Corruption in the Suvarnabhumi Airport project

These allegations started in the 1970s, when land for the airport was purchased during the dictatorship of Thanom Kittikachorn,[1] and extended to the government of Thaksin Shinawatra, during which most of the construction occurred.

The Nation, a Thai English-language daily, published several reports alleging corruption in the purchase of x-ray baggage scanning devices for the airport.

The resulting scandal delayed the opening of the airport by a year and allowed the opposition Democrat Party to initiate a 20-hour no-confidence censure debate that forced Thaksin to remove close supporter Suriya Jungrungreangkit from his position of Transport Minister.

[3] The Council for National Security (CNS) in Thailand established the Assets Examination Committee (AEC) in 2006 to investigate actions that caused damage to the state from operations or projects by individuals in the Cabinet of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

"All the recent previous governments before Thaksin took part in taking something from the project," noted Chaiwat Sinsuwong, a member of the Council of Engineers.

After the coup, the Council for National Security (CNS) called on relevant officials to discuss the issue of corruption, including Kranarong Jantik, former secretary-general of the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC), and Jaruvan Maintaka, Auditor General of the State Audit Office of the Kingdom of Thailand (SAO), to prepare for the establishment of an organization to check for corruption in the government of Thaksin Shinawatra.

On September 30, 2006, the Council for National Security announced the appointment of the Assets Examination Committee (AEC) to investigate actions that cause damage to the state from operations or projects by individuals in the Cabinet of the Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

[12] On June 27, 2011, just three days before the AEC's term ended, they had already made the decision to pursue legal action against the perpetrators and submitted the indictment to the Attorney General's Office.

In response, the NACC prepared to file a lawsuit on its own and appointed a prosecutor from the Lawyers Council Under the Royal Patronage to handle the case.

In this effort, the NACC has sought cooperation from the US Department of Justice to provide additional documentation from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), totaling more than 5,000 pages.

Finally, on August 28, 2012, Wichai Wiwitsevi, a member of the National Counter Corruption Commission (NCCC), announced officially that the NCCC had resolved to refer the case involving the procurement and installation of CTX explosives detection equipment and the construction of baggage handling systems at Suvarnabhumi Airport to the Office of the Attorney General for prosecution.

[5] Twenty-six CTX 9000 DSi explosive detection x-ray baggage scanning devices were purchased from GE Invision with a total contract value of US$65 million.

[5] Abhisit Vejjajiva, leader of the opposition Democrat Party, initiated an unsuccessful censure debate against Transport Minister Suriya Jungrungreangkit.

[18] The opposition claimed that one billion baht (US$25 million) could have been saved if the bomb scanners were purchased directly from GE InVision rather than going through the two local contractors.

[3] In October 2005, the government of Thaksin Shinawatra floated a proposal to combine several districts around Suvarnabhumi Airport into a new province, to be managed as a special administrative zone.

There were anonymous allegations that the proposed establishment of the new zone would cause property values to increase, and that government politicians had bought large plots of land in speculation.

[22] An anonymous source had earlier informed The Nation newspaper that "My friend told me that a politician's wife had bought 4,000 rai from a developer...The transaction was wrapped up in the first quarter of this year [2006]".

The Royal Thai Army overthrew the Thaksin government in September 2006, using the allegedly shoddy construction of the airport as one of the justifications for its coup.

"[25] A two-week investigation led by Tortrakul Yomnak, a chief engineer for AOT, found that the runway was safe, and that cracks could be repaired in as little as a few hours.

[27] The Engineering Institute of Thailand (EIT) conducted investigations at the airport in late 2006 after signs of distress were spotted at several locations in Suvarnabhumi's taxiways and taxi lanes.

In a public statement on 15 February 2007, the EIT again strongly recommended that trapped water should be drained out urgently to minimise the potential spread of cracks.

"[28][29] Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont and AOT Chairman General Saprang Kalayanamitr refused to authorize repairs on the airport tarmac.

After the decision not to prosecute the aforementioned case, Chaiyasit Nititharaj received the position of Minister of Justice and chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, and advisor to the Center for Maintaining Peace and Order in the Yingluck Shinawatra government.