PUBLISHED: 6 Apr 2025 at 20: 04
Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Anutin Charnvirakul has promised a transparent investigation into the collapse of the State Audit Office ( SAO ), despite his close ties with Auditor-General Montien Charoenphol.
Mr Anutin on Sunday spoke to the internet to target new complaints posted by the Social page” CSI LA”, which questioned his near relation with Mr Montien.
The website said their friendship may impact the investigation into the catastrophe.
Mr Anutin admitted he and Mr Montien have been close friends for over a generation, having studied up during a federal army training where Mr Anutin was course president and Mr Monthien served as his director. Nevertheless, this didn’t think the probe into the SAO collapse may actually become contaminated or insufficient. He denied the charges made by the Twitter page.
The secretary said Mr Montien did not sign the contract for the tower as he only assumed his position at the end of last year when the tower was now near conclusion. He also criticised the CSI LA site for making false allegations, saying the photos of him and Mr Montien shared by the site were taken a long time ago.
Mr Anutin said the research is being carried out independently by a council consisting of the Council of Engineers, the Engineering Institute of Thailand and some institutions.
” Manipulation or displacement was difficult. Even if it had been probable, it wouldn’t have caused the tower to collapse”, he said. He had chatted to Mr Montien on Saturday, saying both agreed the charges were unfounded. ” There’s no way we could bail anyone out of taking responsibility”, Mr Anutin added.
” I’m the one urging all parties to find the trigger because out of hundreds of thousands of properties in Bangkok, this was the only building that collapsed, meaning it must have had a severe flaw”, he added.
Nevertheless, Deputy Commerce Minister Napintorn Srisanpang said legal action will be taken against Thai owners of China Railway No. 10 ( Thailand ), one of the contractors for the SAO building, if they are found to have acted as proxies for others to invest through.
The Department of Special Investigation ( DSI) will guide the sensor and all conclusions concerning other firms connected to China Railway No. 10 may be passed to the office for further inspection, he added.
Auditor-General Montien Charoenphol ( photo: State Audit Office )