General Prawit was notified on Thursday that he had 15 days to attend a meeting and explain how he came to possess the large diamond ring he wore at a Cabinet meeting last month, NACC secretary-general Worawit Sukboon said.

Because public interest is so keen in Prawit’s ring and more than a dozen high-priced wristwatches, Worawit said, it shouldn’t take long to get the answers and close the case – probably a matter of weeks.

Prawit had late last month submitted a letter to the commission explaining how he came to possess the watches and ring.

He was forced to do so after photos began circulating online and then in the news media of him wearing a sizable diamond ring and a Richard Mille watch that would have cost anywhere from Bt2 million to more than Bt10 million.

Citizens demanded to know how a military and government official earning less than Bt1 million a year could afford such accoutrements and whether he’d declared them as personal assets as required when he was appointed to the Cabinet.

Additional photos of Prawit wearing still more pricey watches on different occasions have since emerged – at least 15 timepieces by most counts, together worth more than Bt17 million.

Worawit declined to disclose the number of watches Prawit listed in his letter to the NACC, saying only that it was “as many as seen in the news”.

Prawit was at the centre of a scandal last year after flying to Hawaii with dozens of officials on a chartered jet. The flight, complete with caviar served as part of the meal, cost taxpayers more than Bt20 million.

Following an investigation by both the NACC and Office of Auditor General, the NACC declared there were no irregularities in that case.