Deputy Gov't Spokesperson Denies Political Bias in Groundwater Budget Allocation

Lalida Peritwittana, Deputy Government Spokesperson, addressed concerns raised by Rachanoch Sianok, a Member of Parliament for the People's Party, regarding the allocation of the budget for the Community Groundwater Development Project for Security (858 projects, 6.54 billion baht), which she noted appeared concentrated in constituencies won by the Bhumjaithai Party. The deputy spokesperson stated that while the government respects the opposition's oversight role, it urges a comprehensive consideration of the data. She explained that the figures can be accounted for by the number of MPs and constituencies won by each party, rather than indicating political favoritism in budget allocation. According to Lalida, the number of projects in Bhumjaithai Party constituencies has increased at a rate nearly consistent with the rise in the party's list-MP numbers. The Bhumjaithai Party saw its list-MP numbers grow from 68 in 2024 to 172 in 2025, an increase of approximately 2.53 times. Concurrently, the number of existing projects within the party's constituencies grew from 201 to 487, an increase of about 2.42 times. "When a political party wins more than two and a half times the number of constituencies, the existing projects in those areas naturally increase in a similar proportion. Therefore, there is no need to assume budget allocation for political benefit to explain this," the deputy spokesperson said. Furthermore, she emphasized that all 858 projects are existing projects with existing budgets and locations. When mapped onto the 2023 constituency map, the Pheu Thai Party had the largest number of projects within its constituencies at 257, followed by the Bhumjaithai Party with 201 projects. "The groundwater wells have not moved an inch. What has changed are the constituency boundaries and the winners in each constituency. Therefore, the numbers derived from classifying projects by the winning party reflect changes in the political map more than they reflect intent in budget allocation," the deputy spokesperson concluded.