OAG seeks guidance on PTT case

“The final answer will come from the Council of State,” Auditor-General Pisit Leelavachiropas said yesterday.

The result will come out soon, he said. 

The Office insisted to the government’s legal counsel that the offshore gas pipelines should be transferred to the state, as rights-of-way for such pipelines and other infrastructure are the responsibility of the state.

An inspection by the OAG’s Office found that PTT had handed over only onshore pipelines worth Bt16.18 billion, but not yet onshore and offshore gas pipelines worth Bt32.61 billion. 

The Office has reported the results of its inspection to the Cabinet secretariat and the secretary-general of the Supreme Administrative Court to execute the case. 

However, PTT cited the Supreme Administrative Court’s opinion that the court and the Finance Ministry insisted that the separation and transfer of PTT’s assets to the ministry were complete. The OAG’s Office then asked the Council of State for a final interpretation and asked the ministry in writing to review its opinion,

Pisit also expects to conclude the inspection of the Bt1,000-per-rai payments totalling Bt40 billion to farmers within one month before sending the information to the Anti-Corruption Network of Thailand and the government. The payments are based on an outdated and incorrect database of farmers, which is the same for the income-guarantee project, and this could lead to corruption, as some of those in the database do not have growing areas, he said.

Starting this week, the OAG’s Office and three other units – the Public Sector Anti-Corruption Commission, the Anti-Money Laundering Office and the Department of Special Investigation – will inspect the payments. The inspection will not delay the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives’ pay-outs to farmers, he said.