Thai Treasury Insists Auditor-General Building Auction Was Fair Amid Price Leak Claims
Comptroller General's Department releases full bidding details, refuting allegations of insider information
Thailand's Comptroller General's Department has strongly denied allegations that the winning bidder for the new Auditor-General's Office construction project had prior knowledge of competitors' bids through its officials.
The department has released the full list of bids to the public, asserting the transparency and integrity of the electronic auction process.
Patricia Mongkhonvanit, the director-general of the Comptroller General's Department, addressed claims that the ITD-CREC Joint Venture secured the contract by undercutting rivals thanks to leaked information from within the department.
She stated that a thorough review of the electronic bidding (e-bidding) system's log files had been conducted.
The investigation revealed that seven companies participated in the bidding process, with their offers ranked as follows:
- NL Development Public Company Limited: 2,368,000,000 Baht
- Christiani & Nielsen (Thai) Public Company Limited: 2,163,800,000 Baht
- U-Work Neo & Marshten Joint Venture: 2,357,777,777 Baht
- Worareal Joint Venture: 2,320,888,000 Baht
- ITD-CREC Joint Venture: 2,136,000,000 Baht
- Akarn 33 Company Limited: 2,194,463,000 Baht
- Power Line Engineering Public Company Limited: 2,392,000,000 Baht
The department highlighted that the ITD-CREC Joint Venture's successful bid was the fifth lowest, undercutting Christiani & Nielsen (Thai) Public Company Limited, the second lowest bidder, by a significant 27.8 million Baht.
Furthermore, their offer was a substantial 386.153 million Baht below the government's set median price.
Patricia firmly stated that no official within the Comptroller General's Department was involved in disclosing any bidding information related to this or any other government auction.
She further explained that the e-bidding system employs robust security measures, including two layers of data encryption and Blockchain technology for data storage.
This, she asserted, prevents any unauthorised access to bidding information during the auction period. The system only reveals the lowest bid once the submission deadline has passed.
Patricia warned the public, "If anyone claims they can provide inside information on bids during an auction, do not be fooled, as you may be targeted by fraudsters."
