"Ice Rakchanok," Chair of the Budget Monitoring Committee, emphasized that the TH-AI Passport project is suspicious. She advised the Prime Minister to study the information thoroughly before approving it, reaffirming the People's Party's position that the project should be canceled. She also announced plans to compile evidence to submit to the National Anti-Corruption Commission and the Office of the Auditor General for further investigation.,
On 18 June 2026 GMT+7, Ms. Rakchanok Srinok, a party-list MP from the People's Party and Chair of the Committee on Budget Study and Monitoring, said before the meeting that Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Anutin Charnvirakul may not yet have received detailed reports or closely followed this issue due to his heavy workload. She urged his close team to brief him thoroughly before he gives media interviews, so he can be confident about the project's criteria, similar to the "Thai Help Thai" project, and to prevent his statements from seeming uninformed about the project's basics.
She also raised concerns about the budget for the public hearing and the Terms of Reference (TOR) for gathering public opinion on the TH-AI Passport project. There have been reports that participants were recruited without knowing the true details. Although the ministry has denied this, the People's Party believes a deeper investigation is necessary, especially regarding whether the funds used for the public hearing come from the same budget allocated for the project launch event specified in the TOR, which requires holding one event with at least 200 participants. This is crucial for transparency in budget usage.
Today's meeting included representatives from oversight agencies such as the Office of the Auditor General and the National Anti-Corruption Commission. The party will next gather all evidence and information to officially submit for their investigation. The People's Party's firm stance is to cancel the project, given ongoing doubts. If the government insists on proceeding, it should start anew with budget allocation in the next fiscal year to ensure all processes are proper and beyond reproach. Although the minister has the right to continue, it is believed this action may come with a "price to pay" later.