Allegations of corruption during the development of Suvarnabhumi Airport, the newest international airport serving Bangkok, Thailand, have been made since the project's inception. These allegations started in the 1970s, when land for the airport was purchased during the dictatorship of Thanom Kittikachorn, and extended to the government of Thaksin Shinawatra, during which most of the construction occurred.
The Nation, a Thai English-language daily, published several reports alleging corruption in the purchase of x-ray baggage scanning devices for the airport. The resulting scandal delayed the opening of the airport by a year and allowed the opposition Democrat Party to initiate a 20-hour no-confidence censure debate that forced Thaksin to remove close supporter Suriya Jungrungreangkit from his position of Transport Minister. The Royal Thai Army swept into power in a military coup in 2006, using the allegedly shoddy construction of the airport as one of the justifications for its coup. The junta initiated several investigations into the airport. The investigative panels found that damage to the airport was "minute" and "common." The cost of fixing the damage was estimated at less than 1% of the total airport cost. The junta was accused of delaying airport repairs and intensifying the airport's problems in order to pin further blame on the deposed government.
In 2008, The Nation admitted that its reports of corruption were incorrect, and retracted their stories.
The Council for National Security (CNS) in Thailand established the Assets Examination Committee (AEC) in 2006 to investigate actions that caused damage to the state from operations or projects by individuals in the Cabinet of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. The AEC initially took on eight cases for examination, but later added an additional five cases, for a total of 13 cases that were investigated. One of these cases involved the procurement of CTX explosive detection machines for Suvarnabhumi Airport, and the AEC decided to take legal action against 25 individuals, including Thaksin Shinawatra and other politicians, state officials, and business people, for their involvement in a rigged auction involving the organizers and participants of the auction. The AEC also accused these individuals of abuse of position, corruption, and neglecting their duties or acting dishonestly, causing harm. After completing the investigation, the AEC submitted the indictment to the Attorney General's Office in 2011, but the case was referred to the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) due to objections from the Attorney General's Office about the incompleteness of the case. The joint committee between the Attorney General and NACC has been unable to reach a decision on the case for several years.
Overview
Charges of corruption were levelled against Thai governments since the airport project's inception in the 1970s. "All the recent previous governments before Thaksin took part in taking something from the project," noted Chaiwat Sinsuwong, a member of the Council of Engineers.
Mr Weera Somkuamkit, of the People's Network on Corruption has noted that "Someone got a big payoff just by laying down the sand. There's corruption in every airport project such as the car park, bidding on duty-free shops, cooling system for the buildings and power generating system." Weera Somkuamkit has not yet made public any evidence supporting his claims. Based on this and other allegations, the opposition parties during the Thaksin government initiated a vote of no confidence against the Thaksin-government's transport minister. The censure motion was not successful.
After the coup, the Council for National Security (CNS) called on relevant officials to discuss the issue of corruption, including Kranarong Jantik, former secretary-general of the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC), and Jaruvan Maintaka, Auditor General of the State Audit Office of the Kingdom of Thailand (SAO), to prepare for the establishment of an organization to check for corruption in the government of Thaksin Shinawatra. On September 30, 2006, the Council for National Security announced the appointment of the Assets Examination Committee (AEC) to investigate actions that cause damage to the state from operations or projects by individuals in the Cabinet of the Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
