Two political activists have separately petitioned the Office of the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) and the Office of The Election Commission of Thailand (EC) to investigate Agriculture Minister Suriya Juangroongruangkit over his abrupt transfer of Rachen Sillaparaya, former director general of the Department of Royal Rain-making and Agricultural Aviation, to become an inspector-general attached to the ministry.
Although the two positions are of the same civil service rank, being transferred to an inspector general position from a director general is widely regarded as a demotion because it is an “inactive” post.
Suriya’s transfer order prompted Rachen to tender his resignation on Wednesday, to become effective on June 23.
In his petition, submitted to the NACC yesterday, Srisuwan Janya quoted Rachen as saying that a nephew of the agriculture minister had contacted him by phone to seek a discussion regarding aircraft maintenance, but this was declined by Rachen, adding that an aide of Suriya subsequently ordered Rachen to report to the minister at the head office of a political party with the department’s file about its budget for 2027 fiscal year.
Srisuwan claimed that Suriya’s actions might be a violation of Section 144 of the Constitution, adding that they could be seen as a conflict of interest in violation of Section 184 and 186 of the charter as well.
He asked the NACC to rule whether Suriya’s actions constituted gross ethical misconduct.
Separately, Ruangkrai Leekitwattana submitted a letter to the Election Commission yesterday, demanding an investigation into Suriya’s actions, as to whether they amount to gross ethical misconduct in violation of Sections 170 and 160 of the Constitution. If so, he asked the EC to raise the case with the Constitutional Court, seeking the removal of the minister from office.
In his letter, Ruangkrai claimed that Suriya had admitted to the media that his nephew had contacted Rachen and that he had asked to see the department’s budget. The minister, however, denied that his transfer order had anything to do with his nephew, but was related to the fact that Rachen was to retire at the end of September.
