Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha insisted on Friday that he had no plan to reshuffle his Cabinet after the no-confidence debate this week.
“Ihaven’t thought about that,” the prime minister said when asked by reporters about the possibility of a shakeup in his ministerial lineup.
He was responding to speculation about imminent changes in the Cabinet.
“You know who is empowered to do the reshuffle,” Prayut said.
The prime minister is authorised by law to make appointments and changes to his Cabinet.
It has been reported that factions in the main coalition parties, Palang Pracharath and Democrat, are pushing for certain ministers to be replaced.
Prayut and 10 other Cabinet ministers are being grilled by opposition MPs in the ongoing censure debate in Parliament, which started on Tuesday and ends on Friday. A post-debate vote is scheduled for Saturday.
The government is making constant efforts to boost the country’s digital economy, Digital Economy and Society Minister Chaiwut Thanakamanusorn said on Wednesday.
He made the remark during the censure debate after Pheu Thai Party’s Loei MP Saran Timsuwan accused Chaiwut of his failure in dealing with various types of cybercrimes, such as call centre scams, data hacking and online gamblings.
Saran claimed that Chaiwut focused on using his authority to protect the government’s stability until cybercrimes caused people to be at risk of losing properties, and damaged the country’s economy.
“Thailand has become a country that draws scammers to seek benefits, but we haven’t seen the government’s efforts to deal with them,” Saran said.
He added that call-centre scams also lead to human trafficking as many people have been deceived into becoming a part of call-centre gangs to continue scamming.
Chaiwut denied Saran’s accustations, saying that every country faces similar issues in the internet era.
He said many committes have been formed to deal with cybercrimes so far, such as the National Cyber Security Committee that is responsible for supervising agencies possessing important data, such as financial institutions and hospitals.
He added that Thailand has enforced the Personal Data Protection Act on June 1 to protect people’s personal data while performing online transactions.
“I admit that call centre scams are a big issue because I have received a lot of complaints so far,” he said.
“What I want to do is arrest call-centre gangs. It would be easy if call-centre gangs lived in Thailand, but they live in neighbouring countries.”
He added that the ministry has cooperated with Cambodian agencies to tackle call-centre scams.
He also confirmed that the government led by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha wants to deal with this issue as soon as possible.
Apart from protecting people from cybercrimes, this move will also help boost confidence among business operators, stimulate the digital economy and generate revenue for Thais, he added.
Transport Minister Saksayam Chidchob vehemently denied on Wednesday that he owned a construction firm that won 1 billion baht worth of projects from his ministry in the past two years.
Saksayam, a main censure target on the first day of the no-confidence debate on Tuesday, was responding to allegations by Move Forward party-list MP Pakornwut Udompipatskul and Prachachart Party secretary-general and list MP Tawee Sodsong.
The two alleged Saksayam used a nominee to hold 99 per cent of shares in Buri Charoen Construction and the nominee was none other than his employee.
But Saksayam insisted the company was owned by his friend, Supawat Kasemsut.
He said Supawat transferred the money to him on three different occasions – first 35 million baht, then another 35 million and subsequently 49 million for the shares worth 119.5 million baht.
Saksayam said the sale of shares had no documentary record because Business Development Department rules exempted the submission of such documents.
“The company was sold on March 28, 2019, and it has nothing to do with me now,” Saksayam insisted.
The minister said he did not report the proceeds from the sale of the company to the National Anti-Corruption Commission because the sale took place before he became transport minister on May 5, 2019.
The opposition also alleged that Buri Charoen Construction bagged a lot of Transport Ministry projects because of “bidding collusion”, but Saksayam dismissed the allegations.
He said it was impossible for any rigging to take place at the Transport Ministry because his ministry used an e-bidding system to prevent collusion and the ministry would severely punish any wrongdoers.
Saksayam also dismissed allegations that the Transport Ministry shelled out an unusually high amount of the construction budget to Buri Ram.
He said the ministry’s projects were proposed by the Highways Department and the Rural Roads Department, and they were screened by several levels of officials, including the permanent secretary.
