“We must expedite the investigation process. There are more than 6,000 vehicles in this group,” Justice Minister General Paiboon Koomchaya said yesterday.

He said he was going to chair the upcoming meeting himself. Representatives from relevant authorities such as the Transport Ministry, the Excise Department, the Revenue Department and the Customs Department will be present.

The Department of Special Investigation (DSI) started investigating luxury vehicles – that are declared on paper as locally assembled and worth over Bt4 million each – in 2010. But to date, the DSI has been able to forward the investigation results of just 548 vehicles to the Customs Department for customs’ calculation.

At present, the Customs Department has completed calculations on just six vehicles with a demand that the owners of these tax-evading automobiles pay a total of Bt3 million in customs fees on top of related fines.

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“With such delays, a minister should of course look into the causes of the delays and help find solutions,” Paiboon said.

Among the luxury vehicles under the DSI’s scrutiny now are ones owned by the acting Supreme Patriarch, Somdej Phra Maha Ratchamangalacharn (Somdej Chuang), and Wat Pailom’s abbot Phra Kru Palad Sitthiwat.

DSI deputy chief Pol Major Suriya Singhakamol yesterday led a team to Wat Pailom so that experts could examine the abbot’s vintage convertible.

Among the team were specialists from Panther and Jaguar.

“We will inform the abbot and the public about the results later,” Suriya said.

According to Phra Kru Palad Sitthiwat, yesterday’s examination was the second time his vehicle had been checked by the DSI team.

Suriya explained that the check in 2010 was just a preliminary examination.

“This time, we carried out a detailed check so as to get as clear information as possible,” he said.