Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister MR Pridiyathorn Devakula has hit back at Auditor-General Khunying Jaruvan Maintaka over allegations that he broke the law.

She claimed Pridiyathorn and others were in violation of the law by sitting on the boards of more than three state enterprises.

Pridiyathorn called a news conference yesterday to rebut the allegations, although he does not plan legal action.

"I am holding this news conference to protect the reputation of myself and my family," he said.

He presented a letter to Jaruvan pointing out the board claims had been leaked because "there's a movement to destroy my reputation".

The Office of the Auditor-General (OAG) asked the government to take action against 14 government executives who sat on more than three state-enterprise boards.

They received hundreds of thousands of baht in meeting allowances annually.

Pridiyathorn insisted while he was Bank of Thailand governor he sat on six state-enterprise boards in accordance with the law.

They were the central bank itself, the Foreign Exchange Fund, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Thai Asset Management Corp, the National Credit Bureau, and the Financial Institutions Development Fund. The latter is an arm of the central bank that rehabilitates troubled financial institutions.

Finance permanent secretary Suparut Kawatkul and Budget Bureau director Vudhibhandhu Vichairatna were members of 19 boards - the highest among 14 officials listed.

Pridiyathorn was the third most prolific state-enterprise director. The OAG claimed Pridiyathorn was a member of eight boards and his allowances amounted to Bt210,300.

He said the discrepancy was explained by his positions on the audit committees of state enterprises upon whose boards he already sat.

He said the Council of State had resolved the issue of enterprise committee membership in 1975 and 1996. It stipulated that officials could sit on these without violating regulations.

"I think the auditor-general's office has been aware of this for a long time. But it is biased and prejudiced and leaked my name to the press. There is a movement to destroy my reputation.

"Now I am no longer BOT governor, but I am saying this for the new governor because she will have to assume board membership for these agencies," he said.

Pridiyathorn said society wished to see an auditor-general who was fair. "But today, it is quite clear, even though she knows that I am not wrong, she still sent out the letter."

OAG special investigations director Phisit Leelavachirop defended Jaruvan.

"A person holding board seats at more than 10 agencies and state enterprises cannot say that he fulfils the government job. The auditor-general just wants to improve efficiency. The finance minister just thinks too much," he said.

"If the finance minister thinks he can do the job without any deficiencies, then the auditor-general will not object. Then it will not be necessary to amend the Cabinet resolution on this. The auditor-general is simply giving an opinion," he added.

Pridiyathorn said he would look into the claims about the other board members. He added that the Finance Ministry did not hold opposing views to the Assets Examination Committee.

"I respect Nam Yimyaem and Kaewsan Atibhodi, who are the key persons. I am not worried because they are respectable."

Wichit Chaitrong

The Nation