Bhumjaithai MPs protested loudly during the debate on the 2570 budget, angered by Prachachon Party MPs who criticized the work of independent agencies. They accused them of slyly attacking the Senate collusion case and defending former Transport Minister Sak Siam, while slamming the Election Commission, National Anti-Corruption Commission, and Office of the Auditor General for competing to propose budgets for building projects without focusing on work outcomes.
On 1 July 2026 at 09:30, the House of Representatives convened a session chaired by Mr. Lertsak Patanachayakul, Deputy Speaker of the House, to consider the draft budget bill for fiscal year 2570 totaling 3.78 trillion baht on its third day of first reading. Ms. Panida Mongkolsawat, an MP from Samut Prakan representing the Prachachon Party, questioned the transparency of independent agencies including the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC), Election Commission (EC), and Office of the Auditor General (OAG), which are allocated a combined 10 billion baht for 2570. She criticized the EC for not daring to prosecute in the Senate selection collusion case because Senators elect the EC commissioners, and questioned the NACC's two-tiered standards in handling the asset concealment case of former Transport Minister Sak Siam Chidchob, presenting a slide with his photo during her speech. This led to protests from Bhumjaithai MPs for going off-topic and mentioning external individuals. Deputy Speaker Lertsak warned Ms. Panida to summarize and focus on the budget debate and avoid naming external persons. In response, Prachachon MPs protested that the chair was biased, noting the photo was blurred, and urged patience before the chair allowed Ms. Panida to continue her speech.
Ms. Panida stated that the work of independent agencies today favors certain groups. The EC, NACC, and OAG all want their own offices in every province, requesting binding budgets to build offices. For fiscal year 2570, the EC requested 193 million baht for 16 buildings but was cut to 35 million baht by the budget office. The NACC requested new buildings for 5 locations, adding to 19 existing buildings. The OAG also requested 16 new buildings. She noted that the OAG still has to pay land fees to the State Railway of Thailand at Chatuchak for the collapsed building site for another 6 years. Although the agencies received 2.5 billion baht for operations, much was spent on events focusing on attendance rather than outcomes. Overall, 70% of the 10 billion baht budget goes to personnel salaries, 10% to building construction and vehicle leases, leaving only 20% for actual work, often unrelated to core missions. This has led to a crisis of public trust in independent agencies. She urged changing the budget mindset, delaying new building projects, and shifting performance indicators from event counts to actual results. She concluded that if the 2017 constitution nourished the Blue Regime, the independent agencies are the trunk supporting the deep roots of its toxic tree in society.
