Anti-corruption Body To Act On Unusually Rich Politicians

[Plus]

TDRI estimates that 400 bil were lost on coruption from government shemes under Thaksin.

It's not very scientific - they just look at the percentage of all government projects for the past five years.

[teepruksa]

I wonder what the final damage will be after Toxic-Hubbit's excesses are tallied up? I have a feeling that folks will be shocked & a little ashamed that they voted for these criminals...

[sriracha john]

Wonder how many of the 100-plus TRT Party members that resigned from the party today are under investigation for "unusually rich."

They certainly benefitted from their time at the trough...

[teepruksa]

I bet that most of these 'quick exits' are in panic that they will be held accountable for these excesses... Does seem amazing that they waited so long if they were honest folks...

[opothai]

make examples of some of the corrupt cheating, greedy bugg+rs,

then offer an amnesty to the ones who disclose corruption of others

then sit back and count the true cost of the caring trt party.

[sriracha john]

CORRUPTION PROBES

Panel to focus on eight major scams

Assets Examination Committee picks Nam Yimyaem as chairman, sets sights on Shinawatra share sales

The Assets Examination Committee (AEC) will investigate the tax scandal involving two of ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra's children, who may be forced to pay personal income tax worth Bt5.8 billion on Shin Corp shares they bought from Ample Rich and later sold at a much higher price.

The AEC will investigate whether the Revenue Department director-general and five other officials committed dereliction of duty by refusing to tax Panthongtae and Pinthongta Shinawatra on the sale. If the officials are found guilty, the AEC will file a complaint with the Finance Ministry seeking to tax them.

The Office of the Auditor-General will also wrap up its investigation into whether the pair should be slapped with a Bt5.8-billion tax bill this week.

The AEC yesterday selected former Supreme Court judge Nam Yimyaem as its chairman and vowed to conclude eight corruption cases within the next three months.

The committee also selected Kaewsan Atibodhi, a former senator, as its secretary and Sak Korsaengruang, another former senator, to be its spokesman.

Sak said the panel would start by investigating eight projects in which the state is believed to have been ripped off by the previous government.

He said the committee would focus on major and urgent cases that affected the interests of the nation.

The Office of the Auditor-General had previously screened the number of projects to be investigated from 24 down to eight. The eight are all large-scale projects involving several billion baht that have attracted public attention.

Sak said the panel would set up three sub-committees to investigate the projects and that the 11 panel members would be divided into three groups to oversee their work.

He said each investigation would summon people to testify before the committee. If those summoned could not adequately explain their actions or give evidence to clear their name then the committee would forward their case to either the public prosecutor or the Supreme Court's criminal division for political officeholders.

Sak said the committee had set itself a deadline to provide clarity on each major case within three months. Also, each sub-committee will update the Office of the Auditor-General on its investigation each month.

Kaewsan, the AEC's new secretary, said the panel is willing to accept petitions that include evidence. He said the committee is determined to clarify issues that have been questioned by the press and the public, including allegations of chronic corruption by the former government.

He added that the panel is ready to take on any of the 30 cases being investigated by the Office of the Auditor-General.

The Nation

[Jai Dee]

Head of People's Power for Thailand requests NCCC to inspect on BMA's alledged corrupt purchases

Mr. Surapong Towichakchaiyakul (สุรพงษ์ โตวิจักษ์ชัยกุล), the head of the People’s Power for Thailand, has submitted a document to the National Counter Corruption Commission (NCCC), requesting the commission to inspect the procurement and hiring cases of the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA).

Mr. Surapong has urged the NCCC to investigate 16 road construction projects, which are worth about 20 billion baht in total, and the procurement of firefighting equipments.

He said that these two cases are the first priority and they need to be inspected soon because many people are interested in them, similarly to the CTX-9000 and Smartcard projects.

Besides, Mr. Surapong has requested the NCCC officials to investigate these cases without any bias.

