Minister Tawee probes forged signature in SAO building project

From the case in which Somkiat Chusangsuk, Chairman of the Engineer Clinic under the Engineering Institute of Thailand, filed a complaint with Wang Thonglang Police Station after discovering that his name and signature had allegedly been forged on documents identifying him as the construction supervisor.

The documents are linked to the PKW Joint Venture—comprising P.N. Synchronize Co., Ltd., V. & Sahai Consultants Co., Ltd., and KP Consultants Co., Ltd.—which was contracted to supervise the construction of the State Audit Office (SAO) headquarters.

On Tuesday ( April 15), the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) invited Somkiat to provide testimony regarding the case. Justice Minister Tawee Sodsong personally attended the session to observe the proceedings.

After more than an hour of discussion, Tawee, along with DSI Deputy Director Pol Capt Surawut Rangsai and Somkiat, held a joint press conference.

Tawee stated that Somkiat appeared as a witness and would be submitting his authentic signature for forensic analysis, which will be compared to the one found in the disputed documents.

If discrepancies are identified, it would raise serious concerns about the legitimacy of the construction supervision, including whether proper oversight was ever in place and who was actually in charge.

The minister also noted that, typically, government construction projects involve either the Department of Public Works and Town & Country Planning or the Fine Arts Department as the design authority. However, in the SAO building project, neither of these agencies was involved in the design.

According to the Department of Public Works, the SAO requested that the design be completed within 180 days—a timeline the department could not meet—leading to the hiring of a private firm instead.

While outsourcing design work is not unusual, authorities discovered that the lead designer was 80 years old, raising additional questions now subject to investigation.

Somkiat reiterated that he had no involvement in the SAO construction project and was not the project supervisor.

He emphasized that he has not been involved in construction supervision work for over 20 years, and the Council of Engineers can verify that he never applied for a license to supervise the SAO project. However, he said he does not yet know who was responsible for the forgery.

He also confirmed that he does not know Patiwat Sirithai, the authorized director representing the PKW Joint Venture. However, he declined to say whether he knew anyone in the company or to identify the person who approached him in 2020 about potential involvement in the project, stating only that it was someone he had known for a long time.

Surawut added that today’s information contributes to a broader investigation involving three Thai nationals suspected of acting as nominee shareholders for China Railway No. 10, the subcontractor for the project. The case is believed to involve coordinated actions from the design phase through construction.

He noted that the alleged document forgery is a key piece of evidence that helps connect the dots, indicating possible misconduct throughout the project.

Authorities are now coordinating with police investigators and reviewing whether there have been other instances of forged signatures related to the PKW Joint Venture. If such evidence emerges, the investigation will be expanded accordingly.

Photo by Wanchai Kraisornkhajit
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