Bangkok: "Ice Rakchanok" has raised serious concerns about the potential for corruption within the government's investment budget for infrastructure projects. She highlighted that this budget allocation opens avenues for malfeasance in the construction of buildings, roads, and agricultural water sources.
According to Thai News Agency, Ms. Rakchanok Srinok, a Member of Parliament for Bangkok from the Prachachon Party, criticized Budget 69, pointing out that government corruption results in an annual loss of 500 billion baht. She accused the government of diverting funds meant for public development to contractors within their networks, resulting in substandard infrastructure such as poorly constructed roads and sidewalks. Rakchanok called for a live broadcast of the budget meetings and requested transparency in budget documents to expose these issues.
Ms. Rakchanok stressed the link between corruption and economic stagnation, noting that public sector corruption, especially in procurement, severely impairs economic growth despite large investment expenditures. She questioned why, despite significant investment, the nation's infrastructure lags behind expectations and attributed this shortfall to systemic corruption.
She warned citizens not to be misled by promises of development from government-affiliated MPs, as the actual outcomes often involve poorly executed projects. Rakchanok cited the recurring issues of unmaintained government buildings and ineffective water management projects as examples of how budget allocations are misused.
Highlighting the necessity for reform, Ms. Rakchanok outlined five prevalent corrupt practices in procurement processes: adding unnecessary projects, purchasing overpriced items, locking specifications, manipulated bidding, and contract amendments. She advocated for a comprehensive overhaul of the budgeting process to curtail these malpractices.
Ms. Rakchanok proposed more stringent accountability measures in budget allocations, urging the Budget Bureau to shift focus from project selection to performance evaluation. She suggested public access to budget request data and a live broadcast of Budget Committee meetings to enhance transparency.
In her efforts to reform procurement processes, Ms. Rakchanok recommended the development of a platform akin to e-commerce sites for price comparison, which could potentially prevent price manipulation. She also pushed for the disclosure of critical data, including the e-GP system API and executive and shareholder information, to identify and mitigate risks of collusion and specification locking.
Ms. Rakchanok concluded by calling for a reformed audit system to evaluate the efficacy of budget utilization and prevent recurring corruption. She emphasized the necessity of a government genuinely committed to combating corruption, asserting that corruption hinders Thailand's progress and must be addressed decisively.
Expressing her commitment to anti-corruption efforts, Ms. Rakchanok assured that if her party gains power, they would establish a budget system ensuring that taxpayers' money is spent effectively for national development. She firmly stated her refusal to support the current budget proposal unless it effectively addresses and eradicates corruption.