Source: Thai National News Bureau Public Relations Department - 03 October 2006

[dvk1951]

Anti-corruption body to act on unusually rich politicians

The new National Counter Corruption Commission (NCCC) will have as its main task the mandate to accelerate investigating unusually wealthy politicians, and to begin to address an accumulated backlog of over 10,000 previous cases.

Members of the public with sufficient evidence on politicians or officials being dishonest can send complaints to NCCC and the graft busters should consider them, he said.

--TNA 2006-09-24

One can not expect the new 'tatlers' line to be all that long what with 10k cases ahead of them.

The carpet shall remain very large and very lumpy with all the sweeping.

[Old Man River]

Anti-corruption body to act on unusually rich politicians

BANGKOK: --

Vicha Mahakhun, a member of the new commission, told Thai News Agency in an exclusive interview that the most urgent responsibility of the NCCC is to find evidence relating to accused corrupt politicians and to open the backlog of complaints filed with the former NCCC.

--TNA 2006-09-24

How in depth is the NCCC's mandate? I keep hearing they are going after corrupt politicians, but how far can they go? For example, will they also go after wives and other relatives who might have received some of the payments?

[younghusband]

From the content of this thread one might get the impression that Thaksin and the TRT henchmen were the first to be involved in corruption.Actually Thaksin's sin was not so much corruption but altering the playing field to suit his business interests.Although there is a hanging mob on this forum,the unvarnished truth is that Thaksin was a genuinely skilled businessman, not just a pig at the trough.Anyway any long term observer of the Thai business/political scene knows the problem can be found in every quarter, and I mean EVERY quarter.So I have some doubts whether any investigation now will be vigorously pursued, unless of course its just going to be a political witch hunt.

[stumonster]

,the unvarnished truth is that Thaksin was a genuinely skilled businessman,

maybe , maybe not

[Jai Dee]

BKK governor ready to cooperate with CNS in its investigation on BMA's fire truck corruption scandal

Bangkok Governor Apirak Kosayothin (อภิรักษ์ โกษะโยธิน) is ready to give cooperation to the Council for National Security (CNS) in inspecting Bangkok Metropolitan Administration’s (BMA) fire truck corruption scandal.

Mr Apirak said he is willing to provide facts and information related to the purchase of fire trucks, worth 6,700 million baht. He said that all evidences will be forwarded to the CNS had already been sent to the Office of Auditor-General and the National Counter Corruption Commission (NCCC) as well as the Interior Ministry.

Mr. Apirak said that the case is set to be tabled for approval by the new cabinet so that implementation of Bangkok’s Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation will not be obstructed.

However, he said that he has so far not made any move yet as he is waiting for the verification from the Office of the Attorney General to check whether the BMA can temporarily suspend the case or not.

Source: Thai National News Bureau Public Relations Department - 03 October 2006

[sriracha john]

[Jai Dee]

So why is the thread closed? Could it be that some wise-ass might be inclined to make politically incorrect comments about the Gxxxxxls lack of need of support from this particular direction?

From the Forum Rules:

NOTE TO OUR MEMBERS:

All media was 2006-09-21 ordered by ICT to exercise censorship of any news critical of the coup-makers and the new military regime. Offenders face up to six months in jail, a fine of up to Bt10,000, or both.

This also prohibit Thaivisa to publish such content. We kindly ask our members to refrain from posting sensitive political content. We reserve the rights to delete content that could be dangerous for the operation of our website. Forum admins and moderators are instructed to delete any references whatsoever to Thai Royalty or the Interim administrators/appointed governments by any member during the present political crisis.

[sbk]

I think we should be told-but probably wont be.

You were told. Look at the pinned topic at the top of the News forum. Look at the rules as Jai Dee has pointed out .

Anyway, if they really want to start with a clean slate it seems more likely to me that they won't be investigating just the TRT party members but every unusually rich politician. Well, that will certainly take some time.

