Two politicians in the Thai Rak Thai administration have been put behind bars after the court sentenced them to six years each in jail on charges of malfeasance and price collusion over a compost procurement scheme in 2001-02.
The Supreme Court's Criminal Division for Political Office-Holders spent more than seven hours reading the details of the case and its decision against former agriculture minister Chucheep Hansawat, 72, and his secretary Witthaya Thienthong, 75.
Both were indicted on March 31 last year by the Office of the Attorney-General for abuse of authority under Section 157 of the Criminal Code and price collusion in connection with a scheme by the Department of Agricultural Extension to supply about 130,000 tonnes of compost to farmers from February 2001 to September 2002.
They denied the charges and were released on bail. They were in charge of approving the procurement of the fertiliser, worth 367 million baht, to be distributed to farmers across the country who were affected by floods.
The contract was processed by Witthaya and signed by Chucheep, who were members of the government led by Thaksin's now-defunct Thai Rak Thai Party. They came from the so-called Wang Nam Yen faction led by Witthaya's older brother, Sanoh Thienthong, known in those days as a political kingmaker.
Thaksin drew heavy criticism for including the faction in his government.
Wednesday's convictions by the Supreme Court are seen as heavy blows to Bangkok-area "mafia politics". The Hansawat family has controlled politics in Pathum Thani province for decades, while Witthaya's older brother, Sanoh Thienthong, has long been the major power in the Sa Kaew area.
The Cooperatives Community of Thailand won the contract to supply the compost amid a lack of transparency. Farmers also complained the supply was a mixture of muddy soil and burnt sugarcane bagasse, lacking essential nutrients and minerals for plants.
A House committee on anti-corruption and the Agriculture Ministry's Office of the Permanent Secretary lodged a letter with Chucheep asking him to review the scheme, but their suggestion was ignored and the contract was signed.
Witthaya wrote in the scheme's appendix that the project was acknowledged by the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC).
According to the ruling, this indicated that both politicians deliberately failed to investigate irregularities brought to their attention, and the compost turned out to be of poor quality.
The NACC probed the pair and ruled in July 2012 they had committed malfeasance and violated the anti-price collusion law. The case was subsequently handed over to the OAG.