Deputy Prime Minister Narong Pipatanasai has approved budget disbursements for some projects under the Thai Health Promotion Foundation (ThaiHealth) after about 1.64 billion baht was earlier frozen due to suspected misspending.
Adm Narong signed off on the budget allocation for some of the foundation’s projects on Feb 8, and this has been reported to Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha by the Public Health Ministry (MOPH).
However, the approval documents will be forwarded to the Auditing Committee on Fiscal Expenditure (MACFE), chaired by Gen Chart-udom Titthasiri, before being proposed to the prime minister.
Speaking at Government House Thursday, Adm Narong denied the frozen budgets of all the projects under ThaiHealth could be disbursed.
He said if the freezing measure was revoked, the foundation’s old budget allocation system would resume.
On the recruitment of new ThaiHealth board members to replace the seven ousted ones, he said a list of seven potential candidates will be finalised today after the board meeting.
The disbursement approval came after Chanchai Sakulrak, a 54-year-old retired soldier who worked as a volunteer under a ThaiHealth umbrella organisation in Roi Et province, was found dead hanging in his house in Muang district on Wednesday.
He left behind a suicide note asking his family to seek justice from ThaiHealth as he had been unable to obtain the necessary budget for project activities.
Earlier, about 1.64 billion baht for 515 projects had been frozen by MACFE in response to government concerns regarding ThaiHealth’s alleged misspending.
As a result of the investigation by MACFE, projects that are funded by ThaiHealth with grants of more than five million baht a year must obtain approval from the committee before they can be disbursed.
Many ThaiHealth-funded umbrella organisations cannot financially support smaller organisations and workers with their funding cut.
Arpatsara Sakulrak, 49, the dead man’s widow, said Chanchai began work with Amornrat Kulkittree, a volunteer at Khum Wat Klang Ming Muang, under a ThaiHealth project two years ago.
She believed her husband committed suicide as he was unable to pay off a debt of more than 300,000 baht which he had borrowed to spend on project activities while the budget was frozen by the government.
Ms Arpatsara also asked authorities to launch a probe into Chanchai’s death as Ms Amornrat has disappeared.
Suwanchai Wattanayingcharoen, deputy permanent secretary of the MOPH, said Chanchai did not ask the foundation to pay out the budget.
The retired officer instead advanced his money for project expenses to Ms Amornrat who was responsible for the budget but she failed to repay him, he said.
ThaiHealth manager Supreeda Adulyanon expressed his regret and condolences to the family of the dead man, saying the foundation is investigating Chanchai’s death.