Former Mayor Sentenced to 5 Years for Genie Lamp Streetlight Scheme
Former mayor Somchai was sentenced to five years in prison for embezzling municipal funds allocated for decorative genie lamp streetlights in Samut Prakan Province, marking his second corruption conviction.
On July 7, 2569, a Corruption and Misconduct Court delivered its verdict in a case brought by the Office of the Attorney General against Somchai, former mayor of Rachathewa Subdistrict Municipality in Bang Phli District, Samut Prakan Province, and nine others. They were accused of abusing their official positions, violating the Anti-Corruption Act, and breaching public procurement laws. The defendants were alleged to have jointly created a project to purchase decorative genie lamp-shaped streetlights around 2013 and subsequently reallocated budget funds to the project in 2019 inappropriately.
All 10 defendants denied the charges, though defendants 1-3 admitted to being the same individuals named in related cases. The court found Somchai (defendant 1) and Wasana (defendant 2) guilty under the Criminal Code Section 157 and the Anti-Corruption Act Section 123/1, sentencing each to five years imprisonment. For Somchai, the sentence is to run consecutively after his prison time in case number Ot 53/2568. The court acquitted defendants 3-10 and dismissed other charges. Following the verdict, both convicted defendants posted 400,000 baht bail each pending appeal.
This marks the second conviction for Somchai, who was previously sentenced to four years imprisonment and fined 200,000 baht in June 2568 for another corruption case involving a surveillance camera installation project in 2014 where benchmark pricing was inflated.