[ColPyat]

Anyway, if they really want to start with a clean slate it seems more likely to me that they won't be investigating just the TRT party members but every unusually rich politician. Well, that will certainly take some time.

And it will leave Thailand ungovernable. How many politicians here are not unusually rich?

[sbk]

Anyway, if they really want to start with a clean slate it seems more likely to me that they won't be investigating just the TRT party members but every unusually rich politician. Well, that will certainly take some time.

And it will leave Thailand ungovernable. How many politicians here are not unusually rich?

Chuan Leekpai for one.

[Jai Dee]

BKK Governor is ready for Asset Inspection Panel to investigate BMA

Bangkok Governor Apirak Kosayodhin has reasserted that he is ready for the Asset Inspection Panel to investigate the fire trucks and fire ships of the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration.

Mr. Apirak said he is willing to cooperate with the panel so it could fully inspect BMA’s procurement of fire trucks and fire ships. The procurement is worth 6.7 billion baht. The governor said he can submit the procurement evidence and information to the panel, similarly to the way he earlier submitted them to the Office of the Auditor General, the National Counter Commission Council, and the Ministry of Interior. However, once the new Cabinet is established, he will urgently discuss this issue, so the duty to protect public disasters in Bangkok would not be hindered in the future.

The Bangkok Governor said there has not been any inspection on the fire trucks yet because the officials are waiting for the verdict of the Attorney-General, who has been asked to examine the legal issues of this procurement project.

Source: Thai National News Bureau Public Relations Department - 04 October 2006

[ColPyat]

Anyway, if they really want to start with a clean slate it seems more likely to me that they won't be investigating just the TRT party members but every unusually rich politician. Well, that will certainly take some time.

And it will leave Thailand ungovernable. How many politicians here are not unusually rich?

Chuan Leekpai?

A bit old now.

And who else? He can't possibly govern Thailand alone. His administration, as with any other administration in Thailand, has been riddled with corruption scandals. Just remember Chuan 1 government - it fell because of the Sor Por Kor 401 scandal in Phuket.

[newworks]

From the content of this thread one might get the impression that Thaksin and the TRT henchmen were the first to be involved in corruption.Actually Thaksin's sin was not so much corruption but altering the playing field to suit his business interests.Although there is a hanging mob on this forum,the unvarnished truth is that Thaksin was a genuinely skilled businessman, not just a pig at the trough.Anyway any long term observer of the Thai business/political scene knows the problem can be found in every quarter, and I mean EVERY quarter.So I have some doubts whether any investigation now will be vigorously pursued, unless of course its just going to be a political witch hunt.

yes! everyone here talks like thaksin invented corruption in thailand. what is with you people?

i said it before and i will say it again: thaksin wasn't ousted because he was any more or less "corrupt" than anyone else that has held that office in the history of this country; that is a load of crap from the powers-that-be and a convenient excuse to oust him and emasculate his election-winning party.

he was ousted for 2 reasons: 1) he out-smarted and out-politicked a lot of powerful people who don't like to lose, and 2) his reaching out to the poor masses upcountry simulataneously made him a democratic success (which certain people here obviously can't live with although they pay such great lip-service to the concept of "restoring democracy") and alienated the outnumbered upper- and middle-classes.

don't hate the player; hate the game.

[Steph1012]

From the content of this thread one might get the impression that Thaksin and the TRT henchmen were the first to be involved in corruption.Actually Thaksin's sin was not so much corruption but altering the playing field to suit his business interests.Although there is a hanging mob on this forum,the unvarnished truth is that Thaksin was a genuinely skilled businessman, not just a pig at the trough.Anyway any long term observer of the Thai business/political scene knows the problem can be found in every quarter, and I mean EVERY quarter.So I have some doubts whether any investigation now will be vigorously pursued, unless of course its just going to be a political witch hunt.

yes! everyone here talks like thaksin invented corruption in thailand. what is with you people?

