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Published on February 24, 2008

Supensri Puengkoksung of the Friends for Women Foundation said yesterday it would meet Apirak to officially submit the complaints it had received, so that he could then set up a committee to probe the allegations.

Dr Sutheera Wijitranont, president of Association for the Promotion of the Status of Women, said the complaints had been forwarded to Apirak on January 28 and the governor had confirmed receiving them. She said Apirak admitted the city administration had received similar complaints before.

Supensri said her foundation had received complaints of similar inappropriate behaviour among officials

of six other state agencies besides the BMA and the Social Development and Human Security Ministry. They are the Defence Ministry, Public Health Ministry, Education Ministry, Agriculture Ministry, Interior Ministry and a state-run university, she said, adding that most complaints were about sexual harassment by supervisors or co-workers while some alleged rape.

"It's necessary for social networks to expose inappropriate affairs in the civil service. There should be a way for the abused or witnesses to report such behaviour directly to the minister or permanent secretary. If we let the victims proceed on their own, this problem will persist," she said.

Apirak said yesterday that he would have to see the points raised by the women's groups next week before deciding whether to assign a committee to probe the allegations. He said the claims of supervisors molesting subordinates affected the BMA's image and he would ensure both the accusers and the accused received justice.

In a related issue, National Legislative Assembly (NLA) member Wallop Tangkana-nurak yesterday objected to criticism of the planned marriage between Social Development and Human Security Ministry permanent secretary Wallop Ploytaptim and a C-8 official on March 2. He said it was a personal matter because Wallop had divorced his former wife, so there was nothing wrong with the proposed marriage in terms of law and culture and society should not violate the couple's rights.

The Nation