Baku:Thepthai Senpong has strongly criticized the local government exam cheating scandal, describing it as a significant business operation siphoning off tens of billions of baht. He expressed that the scandal is not only about favoritism but represents a level of corruption unprecedented in history.
According to Thai News Agency, Thepthai shared his views on his Facebook page "Thepthai - Political Talk," where he characterized the cheating on local government exams as shameful and despicable. His comments came in response to reports about the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) releasing three suspects involved in a corruption case concerning recruitment exams for local government employees. The suspects include Mr. Pichit, Mr. Aswin, and Ms. Tosaporn.
Former Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Interior, Mr. Sutthipong Chulacharoen, also expressed his embarrassment over the scandal. He urged current civil servants to address the issue, which prompted comments from several officials. Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Anutin Charnvirakul, along with Deputy Minister Polpeera Suwannachawi, reacted to Mr. Sutthipong's remarks. Polpeera sarcastically noted the "billion-baht permanent secretary" label as even more shameful. Meanwhile, Permanent Secretary Arsit Sampanrat assured that the current ministry leadership is working to resolve the problem.
The Ministry of Interior's official media outlet responded to Mr. Sutthipong's comments by posting messages attacking him and Mr. Nirat Pongsitthaworn, who also commented on the situation. Moreover, Mr. Asaphol Santraiphop, Chairman of the NACC, defended the ministry's politically-affiliated executives.
Thepthai, having previously served in the Ministry of Interior, observed that corruption in recruitment exams has long been an issue, often involving favoritism or nepotism. However, he highlighted that the current scandal involves a massive scale of corruption, affecting hundreds of thousands of test takers and involving over 10 billion baht, marking it as the largest in Thai civil service history. He emphasized that the issue has morphed from favoritism to a business of profiting from recruitment exams, which is not considered a normal situation in the Thai civil service.