UPDATE: Thailand removes Phuket provincial clerk from civil service pending bribery case

Thailand’s Department of Provincial Administration has ordered Phuket provincial clerk Rungreung Thimabut removed from the civil service pending the outcome of a bribery case, with immediate effect after a court issued an arrest warrant.

The order, dated June 27, 2026, was signed by Witthoon Sirinukun, deputy director-general acting as director-general of the Department of Provincial Administration, on behalf of the Interior Ministry permanent secretary, as Department of Provincial Administration order No. 1899/2569. It cited Section 57(5) and Section 101 of the Civil Service Act B.E. 2551, along with related civil service rules and Interior Ministry orders.

According to the order, the Corruption and Misconduct Cases Criminal Court Region 9 issued arrest warrant J.12/2569 on June 26, 2026, to the commander of the anti-corruption and misconduct suppression unit for the arrest of Rungreung. He was accused of demanding, receiving or agreeing to receive property or another benefit for himself or others in return for inducing an official, legislator, provincial council member, municipal council member, Thai state official, foreign state official or official of an international organization to act or refrain from acting dishonestly or unlawfully in duty, or through his influence, in a way that would benefit or harm any person.

Authorities later took Rungreung into custody and handed him to investigators for legal proceedings. The complaint was recorded by Division 6 of the anti-corruption and misconduct suppression bureau under the Central Investigation Bureau as criminal case 8/2569.

The department said the provincial clerk position is an important post in the Department of Provincial Administration and the Interior Ministry that requires public trust and confidence. It said the allegations related to dishonest performance or non-performance of official duty, or conduct deemed untrustworthy, and that the case was neither a negligent offense nor a petty offense. The order also said the public prosecutor was not acting as defense counsel for Rungreung. It said allowing him to remain in office could damage the service because the legal process would not be completed quickly.

Rungreung may submit a written complaint against the order to the Interior Ministry permanent secretary, including by registered mail, within 30 days of learning of the order.

The move came a day after the Interior Ministry ordered Rungreung to return to duty in Phuket following the end of a 30-day fact-finding investigation period and the expiry of his temporary reassignment order.

Prime Minister and Interior Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said on June 26, 2026 that the return was handled by Interior Ministry permanent secretary Arsit Sampantharat and that Rungreung was sent back because the 30-day examination period had been completed. Anutin said the examination had not stopped and would continue under the procedures of the Office of the Permanent Secretary of the Interior Ministry. He said that if no wrongdoing was found, then there was no wrongdoing, but if wrongdoing was found, legal action would follow.

According to a report dated June 25, 2026, the Department of Provincial Administration sent a letter to the Phuket governor instructing the province to receive Rungreung back to his original post. The letter said his temporary assignment to the department had ended and the department’s fact-finding process had been completed.

The letter referred to Department of Provincial Administration order No. 1512/2569, dated May 20, 2026, which assigned Rungreung to duty at the department from May 25 to June 24, 2026. The department asked Phuket to notify it once he reported for duty and said he had 12 days of leave remaining in fiscal year 2026.

On May 20, 2026, the department, under Director-General Narucha Khotchasitwilai, ordered Rungreung and four other administrative officials to report to the central administration while a committee examined complaints about alleged benefit demands or kickbacks from entertainment venues in Patong, Kathu district, Phuket.

Later, on May 28, 2026, Phattharaphong Suphakson, also known as lawyer Un Buriram, disclosed a screenshot of a Line chat that he said showed a brief message, “Help blue,” allegedly exchanged between a senior Interior Ministry executive and a local official before an election. The report said it later became known that Rungreung was the person who sent that chat.