After news spread about a THB21 million trip to Hawaii from Sept.29 to Oct.1, Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan came under heavy criticism for his overspending. People were speculating as to how that much money was spent on a single flight, since only a portion of how it was spent was made known to the media.
Gen. Prawit argued back, however, saying that they didn’t spend THB21 million, as everyone believes. When asked how much, he didn’t give an actual figure, but said that they definitely hadn’t overspend as alleged.
The part that seemed to shock most netizens was an itemized charge that was leaked for THB600,000 for food and drinks on the flight. There was widespread chatter that one snack served on the long-haul flight was caviar and Italian smoked ham. Gen. Prawit, however, claimed that he only ate noodles and rice onboard, according the Bangkok Post.
Okay.
The Pheu Thai party have made demands from the government to reveal the names and the duties of the 38-members who followed General Prawit on his visit to Hawaii. As well as what the trip cost and what the money was spent on.
Pheu Thai acting spokesman Anusorn Lamsa-ard said that the public would like to know more about the trip, about how the money was spent, who it was spent on, and why they were there to begin with.
Yesterday, Gen. Prawit came out to say that he was ready to reveal the details about the expenditure to the public. He would disclose the identities of all 38 members, and the reasons why they needed to join his entourage.
So far, he has only said that all 38 officials were needed to attend the Asean-U.S. Defense Ministers Meeting, where they discussed defense cooperation and issues such as human trafficking.
According to Auditor-General Phisit Leelavachiropas, two issues would be investigated in this case, the matter of money that was spent on the trip, and the flight that was used to get to Hawaii.
For the trip, Gen. Prawit and his entourage took a Thai Airways International jumbo jet to Hawaii and back, claiming that military airplanes would not do. Whether or not the chartered flights were truly necessary will be investigated, reported Thai PBS.
Related:
Junta leaders blew THB21 million of taxpayer cash on fancy flight to Honolulu
