More than 5,000 local-government appointments face revocation as exam scandal reaches turning point

Thailand’s local-government examination scandal enters its most consequential phase on Wednesday (July 15), when the central examination committee is due to consider action against 5,372 appointees whose recorded scores were found to be irregular.

The decision could invalidate more than a third of the appointments reviewed. However, revocation would address whether the appointment orders should remain valid; it would not, by itself, establish that every affected officer knowingly participated in the alleged fraud.

Interior Ministry data show that 15,520 successful candidates were called for appointment, of whom 14,988 reported and were appointed. Among those reviewed, 9,217 had normal scores, 5,372 — or 35.84% — were classified as having irregular scores, while another 399 cases remained under further examination.

July 15 meeting could trigger nationwide revocations

Permanent Secretary for Interior Arsit Samphantharat said the Central Committee for Local Government Employee Examinations would meet on July 15 to consider the investigation findings.

Its conclusions will then be forwarded to the relevant central committees governing local-government personnel, which hold the final authority over the appointments.

Arsit said that if those committees concluded that irregularities or corruption had affected the results, they would have to pass resolutions revoking the appointment orders. Provincial authorities and the local administrative organisations concerned would then be instructed to implement the decisions.

Asked whether the government risked being sued by appointees who maintained their innocence, Arsit said the authorities possessed empirical evidence and had a duty to act.

“We are confident that what we are doing is right,” he said, quoting Buddhadasa Bhikkhu: “If today is right, there is no need to fear tomorrow.”

Irregular scores do not automatically prove individual guilt

The 5,372 figure represents an administrative screening category covering appointees whose scores were found to be irregular. It is not a tally of people who have already been convicted or individually proven to have knowingly cheated.

The proceedings are therefore moving along separate tracks.

The July 15 process will examine whether appointments based on irregular scores should remain in force. Police, the National Anti-Corruption Commission and disciplinary investigators are separately trying to establish who knowingly participated in the alleged scheme, who facilitated it and whether money changed hands.

The Department of Local Administration’s preliminary investigation found discrepancies between scores contained in stored images of answer sheets and the processed results used to announce successful candidates.

Investigators also found that the successful-candidate file had been accessed 115 times and that an employee of a private company linked to the alleged alteration of answer sheets appeared in the file’s editing history. Officials said possible manipulation may have occurred during the processing and preparation of the candidate lists.

The distinction will be critical for affected appointees. A person may face the cancellation of an appointment because the verified score did not meet the required standard, while any criminal or disciplinary responsibility would depend on separate evidence showing knowledge, participation or collusion.

Serious disciplinary investigation only just beginning

A separate serious disciplinary investigation into officials allegedly connected to the examination process has only recently begun.

Theerapat Kachamat, director-general of the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation and chairman of the serious disciplinary investigation committee, said the panel would first review the findings of the Interior Ministry’s preliminary fact-finding inquiry.

He said the investigation must be conducted under the relevant laws and regulations and completed within a 120-day framework. The panel had not yet received additional information from other agencies, he added.

Arsit said the Interior Ministry had already completed a seven-day preliminary inquiry and established the serious disciplinary panel.

He stressed that the investigation would not necessarily be limited to officials named during the initial fact-finding stage. Investigators would consider all surrounding evidence, and anyone subsequently linked to the alleged wrongdoing could also face action.

Police detain three suspects as investigation expands

The administrative action comes as the criminal investigation gathers pace.

Police have detained three suspects — identified by Thai media as Win, Sataporn and Pichit — under Criminal Court warrants relating to allegations including criminal association, document offences and the importation of false or manipulated information into a computer system.

Win was taken into custody in Laos and returned to Thailand through Nong Khai. Sataporn was arrested in Nakhon Pathom, while Pichit, a former director of a municipal strategy and budget division, was also detained and taken for questioning by the Crime Suppression Division.

The suspects are presumed innocent unless convicted by a final court judgement.

Arsit said police were examining financial trails, taking statements and gathering evidence, while the people arrested were also named in the NACC’s investigation files.

The anti-graft agency is conducting a parallel inquiry to identify other participants and determine whether the alleged operation extended to additional state officials, intermediaries or outside figures.