Prawit watch case timeline ends in jail terms for two ex-NACC officials
The court imposed three-year jail terms without suspension after finding the former NACC officials had defied orders to release documents.
- Two former senior officials of Thailand's National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC), Pol Gen Watcharapol Prasarnrajkit and Supa Piyajitti, were each sentenced to three years in prison without suspension.
- They were found guilty of malfeasance for intentionally concealing and failing to comply with a Supreme Administrative Court order to disclose documents related to the luxury watch case of Gen Prawit Wongsuwon.
- The criminal case was initiated by anti-corruption activist Veera Somkwamkid, who had long campaigned for the NACC to release the investigation files.
- The two convicted former officials have been granted temporary bail after posting collateral and are planning to appeal the court's decision.
The Criminal Court for Corruption and Misconduct Cases Region 1 marked a new chapter in Thai politics on Wednesday (May 27, 2026), after sentencing former National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) president Pol Gen Watcharapol Prasarnrajkit and former NACC commissioner Supa Piyajitti to three years in prison each, without suspension.
The court found them guilty of malfeasance under Section 157 of the Criminal Code over the intentional concealment, obstruction and failure to comply with a Supreme Administrative Court order requiring the disclosure of documents in the luxury watch case involving Gen Prawit Wongsuwon to “Veera Somkwamkid”, an anti-corruption activist.
The two former senior officials immediately lodged cash collateral of THB400,000 each to seek bail while continuing their fight at the appeal stage.
Looking back at the nine-year “friends’ watches” saga behind the Section 157 suit
The long legal battle waged by Veera Somkwamkid, secretary-general of the People’s Network Against Corruption, had the following key timeline:
2017-2018: Origins of the luxury watch case
- December 2017: Images emerged of Gen Prawit Wongsuwon wearing luxury watches and an expensive diamond ring that had not been declared in his assets statement, prompting a complaint asking the NACC to investigate.
- December 27, 2018: The NACC committee resolved to “dismiss the petition”, saying all the watches belonged to Patthawat Suksriwong, a close friend who had died, and that Gen Prawit had merely borrowed them. It therefore found no intention to conceal assets.
2019-2023: The long campaign for information disclosure
- 2019: Veera Somkwamkid filed a request asking the NACC to disclose all documents in the investigation file, but the NACC refused. Veera then exercised his rights under the Official Information Act to appeal to the Information Disclosure Tribunal, which ruled that the NACC had to disclose the documents. The NACC, however, continued to ignore the ruling.
- In 2021, Veera brought the case before the Administrative Court to compel the NACC to disclose three key sets of documents: the full fact-finding and evidence-gathering report, the opinions of all responsible NACC officials, and the relevant parts of the NACC committee meeting minutes.
- April 21, 2023: The Supreme Administrative Court issued a final judgment ordering the NACC to disclose all three sets of information to Veera properly and in full.
- May-August 2023: The NACC tried to file a petition for a retrial, but the Supreme Administrative Court dismissed the request. The Central Administrative Court later issued an enforcement order setting a deadline for the NACC to hand over the documents by Friday (August 11, 2023). However, the NACC still did not provide them in full as ordered.
2024-2025: Veera files Section 157 criminal case against NACC board
- 2024: Veera filed a criminal case against 12 NACC executives and commissioners in total, including Niwatchai Kasemmongkol, the secretary-general, with the Criminal Court for Corruption and Misconduct Cases Region 1 on a charge of malfeasance under Section 157 over the alleged intentional defiance of the Supreme Administrative Court’s order.
- Wednesday (September 10, 2025): At the preliminary examination stage, the Criminal Court for Corruption and Misconduct Cases Region 1 accepted the case against four NACC board members for trial and dismissed the case against the remaining eight defendants because they had either voted with the minority at the meeting or had already left office.
- April 2026: During witness examination, Veera sought to withdraw the case against two defendants, defendants Nos 8 and 11, because they had cooperated and provided information considered highly useful to the public. The court granted permission, leaving two main defendants: Pol Gen Watcharapol and Supa.
May 27, 2026: Court sentences two former NACC senior figures
The Criminal Court for Corruption and Misconduct Cases Region 1 ruled that Veera Somkwamkid, as a human rights activist scrutinising corruption, was a directly injured party and had standing to sue.
The court found that the defendants’ conduct showed an intention to conceal information and ignore the Supreme Administrative Court’s order and the Central Administrative Court’s enforcement order.
It sentenced Pol Gen Watcharapol Prasarnrajkit and Supa Piyajitti to three years in prison each, without suspension.
In the latest status after the judgment was read, the two former NACC commissioners lodged cash collateral of THB400,000 each and were granted temporary release on bail, with a condition barring them from leaving the country, as they prepared to continue fighting the case at the appeal stage.
The case is regarded as marking a new chapter in Thai politics and as the first case in which ordinary members of the public were able to hold to account an independent agency responsible for tackling corruption and secure a court-ordered prison sentence.
