Bangkok: Pakamon Nunanan, a party-list MP from the People's Party, has revealed significant flaws in the Terms of Reference (TOR) for local government recruitment exams, suggesting that these flaws open the door to collusion and corruption. She challenged the prevailing belief that the "central government doesn't cheat," urging a return of examination authority to local governments and advocating for a complete reset of the examination system.
According to Thai News Agency, Pakamon's remarks came during a debate in the House of Representatives over the draft Budget Act for the fiscal year 2027. She highlighted that the 2027 budget structure has reduced overlapping provincial budgets with local administrative organizations (LAOs), signaling a shift towards greater autonomy for local governments. Despite this, she noted that local government revenue remains at 29.35%, below the target of 35%.
Pakamon proposed a reform of the structure of the over 7,000 LAOs, noting that a significant portion of the budget is tied up in recurring expenses, limiting improvements to citizens' quality of life. She emphasized the shortage of personnel and criticized the central government's control over examinations since 2017, which was purportedly to prevent patronage.
She argued that the central government's approach to conducting exams under the assumption of integrity has been disproven by recent corruption scandals. The current system, she noted, lacks adequate checks and balances, with a single bidder responsible for all examination processes, leading to systemic failures when cheating occurs.
Pakamon and the People's Party are advocating for the revocation of the NCPO order to enhance recruitment efficiency and ensure personnel meet local needs. She believes a system reset is necessary to combat corruption, asserting that centralized exams alone cannot solve these issues.
Pakamon further criticized the TOR for suggesting potential collusion between employers and contractors, evidenced by leaked answer sheets. She questioned the transparency of the process, pointing out the absence of score announcements and the non-disclosure of answer sheets, which were supposed to be scanned and stored.
Concerns were also raised about the lack of security measures, such as encrypting flash drives, and the absence of a clear protocol for immediate forwarding of materials. Pakamon argued that these omissions facilitated the exam fraud and called for an investigation into the involvement of high-ranking officials mentioned in an audio clip that surfaced recently.
She concluded by questioning the continuation of the current examination system amidst evident corruption. With nearly 200 million baht projected to be spent on civil service exams by 2026, Pakamon warned that the central budget could perpetuate the corrupt system unless transparency is restored within the central bureaucracy.