Suthep charged with building contracts

The National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) filed charges against Mr Suthep in court on Tuesday (November 30th) Bangkok Post.

Mr Suthep faces the indictment, along with four other people and the company contracted to build the projects while serving as deputy prime minister in the Abhisit Vejjajiva government.

He is accused of combining all construction projects into one and placing the orders with a single contractor who was not finished.

The defendants also included two members of the committee that approved the projects on Tuesday. You have failed to review the company’s bid prices, which were found to be abnormally low.

The court has scheduled the first hearing for February 17th next year.

The NACC started working on the case two years ago. The agency carefully examined the minutes of the meetings and other documentary evidence.

Mr Suthep was also accused of failing to consult his ministerial colleagues on changes to construction contracts after they were merged. It also granted a private company the right to be the sole contractor rather than splitting contracts between different companies.

The former prime minister is also charged with breaking the 1999 price fixing law. One project involves the construction of 396 police stations valued at B 5.84 billion, which has been approved by Mr Abhisit’s cabinet.

Many of the police stations were left unfinished when the contractor, the only company working on so many sites at once, allegedly disposed of the project.

The NACC also found grounds for allegations related to the construction of 163 police apartments proposed as part of the police station project. The same company was also hired to build the apartments, which also suffered delays.