Category: The Bangkok Post

Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul on Tuesday pledged to pursue an investigation into alleged corruption in local government recruitment exams until the end.

Mr Anutin, also the Interior Minister, insisted the widening probe would not become a “fixed fight” and that all those involved would face justice.

His comments came as the Crime Suppression Division (CSD) prepared additional charges against suspects already in custody and summoned two senior officials to acknowledge multiple criminal charges linked to alleged cheating in last year’s local civil service examinations.

Speaking before an informal meeting with senior Interior Ministry executives, Mr Anutin said investigators continued to make progress, with suspects still being identified and arrested.

“The system is definitely not lax, and the regulations are not lax,” the prime minister said.

“The people who use the regulations and the system are dishonest,” he said.

Mr Anutin rejected suggestions that weaknesses in the civil service system had enabled the alleged fraud.

He said he would begin working from the Interior Ministry two days a week to maintain closer contact with officials and improve administration and public services, although he could perform his duties from Government House or other locations.

Mr Anutin acknowledged the scandal could affect public confidence but said authorities had acted quickly once irregularities were uncovered.

Within just over two weeks, he said investigators had expanded the case, arrested several suspects and continued revoking the names of those implicated in the recruitment process.

Earlier on Tuesday, Mr Anutin met National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) president Suchart Trakulkasemsuk, who is chairing the subcommittee investigating the case.

He said the NACC’s direct involvement reinforced his confidence that the investigation would be impartial and would not end as a “fixed fight” that deceives the public.

An internal government inquiry led by Deputy Prime Minister Pakorn Nilprapunt is expected to conclude within two to three days before its findings are consolidated with those of other agencies.

Mr Anutin said three suspects were already in custody and many others had been summoned.

The CSD has announced it is preparing an additional charge of aiding public officials in misconduct against the three suspects in custody.

The three have been named as Win Thanaphatcharaphokin, adviser to the director of the Office of Promotion and Training at Kasetsart University; his sister, Sataporn Thanaphatcharaphokin; and Sgt Maj Dr Pichit Thongprom, director of the Strategy and Budget Division of Wichian Buri Municipality in Phetchabun.

Theerathon Bunmathan believes Thailand possess the quality to win the Asean Hyundai Cup this year, even after their opening victory over Laos was tougher than many expected.

The Buriram United midfielder, a former captain and veteran of Thailand’s regional campaigns for more than a decade, spoke on Tuesday about the national team’s prospects as they prepare for their second group match.

“Everyone can see the potential in this squad, with a good mix of promising young players and more experienced ones,” Theerathon said. “Some may feel the opening match against Laos looked straightforward, but the first game of any Asean Championship is always a difficult one.

“I still believe the quality in this squad is good enough for us to compete and push for the title, provided every player pulls together.”

Theerathon also turned his attention to Thailand’s veteran goalkeeper, Chatchai Budprom, joking that he hoped to see the “Thai Vozinha” in action on the pitch.

Thailand face Malaysia in their second group match on Saturday, kicking off at 8pm at Bangkok’s Rajamangala Stadium.

Meanwhile, Brazilian coach Alexandre Gama, now in charge at Uthai Thani, gave an update on his side’s pre-season preparations after two weeks working with the squad.

“Training over the past fortnight has gone according to plan,” Gama said. “The players have worked hard in every session, and everyone has cooperated well. Even though the sessions have been demanding, the squad is adjusting well together. I know it isn’t easy for them, but they are trying hard, and I think things are progressing smoothly.

“Our main focus at the moment is on reaching peak physical condition. We haven’t held long sessions — we’ve kept them sharp, so the players have time to recover. I haven’t introduced much tactical work yet, but I will build that into training gradually, and the players are responding well. Everyone understands what I’m asking of them, and I think we’re on track.

“Finally, I would like to see the fans come out in full force for every match, especially at home. It’s our job to play well and give supporters something to enjoy. When the stands are full, it lifts the players — and it lifts the coaching staff too. We want to play attractive football in our own way and give the fans results to be happy about.”

