People’s Party (PP) deputy leader and list-MP Sirikanya Tansakun has raised concerns over unusually high and overlapping budget requests in the proposed 2027 fiscal budget, particularly for cloud services.
Speaking on the progress of the budget review on Friday, Ms Sirikanya said that despite significant cuts to the overall spending plan, a special House committee had still found budget requests that appeared excessive and duplicated.
She cited the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society (DES) as an example, noting that its budget had increased by 30%, largely to expand the government’s central cloud system, which is intended to consolidate cloud services and data storage for state agencies.
However, the committee found that several agencies were still seeking separate budgets to procure or lease their own cloud systems, raising concerns about duplication, she said.
A subcommittee overseeing the government’s digital integration plan will initially suspend consideration of cloud-related budget requests from individual agencies and ask the DES Ministry to confirm that the proposals do not overlap with existing plans, she said.
Ms Sirikanya also questioned budget allocations for a planned data centre project by the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities under the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security.
She said the procurement plan included a 200,000-baht fire-exit door, an 800,000-baht uninterruptible power supply (UPS) and office chairs costing 15,000 baht each, which she considered overpriced.
Although the government had claimed to have cut spending to address funding shortfalls, the committee continued to uncover projects with inflated budget requests, she said.
“Wherever we look, there are still items that appear overpriced,” she said.
She added that the main committee would forward information to subcommittees, which began deliberations this week, allowing them to scrutinise individual budget items more closely and recommend reductions where necessary.
The PP MP also urged the public to closely monitor the procurement of six billion baht’s worth of solar-powered groundwater systems, for which draft terms of reference are currently open for public comment.
She said authorities should watch for signs of bid-rigging or specifications that could favour particular suppliers, given the project’s procurement of drilling equipment, solar panels and other electrical components.
Ms Sirikanya warned that the proposal risked repeating issues seen in 2025, when the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) raised concerns over possible irregularities and corruption risks in 7.5-billion-baht drought and flood management projects.