The Association for the Protection of the Constitution has urged the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) to launch a probe against Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha's younger brother and defence permanent secretary Preecha Chan-o-cha and three other senior army officers over the construction of a weir named after Gen Preecha's wife.
Association secretary-general Srisuwan Janya on Monday petitioned the NACC to probe the four army officers for alleged misconduct and dereliction of duty for allegedly deploying army personnel to help in the weir's construction.
They have also been accused of using an army aircraft to transport a delegation including Pongphan Chan-o-cha, Gen Preecha's wife, from Bangkok to the construction site in Chiang Mai.
The members of the delegation were not state officials.
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Their acts violated the anti-corruption law, Mr Srisuwan said.
Aside from Gen Preecha, the three others are air force commander ACM Tritos Sonchaeng; Lt Gen Siripong Wongkhunti, director-general of the Office of the Permanent Secretary for Defence's (OPSD) Defence Energy Department (DED); and the DED's Northern Petroleum Development Centre director, Maj Gen Pisith Singharachai.
The move came after pictures of a weir in Fang district named after Ms Pongphan, who also serves as president of the OPSD's wives association, went viral on social media.
One picture showed a signboard with the weir's name "Mae Pongpan Development Weir" and Ms Pongpan's photo beside a watercourse where the weir was built.
Other pictures showed the weir site with a carpet welcoming Ms Pongphan during its opening ceremony last week and water tanks with her name which were donated to local communities.
Mr Srisuwan said although Ms Pongphan was Gen Preecha's wife and the wives' association president, what she did was illegal as she is not a state official.
Also Monday, the OPSD said Ms Pongphan proposed building the weir to army units in Fang district following a request from residents, who said the weir would help reserve water for tap water production and irrigation.
Below: A signboard with the weir's name and a photo of Ms Pongphan.
