PM Srettha faces corruption probe over asset disclosure

Political activist Ruangkrai Leekitwattana is pushing for a corruption investigation against Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, accusing him of failing to fully disclose his assets and previous executive roles.

Ruangkrai announced his petition to the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) to investigate potential inconsistencies in the wealth and former position statements submitted by the Thai premier upon assuming office as prime minister and finance minister nine months ago. The petition was sent to the NACC via express mail service yesterday.

According to Ruangkrai, PM Srettha made another declaration of his wealth and past positions on June 17, as required by law after taking office. This recent declaration reportedly reveals at least two discrepancies when compared with the initial submission from last year.

The value of the Bangkok-born prime minister’s assets remained unchanged at 659,391,610.70 baht, nine months after he assumed office. However, Ruangkrai found two items missing from the prime minister’s asset declaration: digital tokens under the name of SiriHubA worth 2,907 baht and 197,048.69 baht in cash, totalling 199,955.69 baht.

Ruangkrai also highlighted that the NACC’s official website indicated the 62 year old PM held senior executive positions, including president of Sansiri Public Company Limited in 2010 and both chairman and president of the company in 2021. These roles were not mentioned in either of the PM’s asset declarations from last year or June 17.

“It would be inexcusable if Srettha claimed he had forgotten these details, as the company mentioned these top positions in its annual report in April last year.”

Ruangkrai has formally requested the NACC to determine whether the prime minister submitted a complete record of his assets and positions, whether anything was missing from the declaration, or if any items were withheld in violation of NACC law, reported Bangkok Post.

In related news, Thailand’s political landscape is set for a significant shift as the upcoming Constitutional Court ruling on the cases of Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin and the opposition Move Forward Party (MFP) leader next month.