Budget Subcommittee Flags Misaligned Projects Across Ministries
A parliamentary subcommittee member exposed widespread procurement irregularities across Thai government agencies, including IT quotes from real estate firms and duplicate bids submitted under different companies, raising fraud concerns dur
On August 4, 2025, at Parliament, Theerachat Tort-rakul, a former Pheu Thai party list candidate and member of the ICT and Revolving Fund equipment subcommittee of the exceptional budget bill review committee, revealed troubling procurement irregularities. Several state agencies have solicited price quotes from companies outside their fields—for instance, one agency requested IT system pricing from a real estate developer, while another sought 50-million-baht valuations from a private firm with zero revenue. These concerns, he said, received no attention from government-aligned subcommittee members, prolonging deliberations and creating tension.
Theerachat cited the Interior Ministry's 77-province fire suppression system project as an example: each province required different specifications and computer room sizes, yet the proposal submitted to the subcommittee contained no details. He alleged the ministry presented two different bid forms—one to the Budget Bureau and another to the subcommittee. He also described a case where a single individual submitted bids for the same project under two separate companies, presenting clear fraud risks, yet all proposals ultimately passed.
During Interior Ministry budget hearings, a deputy permanent secretary confronted Theerachat when he raised concerns about concealed documents, slapping the table and pointing at him in what he called unacceptable conduct. Frustrated by rushed approvals—some projects approved before the secretary even finished reading their names—Theerachat recorded the proceedings on his phone, prompting the subcommittee to call parliamentary police. He called for live-streaming of all budget review sessions.
Theerachat highlighted more examples of misaligned projects: the Energy Ministry proposing a banana-drying oven (supposedly to educate communities on energy transition), and the Land Reform Office seeking meatball-making and sausage-making machines plus lemongrass cutters, which he found confusing. "It's time to overhaul how these budgets are drafted," he said.
Meanwhile, Navy Captain Kitti Phiyawanna, a Pheu Thai list MP and member of the annual expenditure budget committee, noted that the Department of Provincial Administration repeatedly requested overlapping network equipment across projects. Adopting the government's "Cloud First" policy, he argued, would achieve significant savings.
