Officials Face Charges Over Funeral Aid Association Collapse, Massive Financial Losses

Residents from nine provinces filed complaints with police seeking charges against local registrars and committee members of a funeral aid association over its collapse and internal corruption that left citizens unable to receive funeral assistance benefits, resulting in losses totaling billions of baht. The complaint was filed on May 8, 2025 at the Central Investigation Police Bureau (CIB), led by lawyer Rannarong Kaewpetch, chairman of the Justice Recovery Foundation, and accompanied by Krit Silpajai, a Rayong provincial MP from the People's Party, representing affected villagers from Buriram, Phitsanulok, Phetchabun, Maha Sarakham, Nakhon Ratchasima, Rayong, Udon Thani, Sisaket, and Amnat Charoen provinces.

Victims are seeking charges against local registrars and funeral association committee members for allowing the organization to collapse due to internal fraud, leaving residents without funeral assistance payments worth tens of millions of baht in damages. A victim from Nakhon Ratchasima displayed photos of deceased relatives and revealed that his grandmother had died two years ago but he never received a single baht of benefits despite depositing hundreds of thousands of baht into the association. He was forced to borrow money from others to cover funeral expenses and now struggles with debt repayment, while the association claims to be closed with no accountability.

A victim from Udon Thani stated he has battled this problem for over four years, with multiple government agencies aware of the irregularities but taking no action. Provincial governors have issued no clear directives on which agency should oversee funeral associations. He appealed to Deputy Police Commander Jarun Kiatphan to investigate, particularly the local registrars who are administrative leaders, to determine whether they conducted proper oversight of these associations as required by law.

Victims from Maha Sarakham, specifically Wapi Pathumthani District, reported approximately 480 people receiving no assistance with combined losses exceeding 1.4 billion baht. Despite appealing to five provincial agencies, no serious resolution has been achieved, leaving them feeling denied justice.

Krit Silpajai, representing Rayong residents, noted that problems emerged since 2565 (2022) with at least three associations collapsing, causing over one billion baht in damages affecting tens of thousands of people. The province has not seriously addressed this issue. Observers suggest the problem persists due to a patronage system and connections between local and national politicians and the registrars, resulting in inadequate oversight and neglect that has caused extensive public harm.

All victims emphasized they filed complaints with the CIB because they trust the Central Investigation Police Bureau, having been unable to rely on local agencies. They plan to submit the case to the Parliamentary Committee on Social Welfare and the Parliamentary Committee on Law for further investigation. Rannarong stated that today represents seeking justice for the deceased and their families, as despite multiple association collapses, the committee members and local registrar administrators face no accountability.