Document shows Phuket provincial clerk given 2% pay cut over 26 gun permits and online gambling links
An Interior Ministry document shows Phuket provincial clerk Rungreung Thimabut received a 2% salary cut for three months over firearm permit approvals and links cited in an online gambling investigation.
A Thai Interior Ministry disciplinary document shows that Phuket provincial clerk Rungreung Thimabut was punished with a 2% salary cut for three months over his role in issuing permits for 26 firearms and over links raised in an online gambling investigation.
The report, dated July 7, 2025, said Rungreung was investigated over two cases while serving as district chief of Sungai Kolok in Narathiwat: the issuance of firearm possession permits and alleged connections to an online gambling network.
According to the document, Rungreung, acting as a local registrar, approved 26 firearm possession and use permits for a man identified as Sam Waedao without thoroughly checking criminal history, income and asset documents, and a conduct certification letter. The document said the permit holder was later found to have behavior linked to narcotics.
The findings also referred to financial trails connected to an online gambling case. The document said bank accounts and phone numbers linked to Rungreung were used in transactions involving the transfer of several million baht from an online gambling network. Although he denied knowing the conduct of his subordinates, the inquiry panel concluded that he had been negligent in a way that affected the image and credibility of the civil service.
The document said the conduct amounted to a non-serious disciplinary offense rather than a serious one. It cited failures to comply with official laws, rules, regulations, cabinet resolutions and government policy, and a failure to preserve the dignity of his office under the Civil Service Act of 2008.
It ordered a disciplinary penalty of a 2% salary reduction for three months, in line with the inquiry committee's recommendation, and said the outcome should be reported to the Interior Ministry civil service subcommittee for further consideration under Section 103 of the law.
The document carried a signed opinion from Nirat Pongsitthaworn, then director-general of the Department of Provincial Administration and now Phuket governor.
Separately, on May 20, 2026, Department of Provincial Administration director-general Narucha Khosasivilai ordered Rungreung and four other provincial administration officers in Phuket to report for duty in Bangkok after complaints alleging bribe collection from entertainment venues in Patong. That matter remains under further fact-finding, according to the report.