During the past ten years, Buri Ram has received a lower budget under the Transport Ministry compared to allocations to other provinces such as Ayuthaya, Nakhon Pathom and Nakhon Ratchasima, Saksayam said.
He explained that Buri Ram would receive a high portion of the budget in fiscal 2023 because it had been given a lower portion of money for development in previous years.
Saksayam said some construction projects in the 2023 fiscal year were continued from earlier ones that started before he became the transport minister.
He added that the Highways Department and the Rural Roads Department complied with the law and bidding regulations and there were up to 35 construction contractors that won projects from the two departments, not just Buri Charoen Construction.
Responding to the allegation that his father, Chai Chidchob, encroached on a plot of land owned by the State Railway of Thailand (SRT), Saksayam admitted that his father did live on a disputed plot of land on Buri Ram’s Kradong Mountain.
But, Saksayam said, his father had filed a lawsuit with the Central Administrative Court against the SRT and the Land Department to claim ownership and the court had accepted the case for review.
The minister said his father lived on a different plot and not the one involved in a Supreme Court case that the SRT had won after an ownership dispute, so the opposition has cited inaccurate information, he said.
Saksayam also denied that development projects under the Motorway-Rail Map masterplan would overlap with existing transport projects.
He denied that the masterplan had already commissioned a huge budget of 5.77 trillion baht. He said the plan was aimed at solving transport problems by systematically linking all major routes around the country and investments would be carried out gradually.
In conclusion, Saksayam said the opposition spent more than four hours attacking him but failed to provide correct and comprehensive information to the public.
The Buri Charoen Construction Co Ltd, which won projects worth over 1 billion baht from Transport Ministry, came under attack in Parliament with the opposition targeting Transport Minister Saksayam Chidchob on Tuesday.
Firing the salvos against Saksayam was Move Forward party-list MP Pakornwut Udompipatskul.
Pakornwut alleged that Saksayam had continued to own Buri Charoen Construction through a nominee and had granted construction projects of his ministry to the firm.
– Buri Charoen was established in 1996 with the Chidchob family holding 80 per cent of shares.
– Buri Charoen’s office was Saksayam’s home address.
– When he took a political position, Saksayam offloaded all his shares in Buri Construction and the company’s office was moved elsewhere.
– In 2015, when the National Council for Peace and Order was in power, Saksayam retook almost complete ownership of Buri Charoen.
– Saksayam increased the firm’s registered capital to 120 billion baht and moved the company’s address back to his home.
– In 2018, before the general election, Saksayam offloaded all shares and transferred the company’s address elsewhere just 23 days before he became transport minister.
The Creden Data online database of the Business Development Department revealed the following key information related to Buri Charoen Construction Co Ltd:
– Supawat Kasemsut, 159.496 million baht investment
– Parichart Khansen, 1,000 baht investment
– Ekkarat Chidchob, 1,000 baht investment
– Warangsiri Rakiti, 1,000 baht investment
– Napaporn Sisaeng, 1,000 baht investment
– Ananyalak Charoendej, 1,000 baht investment
Changes in authorised capital:
▪︎ March 8, 1996: Buri Charoen Construction was registered with 30 million baht authorised capital
▪︎June 18, 2002: Authorised capital increased to 40 million baht
▪︎April 1, 2003: Authorised capital increased to 66 million baht but was then reduced to 40 million baht
▪︎March 27, 2015: Authorised capital decreased to 25.501 million baht
▪︎April 2, 2015: Authorised capital increased to 65.501 million baht
▪︎October 9, 2015: Authorised capital increased to 119.501 million baht
▪︎May 8, 2019: Authorised capital increased to 159.501 million baht
Current directors:
– Supawat Kasemsut
– Parichart Khansen
– Ekkarat Chidchob
– Warangsiri Rakiti
Changes to company’s directors:
2020:
– Napaporn Sisaeng
– Ananyalak Charoendej
– Warangsiri Rakiti
– Parichart Khansen
– Ekkarat Chidchob
– Supawat Kasemsut
2021:
Ananyalak Charoendej and Napaporn Sisaeng resigned.
