Corruption in the Suvarnabhumi Airport project

Allegations of corruption during the development of Suvarnabhumi Airport, the newest international airport serving Bangkok, Thailand, have been made since the project's inception. These allegations started in the 1970s, when land for the airport was purchased during the dictatorship of Thanom Kittikachorn, and extended to the government of Thaksin Shinawatra, during which most of the construction occurred. To date, no Thai government, police, or auditor-general investigation has proved any corruption in the project.

The Nation, a Thai English-language daily, published several reports alleging corruption in the purchase of x-ray baggage scanning devices for the airport. The resulting scandal delayed the opening of the airport by a year and allowed the opposition Democrat Party to initiate a 20-hour no-confidence censure debate that forced Thaksin to remove close supporter Suriya Jungrungreangkit from his position of Transport Minister. The Royal Thai Army swept into power in a military coup in 2006, using the allegedly shoddy construction of the airport as one of the justifications for its coup. The junta initiated several investigations into the airport. The investigative panels found that damage to the airport was "minute" and "common." The cost of fixing the damage was estimated at less than 1% of the total airport cost. The junta was accused of delaying airport repairs and intensifying the airport's problems in order to pin further blame on the deposed government.

In 2008, The Nation admitted that its reports of corruption were incorrect, and retracted their stories.

Charges of corruption were levelled against Thai governments since the airport project's inception in the 1970s. "All the recent previous governments before Thaksin took part in taking something from the project," noted Chaiwat Sinsuwong, a member of the Council of Engineers.

Mr Weera Somkuamkit, of the People's Network on Corruption has noted that "Someone got a big payoff just by laying down the sand. There's corruption in every airport project such as the car park, bidding on duty-free shops, cooling system for the buildings and power generating system." Weera Somkuamkit has not yet made public any evidence supporting his claims. Based on this and other allegations, the opposition parties during the Thaksin government initiated a vote of no confidence against the Thaksin-government's transport minister. The censure motion was not successful.

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Wikipedia