Lawmaker Questions Military's Budget Spending Claims

During the September 7 parliamentary session reviewing the 3.78 trillion baht fiscal budget bill for fiscal year 2570, Bangkok MP Chaiyphol Sattondi of the Pracharaj Party challenged Defence Ministry spending under Article 8. The Army's sustainable tourism development project allocated 4.294 million baht for purchasing large service vehicles, constructing parking facilities, installing 1,000-liter water tanks, and building structures for breeding fish stock. Chaiyphol questioned whether these were legitimate military duties or tourism operations. He also examined the Army Engineering budget, which allocated 78 million baht for 13 new service vehicles, 5 million baht for spare parts and repairs for 40 existing vehicles, and 94 million baht for repairs on 120 vehicles, totaling 173 vehicles and over 178 million baht ostensibly for tactical support and road construction.

Chaiyphol further noted that while military committees discussed the Wildlife Battalion's continued use of elephants to transport supplies into forests, the Army Engineering budget appeared designed to build roads to make this operation easier. He questioned whether the vehicles and equipment purchased with these budgets were genuinely for transporting personnel and military equipment or served other purposes. He argued that the Defence Ministry appeared to be exploiting military hardship as justification for unrestricted spending without proper accountability or verification, calling for scrutiny of whether budget allocations actually matched their stated purposes or were simply being diverted without oversight.