Record of projects won from the state from 2015-22
– 296 projects
– Total value: 3.262 billion baht
During the period, the company won 47 projects from the Transport Ministry worth 1.088 billion baht with details as follows:
2021:
• Buri Charoen Construction won 23 projects from the Transport Ministry worth 595.65 million baht. They comprised 8 projects of the Highways Department worth 274.43 million baht and 15 projects of the Rural Roads Department worth 321.22 million baht.
2022:
• The company won 24 projects from the Transport Ministry worth 493.56 million baht. They comprised 9 projects of the Highways Department worth 221.97 million baht and 15 projects of the Rural Roads Department worth 271.59 million baht.
The company’s financial statement for 2021 showed:
Transport Minister Saksayam Chidchob was grilled by opposition MPs, who accused him of concealing his assets and allegedly using a nominee to hide ownership of a company to win ministry construction projects.
Saksayam was attacked on Tuesday, the first day of the four-day censure debate, in an opposition strategy to “terminate heads of pillars” that support the government of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha. Saksayam is the secretary-general of coalition partner Bhumjaithai Party.
Move Forward party-list MP Pakornwut Udompipatskul launched the bombardment, which was reinforced by Prachachart Party secretary-general and list MP Tawee Sodsong, who concluded that the transport minister allegedly lacked integrity and practised corruption, so he deserved to be removed from office.
Pakornwut alleged Saksayam owned Buri Charoen Construction Co Ltd but he used an employee as a nominee to conceal ownership.
The Move Forward MP said Saksayam allegedly violated the Constitution and the law to allow his company to win construction projects from the Transport Ministry.
Pakornwut claimed Buri Charoen Construction was registered in 1996, with the Chidchob family holding 80 per cent of its shares. The company initially used Saksayam’s home address at its official address.
Later on, when Saksayam got a political post, he allegedly transferred all of his shares to others and the company moved its office to another place when the National Council for Peace and Order seized power. After the NCPO was dissolved, Saksayam allegedly became the biggest shareholder of the company again in 2015, holding almost 100 per cent of shares. He also increased the firm’s capital fund to 120 million baht and moved the company’s office back to his house, Pakornwut alleged.
In 2018, when it was announced that a new general election would be held, Saksayam allegedly transferred all of his shares to a nominee the following day and again shifted Buri Charoen’s address from his house. The share transfer and address change occurred just 23 days before Saksayam became the transport minister, Pakornwut claimed.
The Move Forward MP said he suspected that the share transfer came under a nominee because there was no evidence of stock trade between the transport minister and the buyer. Pakornwut said the buyer also appeared to be an employee of Saksayam.
Pakornwut said there was no record of whether the shares were sold with a value higher or lower than the initial 120 million baht value and the new shareholder did not report any profit.
He claimed Saksayam himself did not report the proceeds from the share sale as part of his assets in his financial statement submitted to the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) in 2019.
“In 2019, you [Saksayam] filed a statement saying you had assets worth 115 million baht without debt. You said you had deposits and cash of 76 million baht and you said you acquired all the assets before 2018. The question is where the 120 million baht from the share trade has gone,” Pakornwut said during the debate.
Apart from the alleged concealment of assets, Pakornwut claimed Saksayam also had Buri Charoen win construction projects from his own Transport Ministry.
The Move Forward MP said Buri Charoen won more than 1 billion baht worth of projects from the ministry and several projects were apparently won with “irregularities because the company proposed prices just 0.3 per cent lower than the median prices”. Worse still, Pakornwut went on to allege, the bidding of such projects had only one rival, which was a firm that donated 5 million baht to the Bhumjaithai in 2019.
“Anyone would say that this kind of bidding was a collusion. It was apparent. It’s already wrong for you to have your company win projects from the ministry that you head but the firm was also clearly involved in bidding collusion,” Pakornwut said.
Pakornwut noted that the alleged nominee reported a suspiciously low income, yet he could buy a plot of land from Chai Chidchob, Saksayam’s father, and also purchase shares from Saksayam himself.
