The opposition People’s party will ask the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) to investigate Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra for alleged tax evasion, practicing double-standards and illegal land occupation.
Party Deputy Leader Wiroj Lakkhanaadisorn said today that they have assigned Rangsiman Rome, another deputy leader, to file complaints with the NACC by next week at the latest, demanding an investigation of the prime minister.
According to Wiroj, the first matter concerns the prime minister’s issuance of nine promissory notes for the purchase of shares from her family members, worth about 4 billion baht, which is a transaction outside the stock market. The notes do not specify when payments will be actually made to the sellers and no interest rate is mentioned.
He said the issuance of such notes for share transactions is thought to be a concealed legal transaction, to help the sellers avoid exposure capital gains tax liability, which is basically exploiting a loophole.
The director-general of the Revenue Department, Pinsak Suraswadi, has ruled, however, that the transaction is legal and there is no need to pay capital gains tax yet, because payments for the transactions have not been made.
The second matter concerns the four plots of land in the Khao Yai area, where the Shinawatra family-owned hotel, Thames Valley Khao Yai, is located. Wiroj claims that the hotel is located in a watershed area, where individuals cannot claim ownership and land title deeds cannot be issued legally.
The third matter concerns the privileges granted to former prime minister Thaksin, Paetongtarn’s father, allowing him to stay in the Police General Hospital for six months, rather than in a prison cell, on the grounds that he was, at the time, suffering from life-threatening diseases, said Wiroj, adding that the public doubt that he was actually ill.
The opposition MP made clear, however, that the party will not seek a Constitutional Court ruling on these issues or whether the prime minister should be removed from office.
Instead, he said the party wants her to consider resigning voluntarily, if she is found to be at fault by the NACC. He insists that the party will not resort to an unjust legal mechanism, a legacy of the coup makers, apparently referring to the charter court, to remove the prime minister from the office.
“Using a dirty cloth to scrub the floor will not make it clean. Using polluted water will not make a canal clean,” said the MP.
