Graft case prevents Pathum Thani election winner from taking office

The winner of the Pathum Thani provincial administration CEO election will not be able to take office as he is under a court order suspending him over an alleged corruption case.

Pakorn Nilprapunt, secretary-general of the Council of State, said on Tuesday that Charn Puangphet had been suspended from duty as CEO of Pathum Thani Provincial Administrative Organisation (PAO) in 2012 pending trial in a case related to corruption in 2011.

In 2012, the National Anti-Corrption Commission (NACC) voted 9:0 to indict him for allegedly siphoning state funds when procuring bags of necessities to hand out to flood victims in Pathum Thani in two instances.

The Criminal Court for Corruption and Misconduct Cases Area 1 accepted the case and ordered that Charn be suspended from duty pending trial. The next hearing is due in the middle of this month.

Pakorn said that though the court had suspended Charn during his previous tenure, the ruling applies to the current appointment as well. Hence, as soon as Charn takes office, he will be immediately suspended to prevent him from interfering with the case.

Charn won the Pathum Thani CEO election on Sunday with 203,032 votes, beating the incumbent Khamronwit Thupkrachang, who won 201,212 votes.

There were 949,421 eligible voters and the turnout was 49.77%.
Meanwhile, a source from the Interior Ministry said the Local Administration Department has explained to Interior Minister Anutin Charnvirakul that Charn was not disqualified as a candidate because he had yet to be convicted.

Without a conviction, Charn cannot be banned from politics and cannot be prevented from contesting in the Pathum Thani CEO election, the department explained.

Apart from the charges of allegedly embezzling state funds, Charn is also being investigated for allegedly approving the procurement of gym equipment between 2012 and 2013 with prices that were apparently 40 million baht higher than market prices.