Lawmaker Urges End to Agriculture Ministry's Aquarium Building Spree

On September 8, 2025, the House of Representatives debated the fiscal year 2570 budget bill worth 3.78 trillion baht. At 11:05 a.m., Bangkok MP Suphanat Mainchainant of the People's Party raised concerns about Article 14 covering the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives and its agencies, allocated 53,050 million baht. He noted that his monitoring of the Department of Fisheries budget found wasteful construction projects, particularly 16 aquariums under fisheries management that show no sign of stopping. This has locked in significant budget commitments for aquarium development across provinces such as Udon Thani (594 million baht in committed funds), Rayong (375 million in renovation funds), Phayao, Roi Et, and Nakhon Pathom. Suphanat questioned whether the department had become an aquarium operator rather than a fisheries agency.

"These projects should be done with private partners, not government agencies handling everything themselves," Suphanat stated.

He further noted that the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives operates 17,000 buildings across 13 units—far more than necessary. The Department of Agricultural Extension alone has 3,800 buildings, the Rice Department 2,100, and the Department of Livestock Development 2,000. With the entire Thai civil service managing 100,000 buildings, Suphanat warned this creates a serious long-term budget crisis. Future spending will increasingly shift toward maintenance rather than new projects, raising costs for upkeep, water, and utilities by an estimated 1,000 million baht or more.

"If the Ministry of Agriculture continues this approach, there's no chance farmers will see higher incomes," Suphanat said. "I propose cutting 1.1 percent of the budget—600 million baht—equivalent to the combined spending on the new aquariums in Udon Thani and Rayong."