Senator Somphan Palasak on Tuesday threatened legal action against iLaw director Yingcheep Atchanont over allegations that he was ineligible to contest the Senate election under the business owner category.

Mr Somphan said the allegations were first made more than two years ago and that both he and fellow senator Daeng Kongma, also from Amnat Charoen, had already been cleared by the Election Commission (EC).

He said the EC had ruled that he and Ms Daeng met the eligibility requirements for Group 10 candidates and that they would file criminal complaints against Mr Yingcheep for allegedly damaging their reputations.

The dispute followed a Facebook post by Mr Yingcheep questioning whether the two senators qualified under Group 10, which covers enterprise owners outside the small and medium-sized enterprise category under Senate rules.

In his post, Mr Yingcheep said that Mr Somphan described himself in his application as a chicken noodle vendor while Ms Daeng listed herself as a pork vendor. He said neither appeared to operate a business large enough to qualify under the category, which he claimed applies to operators with more than 300 employees.

Mr Somphan questioned why Mr Yingcheep interpreted Group 10 as applying only to owners of businesses larger than SMEs.

He said Mr Yingcheep should respect the EC’s ruling and refrain from raising issues that had already been settled in a way that could mislead the public.

Under the 2024 Senate election system, the 200 senators were selected from 20 professional groups, with 10 senators representing each group. Group 10 covers enterprises that are not classified as SMEs.

Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister Songsak Thongsri, one of nine people named by iLaw as allegedly being part of a network involved in Senate election collusion, said he would file a criminal defamation complaint with police in Bueng Kan, his hometown. Those named by iLaw include Mr Songsak, Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, Transport Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn and several other cabinet ministers and senior party figures.

The disassembled motorcycle belonging to two Russian siblings missing since Sunday was found buried in a forest in tambon Huay Yai on Wednesday morning. Four people with digging tools are suspected to have fled the scene.

Jakkrit Boonmak, 56, the assistant tambon chief, said his team found parts of the black Honda ADV150 buried near Moo 9 village at about 10am on Wednesday.

A group of men with digging tools had been reported in the area at about 10pm on Tuesday, according to Mr Jakkrit.

He said his team went to the location after reviewing CCTV footage showing the last known whereabouts of the people involved in the case.

When the team arrived in the forest, the four men with digging tools fled, he said.

Sources said the area where the parts were found was near the house of a male suspect identified only as ‘Pong’.

Mr Jakkrit said local officials were continuing with their search for the two young Russians. (Story continues below) Roman Nazimova, 17, and his sister Diana Nazimova, 22, left their house at the Bristol Park Pattaya housing estate in tambon Huay Yai at 4am on Sunday and have not been seen since.

Their mother Zarina Nazimova, 40, told Huay Yai police on Tuesday that her children were wearing casual clothing and carried their mobile phones. She thought they were riding out to a convenience store.

Ms Nazimova has lived in the housing estate since 2018 and her children arrived to live with her in 2021. The siblings speak Russian and English and could not speak Thai, she said.

CCTV footage shows the siblings leaving the housing estate on a black Honda ADV150 motorcycle with the Chon Buri licence plate 4-Kor Sor 6379. They greeted the security guards while passing their booth.

The bike was then seen riding towards the toll plaza of the Map Ta Phut-Na Jomtien motorway at 4.21am and making a U-turn. On a frontage road, they parked near another motorcyclist and had a talk.

At 4.31am both motorcycles rode along the frontage road near Wat Bang Yai. At 4.33am the siblings’ motorcycle reached a traffic light under the Ban Sak Ngaeo motorway bridge before disappearing. That was the last sighting of the pair.

The government has backed the Education Ministry’s plan to introduce a fully paperless e-Office system across all agencies from Jan 1, 2027, as part of its drive to modernise Thailand’s public administration through digital technology.

