Deputy PM Delays Answer on Ex-Finance Official's US Sanctions
A Democrat MP questioned Deputy PM Ekniti on the government's response to US sanctions against a former Finance Ministry official allegedly tied to transnational scams, but Ekniti deferred his answer citing urgent business.
At 10:30 a.m. on September 24, during a parliamentary session chaired by House Speaker Sophon Satharyunyong, Democrat list MP Korn Chatikvanicha posed an urgent question to Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Ekniti Nitivattananon about the investigation of former Finance Ministry deputy secretary Verapak Thanyanvong, whose name the U.S. authorities flagged for possible sanctions based on alleged involvement with transnational scam criminal networks, and about the oversight of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Speaker Sophon announced that Ekniti was occupied with urgent business and requested to defer the response, but allowed Korn to lodge the question with the Finance Ministry.
Korn argued that he wanted to question Thailand's process: if the U.S. authorities had requested Thai government cooperation to investigate Verapak, what is the government's and Finance Ministry's position? He also raised concerns about the SEC's slow law enforcement, questioning whether the government had followed up or whether it was satisfied with the delays. He noted that while Thai law is comprehensive, white-collar crime, corruption, and securities fraud cases show poor results despite legal authority being in place. "The current SEC chair has a history of suspicious involvement in signing an MOU with a gray-capital group," Korn said. "I want to ask whether the work is genuine or if there is a conflict of interest related to persons being prosecuted."