i said it before and i will say it again: thaksin wasn't ousted because he was any more or less "corrupt" than anyone else that has held that office in the history of this country; that is a load of crap from the powers-that-be and a convenient excuse to oust him and emasculate his election-winning party.

he was ousted for 2 reasons: 1) he out-smarted and out-politicked a lot of powerful people who don't like to lose, and 2) his reaching out to the poor masses upcountry simulataneously made him a democratic success (which certain people here obviously can't live with although they pay such great lip-service to the concept of "restoring democracy") and alienated the outnumbered upper- and middle-classes.

don't hate the player; hate the game.

Well said!

We have discussed this many times over the past few years on other threads.

The balance of power has been moving towards the poorer people of this country, though very slowly and not very far. Much of the middle classes make their money off the backs of the people of the North and North East and many in this country want them back where they belong ie. producing rice at 10baht per kilo for a series of middle men to mark up to around 300 baht per kilo at point of sale.

Add to this, the amount of farang husbands maintaining and supporting wives and families in this region and you have a reason for the recent visa regulation changes. Basically to the folk on the Visa thread, we have given our money to the wrong class of person.

However, Thaksin whilst not inventing corruption, was totally out of order with many of his schemes and scams and I hate the guy as he let down the people of Thailand that really needed him.

He had the chance to really be somebody, but he chose headlong greed instead.

[Tony Clifton]

You're leaving out the fact that even though he did not invent corruption, he and his cronies took it up quite a few notches to "industrial mode". Even though the CTX scandal was uncovered, their greed was far too great to see it as a warning signal and just kept on pigging out from the trough. Elected twice but still felt the need and insisted on messing around with the EC, positions in the army and interfering with other bodies such as the NCCC and more... I

Again, just wait until you start seeing some numbers from the investigations and other scams that have yet to see the light of day. His oh so faithful northern followers will want to burn him at the stake now that they are not under extreme media censorship and blasted daily with TRT propaganda. The fall of TRT alone must have them already thinking, "<deleted>?"

Edited October 4, 2006 by Tony Clifton

[Old Man River]

From the content of this thread one might get the impression that Thaksin and the TRT henchmen were the first to be involved in corruption.Actually Thaksin's sin was not so much corruption but altering the playing field to suit his business interests.Although there is a hanging mob on this forum,the unvarnished truth is that Thaksin was a genuinely skilled businessman, not just a pig at the trough.Anyway any long term observer of the Thai business/political scene knows the problem can be found in every quarter, and I mean EVERY quarter.So I have some doubts whether any investigation now will be vigorously pursued, unless of course its just going to be a political witch hunt.

yes! everyone here talks like thaksin invented corruption in thailand. what is with you people?

i said it before and i will say it again: thaksin wasn't ousted because he was any more or less "corrupt" than anyone else that has held that office in the history of this country; that is a load of crap from the powers-that-be and a convenient excuse to oust him and emasculate his election-winning party.

he was ousted for 2 reasons: 1) he out-smarted and out-politicked a lot of powerful people who don't like to lose, and 2) his reaching out to the poor masses upcountry simulataneously made him a democratic success (which certain people here obviously can't live with although they pay such great lip-service to the concept of "restoring democracy") and alienated the outnumbered upper- and middle-classes.

don't hate the player; hate the game.

Khun Thanong of The Nation newspaper reported that the reasons given for the coup by General Sonthi were divisions in the country, corruption and lese majeste. Hence, there is more to it than just what you say, but given sensitivities, it can't be discussed openly.

