Bangkok Council President Defends Voting Clip, Park Project Actions

Bangkok Metropolitan Council President Natthaphorn Keng Rungreungchai and Bang Sue district councilor from the Pheu Thai Party clarified facts regarding Democrat Party councilor Niphol Jirakul's allegations about the council president's duties and the Bang Sue district councilor's performance. Natthaphorn affirmed she performed her duties transparently according to regulations and law, questioning the motives behind communications that may mislead the public.

Natthaphorn stated that Niphol, a councilor for multiple terms, should know well that the council president has no authority to interfere or sit on the ethics committee, yet has continuously attempted to link and attack the council president position. She therefore clarified two main issues:

1. Regarding disclosure of the voting clip: Niphol requested the video clip stating the purpose was to file a complaint with the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC), but had already submitted a case to the NACC earlier, allowing the NACC to exercise its authority to request evidence from the Bangkok Metropolitan Council (BMC) directly through normal procedures, just as the BMC had already delivered all evidence to the Ministry of Interior upon request. However, when evidence was requested while the council's investigation process was still ongoing, she as BMC president referred the matter to the ethics committee for consideration and sent a reply letter informing Niphol on October 9, 2026.

2. Natthaphorn explained the ethics committee consists of First Vice President Naris Saengkaew as chair and 14 standing committee chairs as members, totaling 15 people with representatives from every political party, including Democrat Party councilor Pinij Kanchanachusak who joined Niphol's press conference on November 12. Therefore, if Niphol wants a live broadcast of the meeting for transparency or a resolution to hand over the clip, he can coordinate with the Democrat Party representative on the ethics committee to propose it for an independent vote, unrelated to the BMC president.

Regarding the Chotiwat Community Garden renovation project in Bang Sue district, Natthaphorn said in her capacity as Bang Sue district councilor she continuously monitored and inspected budget usage for the Chotiwat Community Garden renovation and other projects in the area. She sent letters to the Bang Sue District Office requesting inspection and correction of construction to meet standards, noting that councilor inspection duties are separate and unrelated to the district office's budget disbursement process to contractors.

Natthaphorn said since the Pheu Thai Party took over the BMC presidency and the Budget Consideration Committee chairmanship, over the first three months they pushed concrete transparency measures including public budget scrutiny events, amendments to meeting regulations to disclose individual councilor voting records, and opening up...