Prime Miniser Prayut Chan-o-cha has congratulated Ms Panida “Nong Bam” Yotpanya after she was admitted as a staff of the Office of the Public Sector Anti-Corruption Commission, according to government spokesman Putthipong Punnakan.
Ms Panida shot to fame for her bravery in blowing the whistle about alleged corruption in the fund for destitute people when she was working as a student intern at the Office for the Protection of Destitute People in the northeastern province of Khon Kaen.
Her exposure of the alleged embezzlement of the fund there led to an investigation of the centre in Khon Kaen and, eventually, the probe was widened to cover all the centres for destitute people nationwide by the Public Sector Anti-Corruption Commission and the Office of the Auditor-General.
Almost all the centres investigated were found to be involved in corruption regarding the fund for destitute people and for people living with Aids.
Putthipong said the prime minister praised Ms Panida’s courage for exposing the irregularities in the centres for the protection of the destitute people and wished her to uphold her selfless ideology and to work with the others for the good of the country.
The prime minister, said the spokesman, has urged authorities concern to speed up the probe into the alleged embezzlement of the fund for the destitute people in order that the culprits are exposed and penalized.
