At 8:40 PM on May 28, at Parliament, Ms. Rakchanok Srinok, Bangkok MP from the People's Party, addressed the special session of the House on the draft Budget Bill for Fiscal Year 2026, which totals 3.78 trillion baht. She focused on budget reform to combat corruption and misconduct in the public sector.
She emphasized that corruption is inherently tied to economic policy, citing data that public sector corruption amounts to 500 billion baht annually, primarily through procurement and public construction projects. She questioned whether the Fiscal Discipline Act, which mandates at least 20% of the national budget go to investment, unintentionally fuels corruption in large procurement projects.
Rakchanok pointed out that despite years of high investment spending, economic infrastructure has not improved as expected, blaming entrenched corruption. She criticized the belief that having a government-side MP means budget will improve local living conditions, arguing funds are often redirected to benefit contractors within political networks, resulting in subpar infrastructure.
She highlighted examples like abandoned government buildings and ineffective water management budgets in provinces with ministers, pointing out that corruption prevents long-term solutions. She noted that despite global progress, Thailand’s corruption index has stagnated for two decades due to lack of political will.
She proposed five categories of procurement corruption: 1) unnecessary projects, 2) overpricing, 3) specification rigging, 4) bidding manipulation, and 5) contract alterations. She called for a comprehensive budget process reform where ministries are accountable for budget outcomes and the Budget Bureau shifts its role from project selector to performance evaluator.
Rakchanok suggested full transparency in budget requests from the start, allowing the public to scrutinize project details. She praised MP Parit’s recent disclosure of the parliamentary budget as a new standard for openness.
She also advocated for live broadcasts of budget committee meetings and public access to all non-classified documents. For procurement, she proposed an online platform to compare prices and eliminate price padding, with real-time decision-making tools for agencies. She urged opening APIs for shareholder data, public officials’ profiles, and asset declarations to identify red-flag projects.
Additionally, she recommended reforming the State Audit Office (SAO) and Budget Bureau to focus on auditing and preventing future misuse, and educating departments on budget efficiency.
In closing, Rakchanok asserted that corruption is preventable if the government truly serves the people. She condemned the hypocrisy of moral teaching amid widespread corruption and declared she could not vote for the current budget bill without first eradicating systemic corruption.