Thai Parliament Concludes Final Review of FY2027 Budget Bill Amid Opposition Concerns

The Thai Parliament concluded its third and final day of deliberations on the Fiscal Year 2027 budget bill, totaling 3.788 trillion baht, on July 1, 2024. Over the past two days, more than 24 hours of debate have been dedicated to the bill. The opposition raised concerns across various aspects of budget allocation, including disaster preparedness, human capital development, and the transparency of large-scale investment projects. Meanwhile, the government asserted that the FY2027 budget aims to foster economic growth alongside labor potential development and efficient budget utilization. Juree Numnakaw, a Member of Parliament for Songkhla province from the Democrat Party, argued that while the FY2027 budget covers many areas, it "lacks a future," particularly in disaster preparedness. He criticized the government for prioritizing post-disaster relief over proactive preventive investments. He also noted an increase of approximately 90 billion baht in the contingency fund without clear measures for flood or disaster prevention. He stated that such an administrative approach traps citizens in a cycle of "waiting for floods – receiving compensation" and urged the government to allocate more budget to local areas for prevention rather than just relief. He also questioned the absence of details regarding flood prevention projects previously promised by the government and its executives. In response, Paradorn Prisnanantakul, a Minister Attached to the Prime Minister's Office responsible for budget affairs, clarified that the increased contingency fund is not freely usable by the government, as most of it is allocated for salaries, pensions, social security contributions, and statutory obligations. He suggested that if reasons for the contingency fund's allocation are needed, inquiries should be directed to former Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and Mr. Korn Chatikavanij, who previously handled similar matters. He also stated that there was no need to "light a candle to summon" him, as he had been present in parliament for explanations throughout the three days, and affirmed that the government had already provided details of the contingency fund. Subsequently, Mr. Parit Wacharasindhu, a party-list MP from the People's Party, scrutinized large educational projects. He highlighted four projects: "Anywhere Anytime," "Skill Credit Portfolio" from the Ministry of Education, "Skill Credit Portfolio" from the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation, and "National Credit Bank," with a combined budget of over 26.262 billion baht. He questioned the cost-effectiveness of some projects and criticized the government's unclear policy direction on using technology for education, as well as the transparency in procurement processes. An examination of the Terms of Reference (TOR) for several projects revealed anomalies, including the classification of media production as "consultancy services" and certain conditions that could limit competition. He also revealed that one company had secured 5 out of 10 projects, and further investigation showed links with several other companies through shared addresses, shareholding, and registration, suggesting a potential business network benefiting from government projects. Mr. Parit emphasized that while he could not definitively conclude that corruption had occurred, the presented information was sufficient "smoke" to warrant urgent government investigation. He called for a review of the TOR, retrospective project audits, and guarantees of transparency before proceeding with an additional budget of over 10 billion baht for these projects. Information Source: INN News