Panadda irons out differences with PAOs

Panadda also dismissed speculation that local administrative organisations would be disbanded, saying such a move was impossible in the “age of democracy”.

He was speaking after three agencies – the National Municipal League of Thailand, the Association of the Provincial Administrative Organisations (PAO) of Thailand and the Association of the Tambon Administrative Organisations of Thailand, met him to discuss decentralisation policies and budget transparency.

Panadda said he was happy that representatives of the three agencies understood him and accepted the fact that he did not mean to discriminate against anybody.

“Don’t believe rumours that there will be a dissolution or changes to the local-government structure. How is that possible when we are in the age of democracy and need public participation?” he asked. 

In a Facebook post last month, Panadda called on provincial politicians to join the private sector if they wanted to lead luxurious lifestyles “shamelessly” at the expense of the taxpayers. After this post provoked a protest, Panadda apologised but refused to identify whom he was referring to when he said a certain provincial administrative leader only flew first-class, drank wine that cost Bt100,000 a bottle and owned a vacation home in Europe. 

Panadda only insisted that he had made these comments because he wanted to fight corruption, adding that he had no intentions of harassing anybody. 

However, Panadda revealed yesterday that he had received information about a civil servant who allegedly grabbed a bottle of whisky from the galley after his demand for alcohol was refused on a flight. Later, the captain handcuffed the official and his similarly drunk friends who were playing a game of cards. 

“I am not referring to any particular local leaders, as these are from a different state agency. I have many more stories to pass on to the public,” Panadda said. 

Chaimongkol Chairob, president of the PAO Association of Thailand, said yesterday that he had given Panadda the results of surveys on local government and issues related to budget allocation. He said local-government officials felt the 2015 budget may not have been fairly and efficiently allocated to provincial administrative organisations because of the lack of planning. 

Panadda, meanwhile, said he was happy to have discussed with local leaders how to spend their budgets transparently. He added that another meeting would be held today to discuss budget allocation.