Lawmaker Attacks DSI Budget, Raises Accountability Concerns

During the September 9 parliamentary session on the 3.78 trillion-baht fiscal year 2570 budget, Rakchonok Srinork of Pheu Thai raised concerns about the DSI's capacity to investigate financial crimes effectively. She noted that 70 percent of the agency's 165 staff identified a critical shortage of financial analysis specialists, ranked as the third-highest organizational risk. Rakchonok questioned whether the DSI possessed genuine expertise in money laundering and fraud investigations, particularly given the stakes of high-profile cases.

She highlighted a 27-million-baht budget allocation for a financial transaction analysis system, expressing concern about who would control its use. Rakchonok then presented photographs of DSI personnel greeting Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul at Buriram Airport, with faces censored, and printed copies of the same image. When Romtham Khamnurak of Bhumi Jai Thai objected that she was off-topic, she countered that she was merely attaching the image to her computer and invited Anutin, as an MP, to clarify who was greeting him.

Rakchonok went on to voice concern about Air Chief Marshal Piya Rukskul, rumored to be the incoming DSI commissioner and a member of the Electoral Commission's 36th adjudication committee investigating fraud allegations. She worried whether the new DSI leadership would use the financial analysis software impartially. When presiding officer Lert Sakdi Pattanachaiyakul cautioned her against naming outsiders, Rakchonok argued she had merely noted publicly available information and highlighted a potential conflict of interest.