Thailand introduces oversight to curb lavish spending on decorative street lamps

There’s been a response to a recent scandal involving an 871 million baht procurement of solar-powered street lamps designed with mythical kinnaree figures by the local administration of Racha Thewa, in Samut Prakan. Sweeping measures are being introduced to ensure transparency and accountability in future such projects. This conspicuous procurement resulted in misconduct charges being pressed against at least 40 implicated individuals, Bangkok Post reported.

“An investigation conducted by the Office of the Ombudsman has found there still are many local administrative organisations considering implementing similar procurements,” shared Issaree Hunsacharoonroj, an ombudsman. He expressed concern for these expensive projects, stating that their worth has yet to be proven.

Issaree went on to explain, “The Office of the Ombudsman, Comptroller General’s…