BANGKOK, July 11 – Commerce Ministry spokesperson today defended the cashier’s cheque payment procedures for its government-to-government rice sale contracts with other countries which an anti-graft panel believes the amounts were too low, saying the payment was a normal practice of delivery.
The reaction was in response to the comment by Vicha Mahakhun, a member of the National Anti-Corruption Commission, after receiving copies of the cheques from the ministry.
Mr Vicha said his agency is seeking details from six banks which issued 1,460 cashier’s cheques for the rice sale contracts, as some of them were worth only 80,000 baht, a number which he said was unusually small given the scale of G-to-G contracts.
The ministry spokesperson Wuthikrai Leeveeraphan said the government-to-government contracts are just like other sales contracts and the cheque payment was done under normal payment procedures that the buyer will gradually pay and receive the rice in installments.
He said the rice deliveries could not be done in large amounts at one time as one truck has the capacity to carry only 20 tonnes of rice.
The buyers must pay money separately each time before the transport of rice, said the spokesman, adding that it is possible that there might be small amount of rice left on the last lots of transport, resulting in a low figure appeared in some cashier cheques.
Mr Wuthikrai said initial investigation found the Bt80,000 cheque was paid for the remaining five tonnes of rice of the big lot. (MCOT online news)
