Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Anutin Charnvirakul has promised a transparent investigation into the collapse of the State Audit Office (SAO), despite his close ties with Auditor-General Montien Charoenphol.
Mr Anutin on Sunday spoke to the media to address recent allegations posted by the Facebook page “CSI LA,” which questioned his close relationship with Mr Montien.
The page said their friendship might affect the investigation into the disaster.
Mr Anutin admitted he and Mr Montien have been close friends for over a decade, having studied together during a national defence course where Mr Anutin was class president and Mr Monthien served as his secretary. However, this didn’t mean the probe into the SAO collapse would necessarily be tainted or inadequate. He denied the accusations made by the Facebook page.
The minister said Mr Montien did not sign the contract for the building as he only assumed his position at the end of last year when the building was already near completion. He also criticised the CSI LA page for making false allegations, saying the pictures of him and Mr Montien shared by the page were taken a long time ago.
Mr Anutin said the investigation is being carried out independently by a committee consisting of the Council of Engineers, the Engineering Institute of Thailand and several universities.
“Manipulation or distortion was impossible. Even if it had been possible, it wouldn’t have caused the building to collapse,” he said. He had chatted to Mr Montien on Saturday, saying both agreed the accusations were untrue. “There’s no way we could bail anyone out of taking responsibility,” Mr Anutin added.
“I’m the one urging all parties to find the cause because out of hundreds of thousands of buildings in Bangkok, this was the only building that collapsed, meaning it must have had a serious flaw,” he added.
Meanwhile, Deputy Commerce Minister Napintorn Srisanpang said legal action will be taken against Thai shareholders of China Railway No.10 (Thailand), one of the contractors for the SAO building, if they are found to have acted as proxies for others to invest through.
The Department of Special Investigation (DSI) will lead the probe and all findings concerning other companies connected to China Railway No.10 will be passed to the department for further investigation, he added.
Auditor-General Montien Charoenphol (photo: State Audit Office)
