It is also speeding up work to find evidence and identify suspects before giving them a chance to clarify their situations, a source said yesterday.

AEC secretary-general Kaewsan Atibodhi said he had sent the committee three drafts of its regulations on various topics. However, as the committee wanted only one copy, he would propose a rewritten version for approval on Monday.

He said the changes would be only details such as procedures of investigation because the committee had agreed on main principles.

"The regulations draft will be about 10 pages. If it is approved by the meeting, it could be announced in the Royal Gazette in a few days. Then the AEC investigation would progress quickly. Besides the eight projects we received from the Office of the Auditor-General (OAG), we will investigate other complaints," he said.

Despite the one-year time limit, the committee will investigate fairly, he added.

"We have to work quickly, but our investigation is not to kill anybody, as some people might have thought. We have rules and laws to follow," said Kaewsan.

"We are not part of a committee to eradicate anybody's government. But we want society to know what happened in the past. We want people to learn from it. If another government comes to rule and problems occur, we will be able to prevent such damage - not to fix them and find wrongdoers later, as we don't know how much we can do then."

The committee is investigating any projects or acts by members of the Thaksin Shinawatra government and others who are suspected of irregularities, including tax evasion.

A source who asked not to be named said the AEC would appoint a subcommittee comprising experts in various fields to investigate each case. If it accepted more cases, it would appoint more subcommittees.

The military is maintaining tight security around the OAG office. However, the OAG has extended the time for reporters to work in the premises from 9.30am to 8.30pm. Previously, they had to leave at 6.30pm.

Earlier this week, the OAG tightened its security after saying evidence and property had been stolen.