At 10:40 AM on May 29, during the second day of a special parliamentary session on the 3.78-trillion-baht 2026 budget bill, Bangkok MP Phantinthon Nuamjerm of the People’s Party criticized the Secretariat of the House of Representatives' proposed budget, highlighting excessive and questionable spending.

He emphasized that Parliament’s enormous construction budget of 22.987 billion baht has not translated into efficient space utilization. Although the building boasts 400,000 square meters of space, he believes only about 100,000 sqm is actually used, with vast areas left empty while consuming over 100 million baht in electricity annually. He questioned the need for new projects in 2026—valued at over 3.4 billion baht—despite ongoing issues from previous construction phases and questioned the quality of the original contractors.

Phantinthon criticized specific new projects, including:

A 180-million-baht 4D cinema, noting commercial IMAX theaters cost just 50 million.

A 117-million-baht lighting upgrade, questioning the type of lights used.

A 118-million-baht meeting room upgrade despite current facilities being functional.

A 99-million-baht audiovisual system for a rarely-used 1,500-seat banquet hall.

A 113-million-baht renovation of the largely unused Sala Kaew.

A 99-million-baht museum upgrade despite low visitation.

A 133-million-baht throne backdrop renovation, which he sarcastically said might be justifiable only if it motivated the Prime Minister to attend more often.

 

He also flagged the 4.3-billion-baht parking garage project, questioning the 105-million-baht design cost and the rushed 10-day proposal window, suggesting it reflected excessive eagerness by Parliament executives.

Phantinthon raised concerns over a 24-million-baht arms storage and management project for parliamentary police, asking whether it was meant for fighting coups or suppressing MPs. He further criticized the 6-fold budget increase for "democracy development seminars," warning this could violate Section 144 of the Constitution by creating conflicts of interest for MPs.

He alleged that one project included direct money distributions disguised as seminars, with senior Parliament officials signing off. The plan allegedly involved organizing over 1,300 seminars per year with suspiciously identical project documents across Chiang Rai districts—suggesting budget manipulation.

Other dubious expenses included establishing a ceremonial honor guard for parliamentary police and rehearsals for events, potentially funded by budget reallocations from youth programs.

Phantinthon concluded by urging the House to act as a model of fiscal responsibility, demanding thorough self-audits before scrutinizing other agencies. He warned that the evidence gathered could result in anti-corruption action by the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC).