DLA chief temporarily moved amid 4.5bn baht local exam-fraud probe

DLA chief reassigned after exam-fraud scandal

The Interior Ministry has temporarily reassigned Teeruth Supawiboonpol, director-general of the Department of Local Administration (DLA), to work at the ministry from June 24, following a major corruption probe into alleged fraud in local-government recruitment examinations.

Permanent Secretary for Interior Arsit Samphantharat signed the order on June 23, assigning Teeruth to the Interior Ministry on a temporary basis and instructing him to perform duties as assigned by the permanent secretary. The order will remain in effect until further notice.

Ministry cites public confidence

The order came after officials from the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) and the Anti-Corruption Division (ACD) searched premises and arrested people allegedly linked to a local-government exam-fraud network.

The Interior Ministry said the case involved recruitment examinations under the responsibility of the DLA, with authorities seizing a large amount of evidence linked to individuals and state officials. The ministry said the temporary reassignment was intended to ensure orderly administration, protect the public interest and prevent damage to public confidence in the government’s personnel-management system.

Prime Minister and Interior Minister Anutin Charnvirakul gave only a brief response when asked about the transfer, saying it was “a matter for the Permanent Secretary for Interior”.

Alleged nationwide answer-sheet scam

The transfer follows an NACC and police operation in Nonthaburi, where anti-corruption officials said they had uncovered an alleged nationwide local-government exam-rigging network accused of altering answer sheets to help paying candidates secure civil-service jobs.

According to officials, the alleged network demanded payments from candidates in exchange for helping them pass the 2025 recruitment examination for local civil servants and municipal employees. The payments reportedly started at 350,000 baht for general positions and rose to 700,000-800,000 baht in highly competitive areas. The exam covered 87 positions and 6,669 vacancies nationwide.

Officials say 2,000 answer sheets had been altered

During the raid in Bang Yai district, officials said more than 10 people were found at the scene, most of them state officials. They were allegedly using computer programmes to alter copies of answer sheets so the scores would match results already announced on the DLA website.

Investigators said they seized 18 sets of computers and CPUs, external hard drives, candidate lists and copies of answer sheets from around 3,000 candidates. About 2,000 answer sheets had allegedly already been altered, while preliminary damage was estimated at up to 4.5 billion baht.

Probe expected to widen

Authorities are expanding the investigation to identify other people allegedly involved in the network, including state officials and candidates suspected of taking part in the scheme.

The case has become one of the country’s most closely watched corruption investigations because it concerns recruitment into local government agencies and the credibility of the public-sector personnel system.

Officials have stressed that suspects and defendants are presumed innocent until a final court judgement is issued.