Interior Ministry Budget Misspent, Lawmaker Demands Overhaul

On September 9 at Parliament, the House of Representatives debated the draft fiscal 2570 budget bill for 3.78 trillion baht in its second and third readings, following the special committee's review.

Democrat MP Chaiyachon Detdecho, deputy party leader, argued that the Interior Ministry's 227 billion baht budget continues to be allocated incorrectly and fails to genuinely improve public welfare.

He raised three major issues: First, drug rehabilitation programs lack post-treatment monitoring, resulting in 70–80% relapse rates that burden local and district budgets indefinitely. He proposed redirecting cut provincial budgets to strengthen this area instead.

Second, emergency relief and infrastructure projects show severe corruption. Inspections revealed inflated specifications—for example, 100 cubic meters of stone delivered as only 50–70 cubic meters, or 1,000 cubic meters of excavation completed as merely 500 cubic meters. Flood-affected residents are left with substandard roads and structures.

Third, regarding personnel and budgets in the three southernmost border provinces, he requested central government verification of actual staff, volunteers, and employees assigned to border areas. Field inspections at checkpoints found some officials unable to state their own job titles, raising questions about their legitimacy. He also demanded an audit of the Department of Public Administration's 400 million baht body armor purchase to verify delivery and actual use.

"I propose cutting the Interior Ministry budget by 10% to redirect wastefully spent funds to proper use," Chaiyachon said. "I don't want to think that future Interior Ministry permanent secretaries and provincial governors must travel to border zones, go watch motorcross races and football matches just to advance their careers. Has the Interior Ministry become a power-brokering center?"