Super cars put spotlight on the DSI

Super cars put spotlight on the DSI

This is a test for the DSI, which has been quite a disappointment ...Welcome to Si Sa Ket, home of Phra Viharn National Park and ... super cars. The Northeast province is a fragile part of the border with Cambodia because of the land dispute around Preah Vihear temple. But in fact it has a hidden asset that few knew about until May 29. Si Sa Ket, the province with a sleepy provincial town, is a haven for luxury car owners.

In the past three years, the province has registered 23 mega-expensive luxury cars. Its Land Transport office seems to have something very special that lures the owners of those cars from Bangkok, that makes them willing to pay for the cost of transporting them some 500 kilometres to Si Sa Ket to have them licensed there _ even though they could quite easily do it right in the capital or closer provinces.

Another six vehicles were destined for registration there before a blaze on a car transporter badly damaged four vehicles in Pak Chong district of Nakhon Ratchasima, roughly half way to Si Sa Ket where they were headed.

The fire put Si Sa Ket Land Transport officials in the hot seat, and Si Sa Ket for the first time is the focus of national attention for issues other than the border spat. ''The office's good service attracts the registration of luxury cars,'' local Land Transport chief Danai Kote-asa proudly said of the popularity of his office for owners of super cars.

Not unexpectedly his boss in the Bangkok head office and Transport Minister Chadchat Suttipunt did not buy that explanation and ordered him back to the capital to sit idly by while waiting for a probe to begin into the Si Sa Ket office.

The Pak Chong fire has turned into a heat wave as the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) suspects tax evasion by the mega-rich owners of the six cars _ and of probably 9,000 more cars roaming the streets or waiting for a licence. Many of them have been registered in more than a dozen provinces across the country, depending on who is doing the counting.

The Land Transport Department counts 15 provinces, plus Bangkok, while the DSI lists 21 provinces from the capital to Phatthalung and Uttaradit. The DSI has taken this issue up as another ''special case'', in addition to a bunch of others. That might sound like good news to many. Yet of all the cases the DSI is sitting on, only a few are making headway, most notably its investigation into proving the Democrat Party's responsibility for the deaths and injuries of red shirt protesters in Bangkok three years ago.

It apparently is making quite an energetic effort to get this case closed.

DSI chief Tarit Pengdith was very quick to react to the luxury car case by unveiling the figures of vehicles suspected of having false tax declarations.

He believes they were not imported as second-hand parts for reassembly here. His press conference on Wednesday sounded like the agency already had the information to tackle this problem. And that leads to the question of why the DSI decided to look into dodgy vehicle tax deals only after those Si Sa Ket-bound cars were damaged.

Trying to illegally bring in cars _ either somewhat expensive or super expensive _ undoubtedly involves officials from the point where the containers are docked down to the end of the registration process, and some masterminds.

This is a test for the DSI, which has been quite a disappointment since it was set up in 2002. The agency is supposed to bring justice to the public, who have little faith in the police, by working independently. The way it came into this world, however, was wrong as it was put under the Justice Ministry, making it possible for political interference. The only way it could fend that off would have been to have strong leadership to keep it neutral. But what it shows today is obvious _ it's a tool of the government.

Mr Tarit has not done anything to distance the agency from this position, saying in parliament on July 19 last year that the DSI's work was under supervision of the government. The transition of power from the Democrat Party to Pheu Thai has already proved that.

Successfully shedding light on those behind locally re-assembled cars to avoid tax would be a very smart move by the DSI. But it would not add to its credibility until it better handles the probes into anti-government rallies.


Saritdet Marukatat is digital media news editor, Bangkok Post.

Saritdet Marukatat

Bangkok Post columnist and former Digital Media News Editor

Saritdet Marukatat is a Bangkok Post columnist and former Digital Media News Editor at the paper. Contact Saritdet at saritdet@yahoo.com

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