Residents seek probe into Ban Man Khong scheme projects
Kornkamon Aksorndech
The Nation



BANGKOK: -- Canal-side residents in Bangkok city yesterday urged the authorities to suspend projects under the Ban Man Khong scheme and investigate alleged corruption.

The head of the network for canal-side residents' rights, Seera Jenjakha, led 200 Lat Phrao-Klong Prem residents in Bangkok's Don Muang, Sai Mai, Lat Phrao, Bang Kgen and Lak Si districts to submit a petition to the prime minister via police chief assistant Pol Lt-General Tamasak Wicharaya and Metropolitan Police Area 2 chief Pol Maj-General Charoen Srisalak.

Seera said residents in 32 communities were affected by various projects and hinted at corruption under the Bt3.3-billion Ban Man Khong scheme, which comprises 599 projects.

He said the network had told the government about irregularities in the use of residents' names in loan applications. The resident would get Bt60,000 while the application actually asked for Bt300,000. Some faced evictions from local cooperatives or communities. Hence they wanted to know about progress and wanted the probes to ensure transparency in the scheme, he added.

Srisuwan Janya, in his capacity as secretary-general of the Association for the Protection of the Thai Constitution, accompanied the group.

He said the group wanted the projects to be suspended and investigation launched within seven days into whether they were run according to the project objectives. The investigation should be completed in 30 days. He said the group also wanted project executives, state officials or community leaders who had conspired to abuse the projects for their own benefits punished. If their request were to be ignored, they would ask the Office of the Auditor-General of Thailand to inspect the case and would file complaints with the Administrative Court, Srisuwan added.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Residents-seek-probe-into-Ban-Man-Khong-scheme-pro-30274145.html


-- The Nation 2015-12-02

Don't tell me they have Corruption in Thailand.

He said the network had told the government about irregularities in the use of residents' names in loan applications. The resident would get Bt60,000 while the application actually asked for Bt300,000. Some faced evictions from local cooperatives or communities. Hence they wanted to know about progress and wanted the probes to ensure transparency in the scheme, he added.

Same happens in our village and for almost any project.

My FIL was asked to bid for a road project in our village for 700,000 Baht but he would only get 390,000 but he turned the offer down.

A positive move....community publicly demanding transparency.