Pakornwut said the nominee had his name as a director of four companies but three others were not active.
The Move Forward MP added that information from the Office of the Social Security Fund and the Revenue Department showed the new Buri Charoen “owner” had only “revenue” of some 100,000 baht a year from 2015 to 2020, or about 9,000 baht a month.
Pakornwut said the income of the alleged nominee was a monthly salary from Silachai Buri Ram (1991) Co Ltd, which he claimed was owned by the Chidchob family. Saksayam was a director of Silachai Buri Ram in 2015, Pakornwut also claimed.
He said Silachai’s 2018 and 2019 books showed this employee, who became the new owner of Buri Charoen, also became a creditor of Silachai for 221.5 million baht. The books in 2021 showed Silachai still owed 250.2 million baht to this employee, Pakornwut said.
He noted that it was suspicious that while Silachai was heavily in debt, it still donated 4.7 million baht to Bhumjaithai in 2019 and another 2.77 million baht in 2020.
Pakornwut alleged Buri Charoen also donated 4.8 million baht to Bhumjaithai and the company granted a 100 million baht loan to Silachai in 2020 and 2021.
The Move Forward MP described the alleged nominee as “Mr A”.
In conclusion, Pakornwut said the suspicious transactions would immediately make sense if Mr A was Saksayam.
Then, Tawee rose to reinforce Pakornwut’s claims, with more details and graphic illustrations.
Tawee alleged the transfer of Buri Charoen’s 99.99 per cent shares to Mr A was fake to conceal alleged ownership by Saksayam because the transport minister did not receive any money from the share sale and there were no bank statements to prove the transactions and no tax was paid from the proceeds.
Tawee said Saksayam violated Section 187 of the Constitution, which prohibits a minister from being a partner or shareholder of a company.
After Saksayam became the transport minister, Buri Charoen won state construction projects worth 2.21 billion baht from 2019 to 2022, Tawee claimed.
He said the Transport Ministry’s budget for Buri Ram has also risen. For fiscal 2013 alone, the ministry would shell out 5.97 billion baht to Buri Ram, Tawee said.
The opposition has “enough information” to substantiate suspicion that Saksayam owns Buri Charoen through a nominee, Tawee said.
He alleged that Saksayam also violated Section 84 of the charter by becoming a contractor in state projects.
Tawee said the opposition would ask the NACC to conduct a probe against the transport minister.
“As a result, Saksayam is not qualified to be a cabinet member because he still holds shares in a company and had the company become a contractor with the state,” Tawee alleged.
“He acted in a way that lacked integrity, morality and ethics. He [allegedly] violated political ethics and interfered to help affiliates and his political party reap benefits from the state agencies he supervised. He [allegedly] abused power to allow himself and his affiliates to reap benefits from state projects. He failed to supervise his ministry to conduct a fair bidding. So, we see that his office as the transport minister must be terminated in accordance with Section 170 of the charter,” Tawee concluded.
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha Tuesday hit back at the leader of the opposition, saying his censure debate arguments were mostly full of wrong information.
Prayut rose to respond after opposition leader and Pheu Thai Party leader Cholnan Srikaew finished his speech at the start of the four-day censure debate. The debate will continue until Friday night and voting will be held on Saturday.
“From what I heard in the debate, not all the information was true. And actually, the debate had no correct information so, I, as the prime minister, must give an explanation,” Prayut said.
The prime minister said the opposition leader should have treated the government leader with due respect instead of trying to slander him.
“Actually, the use of rhetoric to sound satirical against others should not have happened in Parliament,” Prayut said.
In one of many attacks, Cholnan said Prayut should not have assigned the National Security Council, which is in charge of security and stability, to deal with economic issues.
Prayut said Cholnan’s allegation that the economic panel of the NSC was full of generals with no knowledge of economics was wrong. Instead, Prayut said the panel is full of economic experts.
Prayut said the NSC has to monitor economic affairs as well because modern threats involved the economy as well.
“It was necessary to use the military mechanisms and emergency law to run the country,” Prayut said.
