Purchases of fancy street lamps being investigated for possible corruption

[Thaiger]

The purchases of fancy street lamps in several provinces are now being investigated by the National Anti-Corruption Commission. The investigations were called for after the exorbitant 642 million baht purchase in Samut Prakan for thousands of fancy solar-powered street lamps, topped with Buddhist mythical figures, caught the attention of residents in the province just southeast of Bangkok. The commission’s secretary-general Worawit Sukboon says the budget disbursement for procurement of decorative lamp posts including Songkhla’s Hat Yai district. “It has come to light that several other provinces have spent their budget on decorative light posts in a similar manner, so the […]

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[King Cotton]

2 hours ago, Thaiger said:

“It has come to light that several other provinces have spent their budget on decorative light posts in a similar manner, so the commission will look into the issue thoroughly for possible corruption by local administrators.”

Lightweight play on words, there, but this is just another sickening episode of Thai officialdom malfeasance. Maybe, one day, the penny will drop, as the Charles Dickens character, Mr Micawber, famously said in his popular David Copperfield novel . . .

‘Annual income 20 pounds, annual expenditure 19 pounds 19 shillings and six pence, result happiness. Annual income 20 pounds, annual expenditure 20 pounds and six pence, result misery.’

And, now, with the NACC looking into suspected corruption, there'll be a heavier penny about to drop. Let's just hope the NACC does its job without let or hindrance, but maybe even that hope for Thailand's anti-corruption body is more a dream than a hope, since we are only too well aware that they have swept 'tricky' issues under the carpet in the recent past. 

 

[TobyAndrews]

If they had made the statues from plastic they would have been a LOT cheaper - and rust proof.