[newworks]

From the content of this thread one might get the impression that Thaksin and the TRT henchmen were the first to be involved in corruption.Actually Thaksin's sin was not so much corruption but altering the playing field to suit his business interests.Although there is a hanging mob on this forum,the unvarnished truth is that Thaksin was a genuinely skilled businessman, not just a pig at the trough.Anyway any long term observer of the Thai business/political scene knows the problem can be found in every quarter, and I mean EVERY quarter.So I have some doubts whether any investigation now will be vigorously pursued, unless of course its just going to be a political witch hunt.

yes! everyone here talks like thaksin invented corruption in thailand. what is with you people?

i said it before and i will say it again: thaksin wasn't ousted because he was any more or less "corrupt" than anyone else that has held that office in the history of this country; that is a load of crap from the powers-that-be and a convenient excuse to oust him and emasculate his election-winning party.

he was ousted for 2 reasons: 1) he out-smarted and out-politicked a lot of powerful people who don't like to lose, and 2) his reaching out to the poor masses upcountry simulataneously made him a democratic success (which certain people here obviously can't live with although they pay such great lip-service to the concept of "restoring democracy") and alienated the outnumbered upper- and middle-classes.

don't hate the player; hate the game.

Khun Thanong of The Nation newspaper reported that the reasons given for the coup by General Sonthi were divisions in the country, corruption and lese majeste. Hence, there is more to it than just what you say, but given sensitivities, it can't be discussed openly.

right. not openly. and my biggest concern right now is how the overthrow by the ruling class of the guy that all the poor people liked is going to help heal these "divisions".

[Old Man River]

From the content of this thread one might get the impression that Thaksin and the TRT henchmen were the first to be involved in corruption.Actually Thaksin's sin was not so much corruption but altering the playing field to suit his business interests.Although there is a hanging mob on this forum,the unvarnished truth is that Thaksin was a genuinely skilled businessman, not just a pig at the trough.Anyway any long term observer of the Thai business/political scene knows the problem can be found in every quarter, and I mean EVERY quarter.So I have some doubts whether any investigation now will be vigorously pursued, unless of course its just going to be a political witch hunt.

yes! everyone here talks like thaksin invented corruption in thailand. what is with you people?

i said it before and i will say it again: thaksin wasn't ousted because he was any more or less "corrupt" than anyone else that has held that office in the history of this country; that is a load of crap from the powers-that-be and a convenient excuse to oust him and emasculate his election-winning party.

he was ousted for 2 reasons: 1) he out-smarted and out-politicked a lot of powerful people who don't like to lose, and 2) his reaching out to the poor masses upcountry simulataneously made him a democratic success (which certain people here obviously can't live with although they pay such great lip-service to the concept of "restoring democracy") and alienated the outnumbered upper- and middle-classes.

don't hate the player; hate the game.

Khun Thanong of The Nation newspaper reported that the reasons given for the coup by General Sonthi were divisions in the country, corruption and lese majeste. Hence, there is more to it than just what you say, but given sensitivities, it can't be discussed openly.

right. not openly. and my biggest concern right now is how the overthrow by the ruling class of the guy that all the poor people liked is going to help heal these "divisions".

I think politicians have learned that they can no longer get elected without giving something more than just a few hundred baht to the largest voting block in the country. One of the best things Dr. Thaksin did was show people upcountry that longer term programs can be initiated to better help them financially. Adopting His Majesty the King's sufficiency economy will help people less fortunate and PM General Surayud has already said many of the former PM's programs will remain. Thailand is resilient and the Royal Family remains a strong stabilizing force. I am confident things will be fine.

[Jai Dee]

Khunying Porntip insists the IT project was carried out legitimately

The acting Director of the Department of Special Investigation (DSI), Khunying Porntip Rojanasunand, asserted that the DSI made a special procurement and recruitment for its IT project under the right procedure.

Khunying Porntip said the DSI employed a consulting team from King Mongkut's Institute of Technology to work on the procurement and recruitment for its IT project. She said the process was in line with the system, and the winner of the auction was CAT Telecom Public Company Limited. However, there was a slight problem, and both agencies could not continue the operation and had to annul the contract. She said she does not in-depth details of this case because the incident started when Pol. Maj. Gen. Chumsak Prueksapong was the DSI head. However, she said the Office of the Auditor-General is inspecting this case so she is no longer worried, adding that she is ready for the inspection to be carried out comprehensively.