He said all military mechanisms can be used to run the country as long as the use would not affect the people’s rights. He said past governments did not use military mechanisms because they did not trust the military.
“Would you be able to sit here now without the soldiers and police taking care of the country?” Prayut replied to Cholnan.
The prime minister said he hoped to see the debate during the next four days be based on academic principle, reason and correct information as well as show an understanding towards each other.
“I can’t say I’m the best prime minister with the best performance, but I can hereby affirm that much of what you’ve said was not true,” Prayut said.
Responding to the attack that the government had failed to tackle the rising prices of consumer goods, Prayut said his government had put in place measures to tackle the issue in a complete loop. He said the government has launched several measures to try to tackle poverty and solve the issue of household debt, teachers’ debt, and students’ debt to the education loan fund.
He said his government has spent a lot of money to launch various projects to take care of Thai citizens. The prime minister admitted that some economic woes continued but many had improved.
“For example, the commerce minister has reported that almost all cash crops have seen rising prices, including sugarcane, tapioca, oil palm, and corns. Farmers are now happy,” Prayut said.
He admitted that his government had used up almost all its borrowings, but the loan money has been spent to help provide compensation to some 55 million people affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.
He said the government had not spent the money to buy votes in advance but to arrange financial assistance packages for affected people to help them survive the economic crisis.
The prime minister said his government has allocated some 150 billion baht to purchase Covid vaccines and carry out other necessary measures to prevent people from getting severe disease or getting killed because of Covid.
Prayut also said Cholnan had wrongly quoted him as saying he wanted to stay in power for two more years. He said his statement, which Cholnan had cited, instead informed the public which government projects would yield results in the next two years.
The opposition leader lambasted Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha for leading an ailing government that has done more harm than good to the country, as the censure debate kicked off on Tuesday.
Pheu Thai Party leader Cholnan Srikaew referred to the Prayut government using the “608” term coined by the Public Health Ministry to describe groups vulnerable to Covid-19.
The no-confidence debate against Prayut and 10 other ministers opened in Parliament at 9.41am.
Cholnan said Prayut regularly erred in governing the country and lacked wisdom, knowledge, efficiency, responsibility and leadership.
“He is a handicapped leader who clings on to power. He doesn’t respect the rule of law, lacks ethics and morality and has made severe mistakes on all fronts of the country’s administration,” the opposition leader said in his opening speech.
Cholnan also alleged that Prayut had turned a blind eye to alleged corruption by his affiliates.
He said during the past eight years of Prayut’s rule – four years as post-coup leader and four years as head of the elected government – the prime minister had aggravated the grievances of the people.
“He used mechanisms to perpetuate power with a goal of wiping out political enemies and opponents,” Cholnan said.
“If he was politically mature, he would have admitted that all the damage to the country during the past eight years was caused by himself alone,” he added.
The Pheu Thai leader said the opposition regarded coalition partners as pillars supporting the Prayut government, so the censure debate would also aim at removing the heads of coalition parties to destroy the pillars.
“Since the coalition partners are expected to continue to serve as the pillars by refraining from casting a vote of no-confidence against Prayut, we must destroy the heads of the pillars to remove the Prayut government from office.”
He said the opposition would do its best in performing its duty to the public over the next four days of debate.
Cholnan said the government had failed to generate more income for the country but Prayut had appointed himself as chief of the economic team because “he is addicted to power”.
“I’ve visited the people out there and they call the Prayut government the ‘608 administration’ which is severely ill. So, should we allow this kind of government to continue to run the country?” Cholnan asked.
He said the government had ruined the country’s economy and almost maximised public debt every year, thus risking the financial status of the country.
Cholnan also alleged that the 2023 budget had been directed towards provinces of certain Cabinet members to shore up their popularity ahead of the general election next year.
He went on to say that Prayut had violated democracy by abusing his power to interfere in Parliament’s deliberation of MPs election bill. He alleged that Prayut had ordered coalition MPs to vote for the party-list calculation that favours micro-parties over fear that his political rivals would win a landslide victory in the election.
