Pattaya Daily News

Published : July 18, 2010 :: 10:07:10 [ 949 views ]

Thailand’s National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) yesterday ruled that former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra is guilty of malfeasance and violated the criminal code in his handling of the Thai Petrochemical Industry (TPI) rehabilitation plan in 2003.

Bangkok, the 17th of July 2010: NACC spokesman Klanarong Chantik told a press conference that the committee had ruled Mr Thaksin was in violation of Section 157 of the Criminal Code in his dealing with the TPI case and have requested that he be barred from engaging in the political affairs of Thailand in future. TPI was under a government backed rehabilitation plan following bankruptcy in the 1997 Asian financial crisis.

The NACC will now present its recommendation to the Office of the Attorney-General (OAG) who must then advise the Supreme Court’s Criminal Division for Holders of Political Positions to forbid Mr. Thaksin from officially engaging in the political affairs of Thailand.

Mr. Thaksin, now in self imposed exile from the Kingdom, is alleged to have endorsed the Finance Ministry’s bid to become administrators for TPI’s rehabilitation plan whilst prime minister in 2003. According to the NACC, the act constitutes a breach of the Criminal Code, an abuse of power and is damaging to the civil service system. Mr. Thaksin has since been sentenced, in absentia, to two years imprisonment for his involvement in a land acquisition deal undertaken by his now ex-wife.

NACC cases against then Finance Minister Suchart Jaovisit have been dropped due to his death, while a further charge laid against then deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak has also been dropped due to insufficient evidence.

TPI, later renamed Integrated Refinery Petrochemical Complex (IRPC), was one of the largest company’s to become bankrupt as a result of the 1997 Asian financial crisis and was subsequently bailed out by the Thai government and placed under a stringent rehabilitation plan.

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Type : Politics News
Story : John Weston
Photo : Internet

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