Paetongtarn’s Alpine Golf stake may put her at risk of ethics breach
The stake is linked to a controversial land sale linked to the Shinawatras, which stands to add pressure to the already reeling Pheu Thai Party
Analysts have predicted that new Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra’s political career may be short-lived if her 30% stake worth 224 million baht in the Alpine Golf and Sport Club Ltd comes up for review.
The company, together with Alpine Real Estate Ltd, bought a 924-rai (147.84-hectare) plot of land for 130 million baht from Wat Thammikaram, a monastery in Muang district of Prachuap Khiri Khan province, in 1990.
The land, which was turned into a golf course, was in 1997 sold to Potjaman Na Pombejra, Paetongtarn’s mother and then-wife of former PM Thaksin Shinawatra, for 500 million baht. The controversial sale of the monastery land sparked one of the biggest corruption cases in Thai politics.
Following an investigation by the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC), a two-year jail sentence was handed in 2012 to Yongyuth Wichaidit, then acting Interior permanent secretary who allegedly made the sale possible.
Nation TV on Monday reached out to the abbot of Wat Thammikaram, who said that the monastery is no longer connected to this piece of land and will not reclaim it.
Phra Thep Wachirasuthee, the abbot, also told reporters that the temple had earned interest from the money made from the land sale. The fund is currently managed by Mahamakuta Rajavidyalaya Foundation.
"The temple has nothing to do with any actions related to this land,” the abbot said. “This includes an investigation by government officials or any legal procedures, with political intention or otherwise.”
The land in question was donated to the temple in 1969 by Neum Chamnanchartsakda, a wealthy woman who had inherited it from her ancestors, who had been benefactors of the temple since its establishment in 1922.
If Paetongtarn were to face an ethical investigation stemming from the Alpine golf course, this would be the second case that the ruling Pheu Thai Party would face in a short time. Last week, Pheu Thai’s Srettha Thavisin was removed as PM for breaching the code of ethics by appointing an unqualified person to the Cabinet.
