Police find new clues of National Parks chief skimming off Buri Ram project
New evidence has surfaced indicating that the National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department chief may have been skimming from the 53.9-million-baht wild elephant deterrence project in Buri Ram.
The department’s chief Rutchada Suriyakul na Ayutthaya was arrested late last month and charged with malfeasance and bribery by the Anti-Corruption Division (ACD).
Rutchada was arrested after a sting operation orchestrated was by ACD and Chaiwat Limlikit-aksorn, former chief of Kaeng Krachan National Park in Phetchaburi, who alleged that Rutchada demanded 500,000 baht from his subordinates in exchange for not transferring them to remote areas.
Chaiwat also accused Rutchada of pocketing 18.5% of the budget for national parks and sanctuaries and 30% of the budget for forest fire prevention units.
A news source revealed on Friday that investigators recently discovered an envelope in Rutchada’s office with the words “Khu Dong Yai = 1.8 million baht, VIP (70%) 1.26 million baht” written on it. The envelope was empty but carried the Krungthai Bank symbol, indicating it may have contained cash.
The source said investigators believe the words “Khu Dong Yai” may have referred to a ditch-digging project – “Khu” in Thai – to prevent wild elephants from entering villages along the Dong Yai Wildlife Sanctuary in Buri Ram province.
The 105.2-kilometre ditch-digging project was listed under the department’s 2021-2022 budget and valued at 53.98 million baht.
Investigators have summoned persons involved with the project for questioning, namely the Dong Yai Wildlife Sanctuary’s chief, the head of the Wildlife Protection Office and the managing director of the company that won the bid for the project.
The source added that investigators are also tracking the company’s finances to see if there are any links with officials of the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation.
