TAT chief suspended over graft allegations

BANGKOK (AFP): The Thai government has suspended the head of its tourism office, the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), amid graft allegations over a railway construction contract, officials said today. Prime Minister’s office minister Somsak Thepsuthin said TAT governor Pradech Phayakvichien had been suspended and would be investigated over his links to a company that won the contract a decade ago. “We will give him justice, but we have to have an investigation committee to find the facts,” Somsak told reporters without elaborating. Local television reports said Pradech held shares in the unnamed construction company when it won a contract to build a regional light rail system, and later transferred his shares.