“The most shameful thing was the order from Government House to adopt the divide-by-500 formula [instead of by 100],” Cholnan said.
“The opposition may not win the censure showdown in terms of votes in the House, but the power belongs to the people. If the prime minister is not toppled in the House, he will fall in the election. So, you [Prayut] should not stay as the ‘608’ leader of a government that continues to destroy the country,” he concluded.
People can follow live the censure debate against the government via Parliament’s television channel, radio, website, YouTube and Facebook.
The censure debate targeting Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and 10 other ministers will take place from Tuesday to Friday, with MPs due to vote on Saturday.
During the four-day debate, the opposition party will have 11 hours daily to target the PM and his ministers, while the Cabinet and the ruling coalition party will have two hours daily to reply.
The debate on Tuesday is focusing on two ministers — Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul and Transport Minister Saksayam Chidchob.
People can follow the debate via the following channels:
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha on Monday expressed confidence that he and his 10 Cabinet ministers will be able to answer the questions of the opposition during the four-day censure showdown.
Prayut was speaking to reporters after chairing the weekly Cabinet meeting. The meeting was moved up a day from Tuesday when the no-confidence debate will start. The debate will continue until Friday and the no-confidence voting will be held on Saturday.
Prayut said he had held discussions with leaders and secretaries-general of coalition partners and Cabinet members and told them to get ready for the censure showdown.
“I told them to prepare information on various issues with clear presentations so that they can explain during the censure debate,” Prayut said.
“I believe all of them can answer questions regarding all issues during the debate.”
But the prime minister said speakers during the censure debate must be careful not to cause damage to the country and the administration of the nation, as well as Thailand’s ties with foreign allies.
“Please use utmost caution during this debate because we are not in a normal situation. We’re in a global crisis. Please also take into account foreign situations in Asean and in other regions.
“All groups have problems. So, we, as a member of the international community, must consider what can be done and what can’t.”
Prayut added that his government would try to solve as many issues as possible for the people because his administration’s main goal is to serve the public.
Nation TV will join with three other TV channels, academics from four universities, and civil society groups to hold a public “no-confidence vote” in parallel with the censure vote in the House on Saturday.
Nation TV, Thairath TV, Work Point TV and PPTV will broadcast the parallel vote by members of the public, which is being organised by a May 1992 foundation along with other civil groups and academics from four universities.
Prinya Thewanaruemitkul, a legal scholar leader and leader of the foundation, said the four universities supporting the project to encourage public participation in politics are Thammasat, Nida (National Institute of Development Administration), Srinakharinwirot and Rangsit.
The censure debate targeting PM Prayut Chan-o-cha and 10 other ministers will be held from Tuesday to Friday, with MPs due to vote on Saturday.
Prinya said members of the public would be invited to vote in parallel to promote democratic participation.
The four TV stations will display a QR code that links to a web page for members of the public to cast their votes on individual censure targets.
Each mobile phone or device that scans the code can be used to vote just once.
The public censure vote will start at 6pm on Friday and end at 11am on Saturday – the same time that voting by MPs will close.
The results of the public vote will be broadcast on the four TV stations in parallel with the voting results by coalition and opposition MPs, Prinya said.
This would be the first time the public has been able to participate in a censure vote through online channels, he said, adding that the event aimed to promote a democratic mindset among people.
Pakornwut claimed Buri Charoen Construction was registered in 1996, with the Chidchob family holding 80 per cent of its shares. The company initially used Saksayam’s home address at its official address.
Then, Tawee rose to reinforce Pakornwut’s claims, with more details and graphic illustrations.
In one of many attacks, Cholnan said Prayut should not have assigned the National Security Council, which is in charge of security and stability, to deal with economic issues.
The prime minister said he hoped to see the debate during the next four days be based on academic principle, reason and correct information as well as show an understanding towards each other.
The Pheu Thai leader said the opposition regarded coalition partners as pillars supporting the Prayut government, so the censure debate would also aim at removing the heads of coalition parties to destroy the pillars.
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