Thai Health under scrutiny over claims of irregularities
Projects costing more than Bt5 million will be analysed during 3-month probe
ALL PROJECTS of the embattled Thai Health Promotion Foundation (Thai Health) will go under the microscope over the next three months as the investigation into its alleged fiscal irregularities gathers pace.
Confirming that Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha has set the three-month time frame for the probe into Thai Health, General Chatudom Titthasiri, chairman of the Monitoring and Auditing Committee on Fiscal Expenditures Committee, said yesterday that any projects worth more than Bt5 million were not prohibited or cancelled.
The committee merely requires that the foundation report them first.
“During the three-month period, we want Thai Health to check all its projects so the ones costing less than Bt5 million and deemed beneficial to the people can go ahead, provided the foundation informs the committee about them,” he said.
Projects costing more than Bt5 million will need to be checked by the committee to make sure they are in line with the agency’s purposes, he said.
In an interview with the “Inside Thailand” show on 97 FM, Chatudom said the foundation’s problems stemmed from projects that were initiated without follow-up assessments.
He said the committee had submitted its initial report on Thai Health’s spending to Prayut, who will decide whether Krissada Raungarreerat, Thai Health’s chief executive officer, should be suspended.
He said Prayut also instructed the Public Health Ministry to make sure the foundation spent its budget on projects that were in line with its purpose.
He assigned the Justice Ministry to proceed based on the committee’s report, which found some irregularities.
Chatudom said the Justice Ministry would invite relevant agencies, including Chatudom’s committee and the Office of the Auditor-General, to a meeting next week to brainstorm ways to find corruption suspects.
“If the Justice Ministry does not find any wrongdoers, then there will be no work-suspension orders,” Chatudom said.
Prayut has decided it should take no more than three months to identify the problematic projects and suspend them.
Besides the Thai Health case, Chatudom’s committee is looking into spending at the National Health Security Office.
The committee will also follow up with the NHSO to make sure it implemented the improvements ordered by the prime minister.
NHSO chief Winai Sawasdiworn was suspended from work pending the probe.
