Bangkok: The Auditor General insists that he is not indifferent and is ready to accept the investigation into the collapsed building. The State Audit Office (SAO) governor said he is ready to accept the results of the investigation process, asking society to wait for the results and not to use emotions to make decisions. He insisted that he had not been indifferent in the past and had followed all legal processes. He lamented that he had been in the position for less than a year, but the building had already had previous procedures for many years. He said that if anyone was wrong, they would have to accept their own karma.
According to Thai News Agency, Mr. Montien Charoenphol, the State Audit Office Governor, said after the merit-making ceremony at the collapsed State Audit Office building after the search and rescue mission was officially ended today that the State Audit Office has never been indifferent. There has been an investigation process from various parties, such as the investigation committee set up by the government as the main committee, both engineering and science, with qualified persons, the investigation by the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) on collusion and nominees, and criminal cases, the investigation by the police, and every committee that has called us in for questioning, more than 10 committees already.
The State Audit Office is an auditing organization, but the law also states that there must be a committee to audit the agency. Now, documents have begun to be submitted in accordance with the law, and the audit results have been accepted. In the past, legal procedures have been followed. He said that he had only been in the position for less than a year, but the construction process had begun several years earlier. Whenever a group is called for an investigation, we have relevant officials who really know the story go in to answer. I can only answer the parts that I am involved with.
Asked further about the elevator shaft design amendment, which was revealed to be due to a budget cut from the State Audit Office, Mr. Montien said that the design amendment followed the engineering process, which requires approval from the supervising engineer each time. The designer must receive consent from the designer, and follow the law at every step. He confirmed that if anyone is found to have done wrong, they must be punished according to their actions.
Then, Mr. Montien’s team tried to take him back to the car, but the reporters tried to follow him and asked if the relatives of the deceased had ever heard the word “sorry” before. Could they say “sorry” from his mouth? Mr. Montien said that it was a matter of regret. We had expressed our regret since the first days of the incident. As for the funeral arrangements and the visits to the injured, officials from the Office of the Auditor General had taken good care of them since the beginning.