5,000 Thai Civil Servants Suspected of Irregular Admissions; Prime Minister and Interior Minister Orders Investigation

(Central News Agency, Reporter Li Zongxian, Bangkok, 7th) The Thai Ministry of Interior announced today that a large-scale suspected fraud has occurred in the recruitment examination for local administrative personnel. Approximately 5,000 newly admitted civil servants have abnormal examination scores, which will be transferred to the National Anti-Corruption Commission for investigation. If fraud is confirmed, they will not only be dismissed but also required to return the salaries received during their tenure.

The Bangkok Post reported today that Thai Deputy Minister of Interior Worasit Liangprasit stated at the Prime Minister's Office today that the preliminary investigation by the Ministry of Interior found that in the local administrative personnel recruitment examination conducted by the Department of Local Administration at the end of last year, a total of about 15,000 people were admitted. Among them, about 5,000 people had announced scores inconsistent with their answer sheets, indicating suspected tampering of examination results.

The Thai Ministry of Interior will request the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) to intervene in the investigation, and will also launch disciplinary investigations into these 5,000 individuals. If it is confirmed that the admissions involved corruption, all relevant personnel will be dismissed.

The Nation reported that the Ministry of Interior will submit relevant evidence to the National Anti-Corruption Commission and pointed out that this incident has deepened public doubts about the local civil servant recruitment process, raising questions about the fairness of the examination system for recruiting positions in local governments nationwide.

The Ministry of Interior stated that the NACC's investigation is expected to take 3 to 6 months to complete; however, if the evidence is clear, the Ministry of Interior can dismiss them through internal disciplinary procedures without waiting for the investigation to conclude.

Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, who also serves as the Minister of Interior, stated that if it is confirmed that public office was obtained through fraud, the involved personnel will face criminal liability and must also return the salaries received since their appointment.

Anutin pointed out that approximately 400,000 people applied for this recruitment examination, so the scope of the investigation needs to be continuously expanded to clarify the full picture of the case.

This examination fraud case was exposed in June. At that time, the police arrested 10 suspects, most of whom were civil servants, in a residential house in Nonthaburi province, a northern suburb of Bangkok, and seized about 3,000 tampered answer sheets, with the content altered to be consistent with the announced admission scores.

Police investigation revealed that the involved group allegedly accepted bribes for a long time, charging candidates between 350,000 and 800,000 Thai baht (approximately NT$337,000 to NT$770,000) depending on the position level, to help candidates obtain admission qualifications.

After the scandal was exposed, Anutin had ordered local administrative units to suspend the recruitment of new personnel, but the decision was overturned by the Central Committee of Local Civil Servants the next day, and the admitted candidates officially took office on July 1. (Editor: Tian Ruihua) 1150707

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