No One Above Law in Local Exam Cheating Probe

On July 16, 2569, the Parliament's Committee on Anti-Corruption and Good Governance, chaired by Asapol Sannaitripon (Sisaket MP, Bhum Jai Thai Party), convened to examine state officials' involvement in fraud during local government recruitment exams. Asapol stated that the committee invited four relevant agencies for details on the exam fraud: the Department of Local Administration, the Central Local Government Employee Examination Committee, the Administrative Court Office secretary, and the anti-corruption organization.

The committee will question the examination committee chair about discrepancies in scores and why the committee has not disqualified cheaters despite evidence of fraud. Yesterday's meeting revealed plans to submit all data to the Central Local Government Personnel Administration Committee to revoke the names of fraudulent candidates next week.

Asapol emphasized that if over 5,000 local government employees are revoked and reserves must be promoted, the committee must verify that no cheaters exist in the reserve list. He noted that a complete recheck of all answer sheets and score rankings is necessary. Regarding the answer file flash drive now held by the anti-corruption agency, Asapol said the committee cannot access it directly, as multiple agencies are investigating to obtain facts for the prime minister.

"Whoever commits wrongdoing is not above the law," Asapol said. "Whether they are politicians or officials ranked higher than directors, once violations are found and proven, they must face punishment."

Asapol also noted that conflicting information was provided by the Department of Local Administration and the Civil Service Commission, with the commission reporting interference from the department. The test office director has already provided this information to the anti-corruption agency.