Lawmaker Calls to Cut Constitutional Court Training Budget by 7.9 Million Baht
A Thai lawmaker sought to slash 7.9 million baht from the Constitutional Court's leadership training program, arguing it amounts to taxpayer-funded networking among senior officials rather than genuine public benefit.
On September 10, 2569, parliament convened to debate the fiscal year 2570 budget bill of 3.78 trillion baht. During Section 31 deliberations on court agency spending, Panida Mongkhonsawat, a Samut Prakan MP from the Pheu Chart Party, moved to cut 7.9 million baht from the Constitutional Court's "Principles of Justice for Democracy" (PJD) training programme. She argued the funds represent taxpayer money being used to create networks among senior leaders. The programme budget includes 3.315 million baht for domestic and foreign study trips, plus 800,000 baht for curriculum assessment consultants.
Panida questioned what public benefit could be measured from the spending, saying the clearest outcome was that 52 high-ranking officials gathered at taxpayer expense to form a network within the Constitutional Court. She noted that participants include Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, Senate members, senior military officers, police, prosecutors, judges, and Election Commission Secretary Wissanu Krea-ngam, as well as Corrections Department Director General Piya Raksukul. She argued the court should remain above such networks rather than creating them with public funds, risking damage to public confidence in the justice system.
Monporn Charoen-sri, a Nakhon Phanom MP from the Pheu Thai Party and deputy chair of the budget subcommittee, defended the programme as an attempt by the Constitutional Court to foster cooperation among agency heads. However, the subcommittee had already begun trimming the budget due to concerns about why the court needed to build external connections and questions about whether foreign travel and consultant fees could be reduced further.
