DSI says Democrat government's rice sale fishy

DSI director-general Tarit Pengdith told a press conference on Wednesday that the agency’s investigation discovered that the rice sale benefited the nine exporters, as no bidding was called to get the best prices possible for the government’s rice. He said it was found that then deputy prime minister Trairong Suwankhiri, who was in charge of the National Rice Policy Committee, ordered the sale.
The DSI would next week submit its findings to the National Anti-Corruption Commission, in addition to the information it had provided to the anti-graft agency, according to Tarit.
A senior DSI official, Prawut Wongsinil said that Trairong had told the DSI that no bidding was called in order to prevent possible decline of prices due to the sale of such a large amount of rice.
Trairong, a senior figure in the opposition Democrat Party, said on Wednesday that he suspected the DSI moves against him was politically motivated. He said that the Democrats have evidence to prove that bidding did take place and that there was no fixing of the bidding.
“All the processes were in accordance with the law and the prices were correct,” Trairong said.
“The DSI seems to deal with this case in a way that will bring negative impacts to the opposition party,” he said, adding that he would rather wait for results of the investigation by the NACC, which has the authority in probing this case.