Deputy government spokeswoman Capt Patdarasm Thongsaluaykorn on Tuesday said the initiative aims to improve efficiency, reduce paperwork and administrative duplication, and speed up decision-making, coordination and document tracking while ensuring transparency and accountability.

Several agencies, including the Office of the Permanent Secretary for Education and the Office of the Basic Education Commission, have already adopted the system.

The ministry plans to expand it to all departments before the nationwide rollout takes effect.

It is also preparing a pilot project to integrate personnel management and document administration into a single platform, allowing agencies to exchange information more efficiently.

The system is expected to support future data links with the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation, the Labour Ministry and the Interior Ministry.

Capt Patdarasm said the project would emphasise data security and strict access controls to ensure confidence in the government’s digital platforms.

The e-Office programme forms part of broader efforts to modernise the civil service by reducing reliance on paper documents, streamlining administrative procedures and improving coordination among government agencies, she added.

The ministry expects the system to cut administrative costs by an estimated 30-40% while elevating public services.

Phuket generated 263 billion baht in tourism revenue during the first six months of this year, attracting nearly seven million visitors, according to the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT).

The TAT Phuket Office reported on Tuesday that the island welcomed 6.96 million visitors between January and June, generating 263.01 billion baht in revenue. It said hotels recorded an average occupancy rate of 81.85% during the period.

Russia remained Phuket’s largest source market with 574,315 visitors, followed by China (314,130), the United Kingdom (123,413), Australia (123,332), Germany (98,143), France (96,712), Kazakhstan (77,022), Malaysia (76,445) and South Korea (69,958).

Speaking on the first day of a three-day public holiday on Tuesday, TAT Phuket director Siriwan Seeharach said tourism activity remained strong during the long holiday, which includes His Majesty the King’s birthday on Tuesday, Asalha Bucha Day on Wednesday and the start of Buddhist Lent on Thursday.

A separate survey that covered about 30% of hotels across Phuket found an average occupancy rate of 60.79%, with visitors staying an average of 2.02 nights. Thai tourists were expected to make 62,211 visits during the holiday, generating an estimated 329.73 million baht in tourism revenue, or an average of 5,454 baht per person each day.

To sustain growth, several international airlines have launched or announced new services to Phuket in the second half of 2026.

Loan growth at Thailand’s large banks picked up in the first half of 2026, driven mainly by corporate lending, while borrowing from small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) remained weak.

Thailand’s six domestic systemically important banks (D-SIBs) reported a combined loan portfolio of 13.6 trillion baht as of June 2026, up 2.6% from the end of 2025 and 1.6% from the end of March.

The six D-SIBs are Krungthai Bank (KTB), Bangkok Bank (BBL), Kasikornbank (KBank), Siam Commercial Bank (SCB), which operates its banking business under holding company SCB X, Bank of Ayudhya (Krungsri), and TMBThanachart Bank (ttb). As of June, KTB became Thailand’s largest lender by total assets, overtaking BBL.

KTB reported consolidated loans to customers of 2.81 trillion baht, up 3.6% from the end of 2025, driven mainly by lending growth in the retail, corporate and government segments, according to the bank’s financial statement filed with the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET).

Loans to the government and state enterprises rose sharply to 633 billion baht, up 12.9% in the first half from the end of last year, while SME lending edged up just 0.3% over the period.

“The bank’s total loan growth resulted from cautious and flexible portfolio management in line with economic conditions, while maintaining an appropriate risk-return balance,” KTB said.

BBL reported outstanding loans of 2.68 trillion baht as of June 2026, broadly unchanged from the previous quarter but up 2.7% from the end of December 2025, mainly due to growth in lending to large corporate clients and loans extended through its international network.

KBank’s loans to customers totalled 2.56 trillion baht, up 4.48% in the first half of the year from the end of 2025. The increase was driven by corporate lending, reflecting the bank’s strategy of pursuing quality loan growth through prudent credit underwriting and appropriate risk-adjusted returns.

