2 Chon Buri officials arrested for allegedly taking bribes

2 Chon Buri officials were arrested this week by anti-corruption police for allegedly taking bribes for a construction project.

67 year old Mr Payon, the chief executive of the Nong Hong subdistrict office, and the 51 year old head of engineering Mr. Boonmee from the same subdistrict, were arrested for allegedly taking bribes. Their full names were not provided to the media.

Their arrests follow a complaint that was made to the anti-corruption division.

The person who filed the complaint, alleges that Payon requested 100,000 baht to sanction a modification document for the building project he was working on.

However, the complainant was able to haggle the price down to 80,000 baht. The complaint says that they had already made sure everything was legal in the building contract, and the terms and conditions as set by Thai law were accurate.

The alleged bribe seekers said to the victim that they would still need to pay if they wanted approval on their project. The complaint then did their haggling and filed their subsequent police report.

The anti-corruption division then led a sting operation wherein the complainant helped record, on video, the alleged bribe being requested and accepted. Also captured on video was the incriminating handing over of money to the alleged criminals.

The alleged criminals were then taken to a local police station for further legal proceedings.

The anti-corruption division did volunteer whether the alleged criminal act would cost the officials their jobs or not.

The subjects have not said how they plan to plea to the charges.

SOURCE: The Phuket News