Former senior prosecutor says Thai Airways rehab plan will unveil extensive corruption

“…the public would continue to be kept in the dark, while the parasites carried on sucking the blood out of the airline.”

A former senior crime prosecutor predicts that the rehabilitation plan for Thai Airways is bound to expose extensive corruption in the management of the stricken airline. Posting on his Facebook page, Wanchai Roujanavong says what’s about to come will be the revealing of a veritable Pandora’s Box of dishonesty and bad practice that the public would otherwise never be made aware of.

One example he gives is the allegedly exorbitant fees the carrier paid to lease aircraft, a major reason for its ongoing heavy losses. Leasing arrangements were allegedly conducted through several agents with the approval of the board. Wanchai says that without the approved rehabilitation plan, the public would continue to be kept in the dark, “while the parasites carried on sucking the blood out of the airline.”

A report in Thai PBS World says Wanchai doesn’t see Thai Airways as an isolated case. Rather, he maintains that exposure of corrupt business practices at the airline will shine a spotlight on many other such cases in other government enterprises. As the airline was a state enterprise prior to filing for bankruptcy protection a few weeks ago, anyone involved in corruption will pay a higher price.

Thai Airways also filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protected in the US. The airline is believed to have accrued debts of around 200-300 billion baht.

SOURCE: Thai PBS World