SCB X reported loan growth of 2.2% in the first half, supported mainly by selective expansion of corporate lending at SCB. Corporate loans rose 9.3%, while several retail segments contracted, including SME loans down 9.8%, while auto loans fell 19.6% and unsecured loans declined 83.1%.

“In this operating environment, the group remains focused on maintaining portfolio quality and optimising risk-adjusted returns, prioritising high-quality loan origination to support sustainable growth and long-term asset quality resilience,” noted SCB X.

Krungsri reported modest loan growth of 0.4% in the first half under its prudent lending strategy.

Growth was led by the corporate banking portfolio and the Asean customer segment, which expanded 6.0% and 5.1%, respectively. Meanwhile, SME lending declined 4.2%.

Ttb reported a 2.0% contraction in total loans during the first half, with SME lending falling 4.0%.

Amid continued economic uncertainty, the bank said it remained disciplined in pursuing quality loan growth by reshaping its portfolio towards targeted higher-yield retail segments, while strengthening portfolio quality and improving risk-adjusted returns.

Kasikorn Research Center (K-Research) upgraded its 2026 banking sector loan growth forecast to 0.5% from a contraction of 0.7% following robust loan growth in the first half.

Kanjana Chockpisansin, head of banking and financial sector research at the think tank, said the improvement is expected to be driven primarily by corporate lending, which K-Research forecasts will grow 5.0% this year.

However, SME and retail lending are projected to remain under pressure, declining 4.5% and 1.5%, respectively.

No financial losses have been detected after personal information belonging to about 200,000 investors was accessed without authorisation through Thailand Securities Depository Co Ltd’s (TSD) Investor Portal website, the Stock Exchange of Thailand’s (SET) subsidiary said on Tuesday.

The investigation found no evidence that securities holdings, trading records, usernames or passwords had been compromised following the exploitation of a software vulnerability, TSD executives said.

Suspicious activity was first detected on Saturday evening, with unauthorised access confirmed the following morning. The incident affected around 4% of the approximately 5 million shareholder records maintained in the system.

TSD managing director Pichaya Chomchaiya said the incident was not caused by a direct breach of the company’s backend infrastructure but stemmed from a coding flaw within the Investor Portal’s User Profile page.

A legitimate user successfully logged in to the system before manipulating their user ID on the profile page. Due to insufficient validation in the application’s code, the modified ID enabled the system to retrieve profile information belonging to other users. By repeatedly changing the ID, the individual was able to access personal data from a large number of investor accounts.

The compromised information includes investors’ names, dates of birth, national identification numbers, addresses, telephone numbers, email addresses, brokerage firm names, securities account numbers, bank names and partial bank account details.

However, Ms Pichaya emphasised that investors’ securities holdings, portfolio values, transaction histories, usernames and passwords were not exposed, and there is currently no indication of unauthorised financial transactions resulting from the incident.

TSD said it immediately closed the vulnerable access point, corrected the defective code, filed a complaint with the Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau (CCIB), and informed regulators, securities firms and commercial banks to enhance their monitoring of affected accounts.

The company has also begun notifying around 200,000 affected investors via SMS and email while operating SET contact centre services, including during weekends, to answer inquiries. TSD said it will consider providing appropriate assistance if any investor later suffers damage linked to the incident.

Thirapun Sanpakit, the SET’s chief technology officer, said the exchange is implementing broader cybersecurity enhancements.

The measures include deploying AI to scan source code across the SET Group’s systems for hidden vulnerabilities, strengthening identity verification procedures, expanding penetration testing by independent cybersecurity specialists, and gradually migrating legacy web-based services that have been in operation for more than five years to newer, more secure technology platforms.

“The leaked information alone cannot be used to conduct financial transactions unless victims are deceived into following fraudulent instructions,” said SET president Asadej Kongsiri.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the country’s first domestically produced botulinum antitoxin, cutting the cost of the life-saving medicine by 90%.

