NACC finds SSO officer guilty of corruption

The National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) yesterday criminally implicated a former Social Security Office secretary-general for alleged corruption in a Bt2.8-billion computer and database project.

Phairoj Suksamrit had proceeded with the purchase despite his staff recommending him not to because he had found the project was overpriced and that it violated purchase-related regulations, Klanarong Janthig, an NACC commissioner said yesterday.

According to the indictment, Phairoj, who has retired, had violated three laws, including the Criminal Code's Article 157, in addition to disciplinary sanctions as a civil servant. The NACC will be forwarding the indictment to the Office of the Attorney General for criminal prosecution.

The SSO project has been criticised since it was launched a few years ago, though Phairoj always insisted it was essential the SSO should own and operate an entire database of beneficiaries' profiles.

Phairoj has yet to comment on the indictment.

However, the NACC indictment has already come in to political use, when an opposition MP issued a comment about it shortly afterwards. Pheu Thai MP Sathaphorn Maneerat said yesterday he wondered why no politician or labour minister was made responsible and that Phairoj was the only person sacrificed.

Sathaphorn called on the NACC to further investigate the issue and implicate anybody else who might also be involved. He said incumbent minister Labour Minister and Democrat MP Phaithoon Kaeothong could not deny being responsible for further investigation.

Sathaphorn said the computer project was not scrapped, but modified to make it survive at a lower contract cost of Bt2.3 billion, which he said had been far too sharply reduced by the contractor who would have made a loss.

He said there have been many corruption scandals plaguing the Labour Ministry all along and that the widespread graft had seen ministry executives at permanent secretary and director-general levels getting fired and prosecuted.