The Department of Local Administration has revealed the results of an investigation into corruption in local government exams, indicating credible evidence of score alterations during processing and discrepancies between exam results and original answer sheets. It is accelerating a recheck of scores for 15,520 individuals who have already been appointed, to be completed within three days from 4 to 6 July 2026.
At 22:23 on 3 July 2026, the Department of Local Administration under the Ministry of Interior released a report on the fact-finding investigation regarding the competitive examination process for appointment as local government civil servants or employees. The report stated that, following news that the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) together with the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) had executed a court warrant to search a residence in Bang Len Subdistrict, Bang Yai District, Nonthaburi Province, investigations arose from complaints about a group of individuals and certain tutors falsely claiming to have internal connections to help candidates pass the local government civil service exam in 2025. This syndicate reportedly demanded bribes ranging from 350,000 to 800,000 baht. The search uncovered that the house was used to alter answer sheets to adjust scores to match the names of those who paid, with copies of answer sheets from about 3,000 examinees found.
The Department of Local Administration issued Order No. 674/2569 dated 23 June 2026, appointing an investigative committee to ascertain the facts of the 2025 local government civil service exam process thoroughly, accurately, clearly, and fairly to all parties, conducting witness interviews and reviewing relevant documents on multiple issues. Preliminary investigation findings are summarized as follows: . . .
1. The competitive examination process for local government civil servants or employees follows procedures beginning with the National Council for Peace and Order Order No. 8/2017 on personnel administration reform dated 21 February 2017, designating the Central Committee for Local Government Staff Examinations (CCLGSE) to conduct exams according to criteria set by the central committees for civil servants or local officials. In a meeting on 30 June 2022, this committee agreed that the CCLGSE would be responsible for conducting exams for positions and vacancies as requested by local administrative organizations (LAOs), delegating the Department of Local Administration to select universities in accordance with laws and public procurement regulations.
2. Regarding the drafting of the Terms of Reference (TOR) for the examinations, the Department consulted with the Procurement and Asset Management Adjudication Committee of the Comptroller General's Department. It was concluded that the 2025 TOR provided stronger safeguards than the 2023 TOR, sufficient to address issues and prevent corruption, ensuring transparency and public confidence among examinees, thereby upholding equality of opportunity and meritocracy, which are vital to the integrity of the system and benefit the public that state agencies serve.
3. The process of checking and compiling the list of successful candidates
3.1 showed that the file of successful candidates provided to the Department by the responsible contractor staff contained the contractor staff's name as the last person to save the file, with 115 recorded accesses, including the name of a private company implicated in news reports for falsifying answer sheets to alter the file. A Department official received a flash drive containing processed exam results for parts A, B, and C from the contractor's responsible staff to announce the list of candidates eligible for part C and the list of successful examinees. This flash drive was not the same as the one containing the part A and B results kept in the safe in the Department Director-General's office.
3.2 The TOR required the contractor to record, verify, and submit exam results to the Central Committee and prepare the announcement lists for part C eligibility and successful candidates. It was found that Department officials jointly reviewed examinee codes against exam positions and the total number passing each position from the list files provided by the contractor multiple times, both before and after submitting to the Central Committee for announcement. This suggests a reasonable belief that score alterations may have occurred during this stage involving Department officials, the contractor, and possibly others. No Department official was found to have handled or kept the answer key used by the contractor for checking answer sheets throughout the exam process.
3.3 On 26 June 2026, the Department, together with the Ministry of Interior’s fact-finding committee, randomly checked exam score data from the flash drive stored in the safe at the Department's Director-General office. They found discrepancies between scores in answer sheet images and the processed exam results for parts A and B submitted by the contractor to the Central Committee for announcement as per the TOR.
4. To ensure fairness and address the corruption issues, the Chairman of the Central Committee has assigned the Department of Local Administration, along with partner agencies, to verify the accuracy of exam scores for parts A and B of the 15,520 candidates who have already been appointed, to be completed within three days from 4 to 6 July 2026.
5. After verifying the facts correctly, the Department will proceed in accordance with the general standards governing competitive examinations.
The Department of Local Administration will collaborate with relevant agencies to expedite fact-finding investigations. If personnel under its jurisdiction are found involved in corruption, the Department will take disciplinary, civil, and criminal actions swiftly against all offenders to uphold transparency, public trust, and prevent further damage to the public and state agencies.
