A deputy mayor of Phayao province's Muang Phayao municipality has been arrested for allegedly demanding a Bt150,000 bribe in exchange for a C2-rank civil-service position, Public Sector Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC) secretary-general Pinyo Thongchai said yesterday.
After receiving a complaint, PACC officials found that the plaintiff, who had passed a civil-service test in Lampang but had not yet been officially appointed, was asked by Deputy Mayor Cherdsak Suktoi to pay Bt150,000, supposedly a reduction from the usual Bt100,000 per one C level. The plaintiff mortgaged his land to get Bt70,000, which was to be paid before the official appointment, and got from the PACC's sting-operation budget a further Bt80,000, which was to be paid afterwards.
PACC officials presented themselves to arrest the deputy mayor during the exchange and seized the money. But Cherdsak maintained it was not a bribe but a gift.
The case was forwarded to the Office of the National Anti-Corruption Commission and Cherdsak submitted his resignation.