By Pavin Chachavalpongpun
The May 22 military coup in Thailand was justified on the need to fight corruption. Recent events prove that’s a sham.
The pot calling the kettle black is the newest normal in the government of the self-appointed Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha. Claiming to eradicate rampant corruption allegedly cultivated by the supposedly evil Thaksin regime, Prayuth took political power with an adamant mission to cleanse Thai politics. Obviously, blaming Thaksin Shinawatra, Thai premier from 2001-2006, and the recently deposed government of Yingluck Shinawatra, Thaksin’s sister, was a winning tactic to legitimize the coup of May 22.
But as it has turned out, Prayuth’s handpicked Cabinet members are not any more ethical than the supposedly corrupt Shinawatras. Last month, Minister of the Prime Ministerial Office, M.L. Panadda Diskul, an anti-Thaksin and royalist figure, was implicated in a series of corruption allegations. In refurbishing the meeting room at the Government House, he allegedly purchased state-of-the art microphones and electronic curtains at much higher prices than they are normally on sale for on the Internet.
Scrutinized by the public, Panadda, who earlier condemned the Thaksin regime and its infectious corrupt practices, immediately evaded the allegations and disappeared from the public eye. Prayuth solved the issues by returning the expensive microphones and curtains to the company without any serious probes into the murky purchases.
But the latest corruption allegations could seriously pose a challenge to Prayuth’s regime. As part of the terms of being appointed the National Legislative Council (NLC), members are required to reveal their assets and properties to determine if they are “unusually rich.” In the beginning, a number of NLC members were reluctant to disclose their wealth status. For example, Pornpetch Wichitcholchai, president of the NLC, refused to do so, claiming that some of his belongings were “priceless” and therefore their value could not be estimated.
Read the full story at The Diplomat