Bangkok Council Chief Initiates Inquiry into Voting Irregularity

Bangkok's City Council President Pattaraphon Kaengrungruengchai announced the latest developments in the investigation of allegations that a councilor from Yannawa district cast votes on behalf of colleagues during a City Council session. She explained the administration's approach to ensure transparency and fairness to all parties following the incident on July 31. Upon receiving the complaint, she immediately instructed the council secretariat to compile footage from all relevant cameras and prepare to submit the materials to a fact-finding committee and other legally authorized agencies upon request, exercising her authority as council president.

On July 31, she sent an urgent letter to the City Council secretariat to verify and examine all recordings from council chamber cameras, including those from live-streaming contractors. On August 3, she reported preliminary findings to the council session, which was broadcast live. After reviewing the initial data on camera recordings, she sent another urgent request on August 4 for the tape of the August 31 council meeting between 2 p.m. and 4 p.m.

On August 6, she received a formal complaint letter from Srisuwarn Chariya that was submitted to the council on August 3 and had been verified for proper form and content by the council secretariat. On August 7, she accelerated the scheduling of a City Council session to establish the fact-finding committee on August 17, extending the session period from August 12 to August 27.

However, given that the period of August 5 to September 15 is reserved for budget review, during which councilors must fulfill their duties and sometimes participate in over 20 subcommittee meetings simultaneously, scheduling an emergency council session could disrupt compliance with the 45-day legal deadline. Therefore, the agenda to establish the fact-finding committee was scheduled for August 17, the most urgent date, when only one special budget committee meeting is expected.

According to the Bangkok City Council Member Code of Conduct B.E. 2559, the council must nominate three fact-finding committee members. Any excess nominations will require a vote to reach a conclusion. The fact-finding committee will independently investigate the facts and relevant evidence before submitting their findings to the council president for further action according to the regulations.

She affirmed that both councilors and the public will receive fair treatment based on identical evidence, facts, and rules applied equally by the Bangkok City Council.