Khunying Porntip also turned down the news that she only gave 800,000 baht out of her personal account to help the tsunami-affected people, and kept the remaining two million baht for the DSI. The account was opened by Khunying Porntip so she could receive the donation from the public.

Source: Thai National News Bureau Public Relations Department - 04 October 2006

[seri thai]

I think we should be told-but probably wont be.

You were told. Look at the pinned topic at the top of the News forum. Look at the rules as Jai Dee has pointed out .

Anyway, if they really want to start with a clean slate it seems more likely to me that they won't be investigating just the TRT party members but every unusually rich politician. Well, that will certainly take some time.

My apologies to the moderators who must have a very hard job treading a fine line in difficult circumstances with the amount of current news traffic. Whilst we all try to gripe and snipe in our usual ungrateful fashion!

A round of applause for the moderators, CMD and eventual freedom of speech. (No irony intended)

I best wishes to the good General.S whom I hope can restore what passes for normal service, as soon as possible

nb - can we have a smiley wai without the jap hat?

Edited October 4, 2006 by seri thai

[seri thai]

I think we should be told-but probably wont be.

You were told. Look at the pinned topic at the top of the News forum. Look at the rules as Jai Dee has pointed out .

Anyway, if they really want to start with a clean slate it seems more likely to me that they won't be investigating just the TRT party members but every unusually rich politician. Well, that will certainly take some time.

I DID read the post and my comment DID support both CMD and General.S.

Edited October 4, 2006 by seri thai

[maxx]

From the content of this thread one might get the impression that Thaksin and the TRT henchmen were the first to be involved in corruption.Actually Thaksin's sin was not so much corruption but altering the playing field to suit his business interests.Although there is a hanging mob on this forum,the unvarnished truth is that Thaksin was a genuinely skilled businessman, not just a pig at the trough.Anyway any long term observer of the Thai business/political scene knows the problem can be found in every quarter, and I mean EVERY quarter.So I have some doubts whether any investigation now will be vigorously pursued, unless of course its just going to be a political witch hunt.

yes! everyone here talks like thaksin invented corruption in thailand. what is with you people?

i said it before and i will say it again: thaksin wasn't ousted because he was any more or less "corrupt" than anyone else that has held that office in the history of this country; that is a load of crap from the powers-that-be and a convenient excuse to oust him and emasculate his election-winning party.

he was ousted for 2 reasons: 1) he out-smarted and out-politicked a lot of powerful people who don't like to lose, and 2) his reaching out to the poor masses upcountry simulataneously made him a democratic success (which certain people here obviously can't live with although they pay such great lip-service to the concept of "restoring democracy") and alienated the outnumbered upper- and middle-classes.

don't hate the player; hate the game.

but he did created an IN YOUR FACE CORRUPTION BIIAAATCH!!!!

[teepruksa]

he was ousted for 2 reasons: 1) he out-smarted and out-politicked a lot of powerful people who don't like to lose, and 2) his reaching out to the poor masses upcountry simulataneously made him a democratic success (which certain people here obviously can't live with although they pay such great lip-service to the concept of "restoring democracy") and alienated the outnumbered upper- and middle-classes.

don't hate the player; hate the game.

Toxic-Hubbit was ousted because he was acting in a typically "Un-Thai" way. He had imposed a system of ?governance? that violated many well-entrenched national philosophies. His brand of 'grand-style corruption' was an embarrasment to many of the country's leaders. When he thumbed his nose at the Father of the Thai Nation, his eventual demise was sealed.

The level of 'legal'-corruption introduced by him & his cronies will only really be known once all the facts & figures are brought to the table. I imagine that many of us will be astounded at exactly how much damage this man did manage to inflict.

Edited October 4, 2006 by teepruksa