Robin Hood. There was money to be made, somewhere in this.

That fact seems to be entirely lost on the whizzes at ThaiPBS. But then again, no Thai civil servant would effectively rob the government of 3 billion+ baht...

Aside from the Royal Thai Police, my Thai business friends all tell me the Tax/Revenue Department is the most corrupt in Thailand, even more so than Customs.

You are correct in your assumption ... they give those businesses a massively reduced tax amount in exchange for a large kickback in the difference (25-50%).

[mikiea]

Title of the article says "billion" but the article itself mentions "million".

What is it?

3209 million baht according to the OP. So 3.209 billion.

wow , 3209 million baht divided by 8 million peeps in Bangkok , ehhhh.... that is 401 baht for every man woman and child living in our fair city that Thailand will never see again . the bad guys do not fear the police or government , where is the crime buster PM when this lootin while the lootin is good is going on ?

[PeCeDe]

OMG guys!! Havebt any of you gone to school. 3 thousand million is for God sake 3 billon, come on..

Maybe the lot of you should attend school in Scandinavia, and learn some correct stuff!! Geography for the americans and mathematics for the english people.

Glegolo

"english people" - perhaps you could brush up your English language skills along with your Geography too?

"In British English, a billion used to be equivalent to a million million (i.e. 1,000,000,000,000), while in American English it has always equated to a thousand million (i.e. 1,000,000,000). British English has now adopted the American figure, though, so that a billion equals a thousand million in both varieties of English." Oxford Dictionaries.

No wonder the poor Thai journalists get confused.

You obviously went to the same school I did, probably a century ago too, like me!

[rubyjuan]

What a joke! As stated above, his bosses knew and they were benefitting. If his bosses did not notice, they should all be sacked for incompetence. Thais and their baht...ridiculous.

[lvr181]

Try arresting the alleged offenders before they leave the country and/or dispose/transfer their ill gotten gains!

And also give them a chance to plea bargain if they give up the names of their superiors who knew what was going on.

I know, this sounds like simple farang suggestions and it ain't gonna happen. TITS

[PeCeDe]

The best form of corruption is the legal kind, Congressman refuses to back a Terrorist bill, and his vote is needed... "What do you want?" the Whip asks. My great state of "Watchamcallit" needs new infrastructure, It'll cost $100,000,000.52. So, the amount is added as a codicil to the bill and the bill goes through. Said Congressman awards the newly funded contract to build 10 new bridges in his great state.. BTW it's the congressman's brother that owns the winning company. If the press find out the congressman just says, it was a fair and legal bid, and awarded to the best Company for the job, "No more questions!" Then someone gets shot in a 7/11 and the whole thing is forgotten.

[impulse]

OMG guys!! Havebt any of you gone to school. 3 thousand million is for God sake 3 billon, come on..

Maybe the lot of you should attend school in Scandinavia, and learn some correct stuff!! Geography for the americans and mathematics for the english people.

Glegolo

"english people" - perhaps you could brush up your English language skills along with your Geography too?

"In British English, a billion used to be equivalent to a million million (i.e. 1,000,000,000,000), while in American English it has always equated to a thousand million (i.e. 1,000,000,000). British English has now adopted the American figure, though, so that a billion equals a thousand million in both varieties of English." Oxford Dictionaries.

No wonder the poor Thai journalists get confused.

Even more confusing in China, where "million" is translated as 10,000.

[slipperx]

Rotten and corrupt to the core at every possible level.

[Eric Loh]

Understandable that the reds doing a full scale democracy whining now......Prayut is really doing something

Goodness, this investigation of this revenue tax case started long before Prayuth came around. In fact, the DG of the Revenue Dept was sacked during the previous government. You really think an intricate case could be sorted out during the short Prayuth tenure. Get real.

[jobwolf]

This would pay 100's of times the outstanding fees for all Expat overstays and a decent monthly payment for them also.

[Baerboxer]

OMG guys!! Havebt any of you gone to school. 3 thousand million is for God sake 3 billon, come on..

Maybe the lot of you should attend school in Scandinavia, and learn some correct stuff!! Geography for the americans and mathematics for the english people.

Glegolo

"english people" - perhaps you could brush up your English language skills along with your Geography too?

"In British English, a billion used to be equivalent to a million million (i.e. 1,000,000,000,000), while in American English it has always equated to a thousand million (i.e. 1,000,000,000). British English has now adopted the American figure, though, so that a billion equals a thousand million in both varieties of English." Oxford Dictionaries.

No wonder the poor Thai journalists get confused.

Even more confusing in China, where "million" is translated as 10,000.

Yep, and India too with their crores and lakhs!

[WhizBang]

No immediate arrest? No immediate freezing of all family assets until seisure, fines and other penalties are determined. No confiscation of passport, lest he do a runner.

With a legal/justice system this weak, there is no hope.

[sean in udon]

Just like every other country in th world

I should have included a similar sentence in my original post. An oversight on my part.

Thanks for the addition.