According to deputy government spokeswoman Ploythalay Laksamee­saengjan, the approval of locally produced “TRCS Botulinum Antitoxin” helps strengthen pharmaceutical security by ensuring access to an essential treatment without relying solely on imports.

The locally produced antitoxin would also cut the cost per dose to about 25,000 baht from around 250,000 baht for imported supplies, she said.

The medicine was developed through collaboration between the Thai Red Cross Society, Queen Saovabha Memorial Institute, Institute of Biological Products, the National Vaccine Institute, the Government Pharmaceutical Organization (GPO) and the National Health Security Office (NHSO).

Botulism is a rare but potentially fatal illness caused by botulinum toxin. It is most commonly associated with improperly processed canned foods and preserved meat products. In Thailand, it has also been linked to contaminated fermented bamboo shoots.

It can cause paralysis, respiratory failure and death if left untreated, making rapid access to antitoxin critical, Ms Ploythalay said.

She said that TRCS Botulinum Antitoxin was developed as a public health resource rather than a commercial product to ensure access to an essential treatment without relying solely on imports.

Land prices near Bangkok’s expanding mass transit lines are continuing to rise, with eastern and outer suburban locations posting the strongest gains, even as the overall land price index slipped from the previous quarter.

The Real Estate Information Center (REIC) reported that the price index of vacant land in Greater Bangkok was 441 points in the second quarter of 2026, up 6.2% year-on-year but down 1.8% quarter-on-quarter.

The quarterly decline followed a 1.4% increase in the first quarter, suggesting that land prices have begun to stabilise after several years of rapid appreciation.

The strongest annual price growth was recorded in Phra Khanong-Bang Na-Suan Luang-Prawet, where land prices surged 36.3% from a year earlier, supported by expanding residential and commercial development.

The Bang Khen-Sai Mai-Don Mueang-Lak Si-Min Buri-Nong Chok-Khlong Sam Wa-Lat Krabang area ranked second, posting 21.1% annual growth as development continued to spread towards Bangkok’s eastern fringe.

Land prices in Muang Nonthaburi- Pak Kret increased by 17.2%, followed by Samut Sakhon at 16% and Mueang Pathum Thani-Lat Lum Kaeo-Sam Khok at 11.8%.

These locations largely reflect expanding suburban growth corridors where infrastructure investment and new residential development continue to support land demand.

The REIC index also showed land values rising most rapidly along mass transit routes already operating or approaching completion.

Land along the Green Line extension (Khu Khot-Lam Luk Ka) recorded the highest increase among mass transit corridors, climbing 17.6% year-on-year to an index of 361 points.

Although the extension remains a future project, surrounding areas continue to attract residential development as investors anticipate long-term connectivity improvements.

The Pink Line (Khae Rai-Min Buri) ranked second, with land prices increasing 9.7% to an index of 319 points after full commercial operations began.

The Orange Line (Thailand Cultural Centre-Min Buri) is currently under construction and ranked third with annual growth of 7.4%, bringing its land price index to 489 points.

Land along both the Sukhumvit Skytrain Line and Airport Rail Link rose by 7.3%, reaching index levels of 504 and 460, respectively.

The Yellow Line (Lat Phrao-Samrong) completed the top five, with land values increasing 6.3% year-on-year to an index of 451 points.

Among the mass transit corridors, the Sukhumvit Skytrain Line remained the most expensive location in absolute terms, followed by the Orange Line and Airport Rail Link.

REIC’s quarterly data showed land prices along several mature mass transit routes softened from the first quarter despite remaining higher than a year earlier, reflecting a more balanced market after previous rapid gains.

The Greater Bangkok land market has continued to benefit from transport infrastructure, particularly projects extending urban development towards outer districts, where land remains relatively more affordable than inner-city locations.

The latest figures indicate that while overall price growth has moderated, areas benefiting from new mass transit investment continue to outperform the broader market, especially locations positioned for future residential expansion and mixed-use development.