Phuket governor declines to say whether corruption probe has widened

Phuket Governor Chotinrin declined to say whether investigators had uncovered new evidence or identified additional officials in the corruption investigations involving former Phuket Provincial Palad Rungruang Thimabut.

Asked during an interview last week whether the investigations had produced new findings since he took office, Gov Chotinrin referred instead to the government’s policy of suppressing influential figures and Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul’s campaign to “eradicate thugs”.

“The term ‘thugs’ does not only refer to ordinary citizens,” Gov Chotinrin said. “There are also unruly government officials in every group.”

He said the Ministry of Interior had opened a disciplinary investigation while the National Anti-Corruption Commission was pursuing a criminal case. Investigators were examining evidence, particularly a money trail, he said, adding that the case was now in the legal process.

Those details had already been announced by investigators. When asked again whether authorities had found a wider network beyond Mr Rungruang, the governor said the details remained in the investigation file and that disciplinary investigators would continue examining anyone connected to the alleged network.

“There are two lines of work coordinating on this,” he said, referring to the criminal and disciplinary investigations.

Gov Chotinrin took office on June 29, after the Cabinet transferred former Phuket Governor Nirat Pongsitthaworn to the Ministry of Interior in Bangkok during a sweeping reshuffle prompted by allegations involving corruption, influential figures and conflict within Phuket’s provincial administration.

The investigations stem from Prime Minister Anutin’s visit to Phuket in May, when entertainment venue operators and other business owners complained of alleged bribery, extortion and abuse of authority by government officials. The Department of Provincial Administration then transferred five senior Phuket officials to Bangkok for a 30-day fact-finding investigation.

Mr Rungruang, the province’s most senior administrative official beneath the three vice governors, challenged the transfer and petitioned Parliament, alleging political interference. The controversy included leaked LINE chat screenshots allegedly involving DOPA Director-General Narucha Khosasilvilai and containing the message “Help Namngern” (“Help the Blue”), which was widely interpreted as a reference to the Bhumjaithai Party. Mr Narucha denied sending the messages and questioned their authenticity. The government said the transfers were intended to facilitate an impartial investigation.

After the 30-day inquiry ended, DOPA ordered Mr Rungruang to return to Phuket, saying the temporary transfer period had expired. He thanked Mr Narucha and the investigation committee, saying they had restored justice.

Within hours of resuming his duties, however, anti-corruption police arrested Mr Rungruang under a warrant issued by the Criminal Court for Corruption and Misconduct Cases Region 9. The arrest was linked to an alleged bribery scheme involving local government recruitment examinations. DOPA suspended him from duty the following day, pending the criminal proceedings.

Investigators announced a second case days later. At a multi-agency press conference in Bangkok, officials from the Central Investigation Bureau, Department of Special Investigation, Public Sector Anti-Corruption Commission and DOPA alleged that Mr Rungruang demanded 1 million baht from a land claimant seeking help restoring land rights in Cherng Talay.

According to investigators, the complainant transferred the money electronically after allegedly being told payment was required to resolve the decades-old land dispute. Financial investigators later traced the payment to a bank account connected to the separate investigation into alleged bribery in local government recruitment examinations in southern Thailand.

Officials said the transactions created a money trail linking the otherwise separate investigations. They alleged that money received in the Phuket land case was transferred through accounts connected with people involved in the recruitment examination case, before some funds were refunded through accounts allegedly controlled by Mr Rungruang’s associates. Police said the financial trail became key evidence connecting the two criminal investigations.

Mr Rungruang has denied all allegations. Investigators have stressed that the land case and the recruitment examination case remain separate criminal matters, connected only by the financial transactions uncovered during the investigation. They have also said that further cases remain under investigation and that additional arrests are possible.

Two days before Gov Chotinrin took office, Phuket MP Chalermpong Saengdee said corruption in Phuket extended beyond a single official. The People’s Party MP alleged that influential networks remained embedded in the provincial administration and that businesses continued to face demands for unofficial payments.

Mr Chalermpong said bribery was damaging Phuket’s economy, legitimate businesses and tourist confidence. He also said a respected police officer had warned him to “be careful” after he returned to Phuket, which he described as evidence that powerful interests continued to operate behind the scenes.

He criticised high-profile inspections by senior government figures as potential “window dressing” unless authorities dismantled the networks allegedly responsible for corruption, saying the issue was not a lack of information but a lack of action.

Gov Chotinrin’s latest comments did not indicate whether the government’s understanding of the scandal had changed since he took office, whether additional officials had come under scrutiny or how far investigators believe the alleged network extends.