Independent bodies in crosshairs over ‘costly’ courses

The Office of the Auditor General is looking into such courses, whose organisers include the Election Commission, the National Anti-Corruption Commission, the Constitutional Court, the Court of Justice and the Administrative Court.
Auditor General Pisit Leelavachiropas said the focus was on overseas trips that were part of the courses. 
He said the move stemmed from the government policy of saving state budget by barring overseas trips by state officials. Other state agencies are cutting down on their costs but independent organisations are still organising overseas trips for participants of their special courses taken by senior executives and bureaucrats.
Constitution Drafting Commis-sion (CDC) member Chatchai Na Chiangmai said he was preparing to draft an organic law under the new constitution to ban independent organisations from spending state budget on special courses.
He said the goal was to prevent unnecessary use of state budget, adding that the benefit of such courses was simply to allow the participants to build up connections with people from other circles or agencies. 
The proposed law would ban subsidising such courses with state funds, he said, adding that the agencies may fund such courses with fees collected from the participants.
Of the major independent agencies, the NACC and the Constitutional Court offered to wholly subsidise special courses for senior executives from different state agencies and private companies. 
It cost about Bt200,000 to take part in the NACC’s special course on “advanced management of strategies for the prevention and suppression of corruption”. The Constitutional Court, however, did not reveal the cost of attending its special course on “legal principles for democracy”.
The EC offers a Bt50,000 subsidy for every participant of its special course on “high-level political development and election”, although |it does not disclose the cost of |attending.
It costs Bt175,000 to attend the Administrative Court’s special course on “administrative laws for senior executives” but the participants have to be responsible for all the cost, as no subsidy is offered. Since 2013, the annual training course has been open to senior executives from both the private and public sectors and lasts between seven and eight months.
The EC’s special course started in 2009. There have been eight classes, with some 80 to 100 participants in each class – mostly representatives from political parties and state agencies with no more than 15 per cent of participants from the private sector.
About Bt10.5 million is spent on funding each class and the money comes from the Political Parties Development Fund, which is managed by the EC. Each course includes an overseas trip and three domestic study tours.
Every participant is subsidised by Bt50,000 for the cost of joining the overseas trip. Participants from other agencies have to cover the extra cost themselves, but the EC covers the extra cost for all participants who are the agency’s officials.
Participants of the recent classes travelled to the United States, Sweden, Switzerland, Austria and Japan to observe elections or visit with different political parties.
The EC also holds another special course for high-level executives in cooperation with Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University. The course started in 2015 and has about 70 participants. 
The latest course tookthe participants to Japan and South Korea earlier this month, with the trip including five election commissioners, some of whom returned early.
The Constitutional Court’s special course started in 2013, with some 50 invitation-only participants in each class. It is unknown how much it cost to attend the course.
However, a former participant of the course, who declined to be named, said the Constitutional Court covered all the costs including study trips overseas.
The NACC has held eight classes of its special course, which aims to create leaders in the fight against corruption. Each class lasts about eight months, with some 50 to 60 participants.
It costs about Bt200,000 to hold the course for each participant |but the NACC subsidises some Bt10 million for every class, which means it is free for the participants, who include senior bureaucrats, MPs and senators.