Luxury house in US belongs to my son, says Bangkok governor

Bangkok governor Chadchart Sittipunt yesterday insisted he has nothing to hide after it became public knowledge his family owns a luxury house in the US worth 72 million baht.

The 56 year old city chief says the 4-bedroomed house on South Jackson Street, Seattle, Washington, belongs to his son, Sanpiti Sittipunt. Chadchart added the property, with 2 floors covering 302 square metres, was bought with his son’s money inherited from his grandmother.

The newly elected governor clarified the ownership issue in an interview on a TV programme called Inside Thailand, which was broadcast on Kom Chad Luek, after a picture of the house was shared widely on social media.

It is alleged social media commentators questioned whether Chadchart had declared the house as assets to the National Anti-Corruption Commission.

The Bangkok-born politician was happy to clarify his position on the programme stating that 10 years ago him and his twin brother, Chanchai Sittipunt, the dean of Chulalongkorn University’s Faculty of Medicine, inherited 1600 square metres of land each in the Rama IV area of the city from their mother.

Chadchart says he transferred his share of the land to his son, Sanpiti Sittipunt. The land was later sold and the money was used to buy the Seattle house for US$1.4 million in 2018, around 40 million baht at the time, when his son went to study in the US.

The house ownership was originally in the name of his wife, Poramintiya Sittipunt, because his son had not reached legal age, before it was transferred to Sanpiti on May 4 this year.

“There is clear evidence for all the transactions and they can be verified online. My son is the real owner because we used his money to buy it. This is a straightforward matter.

“I hereby affirm that I have done nothing wrong. I have clear evidence. I have informed the NACC about the land inheritance. I have evidence that I transferred the land ownership to my son. I have evidence of a court order for us to take care of the money from the land sale on behalf of his son because Sanpiti had not reached legal age at that time.

“When the house was bought, we transferred his money to buy it and we have evidence of the transaction. You can also check at what price we bought the house.”

SOURCE: The Nation