The National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) has increased the budget allocation for the National Counter Corruption Commission (NACC) to tackle existing frauds and corruption in the country.
Head of the NCPO General Prayuth Chan-ocha said that the NACC, which is an independent public agency, is facing a problem of insufficient personnel to deal with the large number of pending cases. The NCPO, therefore, approved more than 700 additional personnel for the NACC. The addition will involve a budget of over 300 million baht.
He said that the NCPO places great importance on anti-corruption efforts. Importance is also given to the promotion of innovation, which serves as a basis for the sustainable creation of wealth for the country.
Concerning claims by some groups of people who cited familiarity with the NCPO in order to gain government procurement projects, such as water management, canal dredging, and other issues, General Prayuth reiterated that the NCPO had never assigned any individual to implement any of these projects on its behalf. He called on people to inform the NCPO for investigation immediately if anyone claims a personal interest in these matters.
As for the prevention and suppression of corruption in the cases where legal action has already been taken, he said, the NCPO will proceed according to the normal course of justice. Because there is a high backlog of pending cases, the NCPO has assigned relevant agencies to move ahead with the judicial process before the cases are barred by prescription, in order to prevent wrongdoers from escaping the judicial process.
Regarding guidelines to tackle corruption in procurement, the NCPO has assigned the Committee on the Inspection of Public Expenditures and the Anti-Corruption Organization of Thailand, to consider using international measures for investigation into corruption cases applying to government or state enterprise mega-projects, starting with the Suvarnabhumi Airport Development Project – Phase II.
Moreover, the Committee on the Inspection of Public Expenditures has checked various projects and reviewed their cost-effectiveness and the necessity to spend funds that come from taxpayers. Among the issues raised for consideration were the meeting allowances of parliamentary committees and commissions and the construction of government buildings that may not be necessary. The prevention and suppression of corruption is one of the agenda items that will be brought up for consideration by the Reform Council, in a continuing effort to free Thailand from corruption.
On excessive disbursement of expenditures to support populist policies, General Prayuth said that the system needs to be totally revised. He cited the fight against corruption as the next phase of reform, together with good governance to bring about transparency, with an appropriate, effective, and efficient system of checks-and-balances.
