The chairman of the NACC committee inspected the safe containing the original flash drive for the local exams in the Director-General's office of the Department of Local Administration before opening the office of Director Buranee. He pointed out that the data used to announce the results matched the flash drive but did not match the paper answer sheets.
On 31 Jul 2026 GMT+7, at the Department of Local Administration (DLA), Mr. Asapol Santraiphop, Member of Parliament for Sisaket from the Bhumjaithai Party and chairman of the NACC committee of the House of Representatives, led a team to discuss progress on the local exam fraud case. Accompanying him was Mr. Boonprasong Nuansai, Deputy Director-General of the DLA. They toured the offices and inspected the safe storing the original exam flash drive files in the Director-General's office as well as the office of Director Buranee, the director of the recruitment and selection group for local personnel, who is a senior civil servant currently under investigation for serious disciplinary offenses and temporarily suspended from his position.
Mr. Asapol said that today's explanation clarified that the data presented at the Central Committee meeting on local government staff competitive exams (CCLCE) did not come from the flash drive kept in the Director-General's office as initially thought, but from a computer in Director Buranee's office, which coordinates with Srinakharinwirot University (SWU). The details of that coordination are unknown, but once the file was complete, the final data from that workstation was submitted to the CCLCE meeting. The flash drive in the Director-General's office had factual alterations but was not the source of the data presented at the meeting because the information came from that office workstation.
Mr. Asapol stated that if pursuing the masterminds or “big bosses,” it is important to support all involved agencies because everyone wants to catch all wrongdoers. If all perpetrators are caught, uninvolved politicians will not be blamed. At the same time, many innocent civil servants have been affected by these events, so support should be given to officials conducting the investigation.
When asked if the masterminds could be identified, Mr. Asapol said that encouragement should be given to all agencies since they all want to catch the offenders. He believes the involved agencies are following the directions reported to the meeting. Over the past month, with the NACC filing charges against more than 6,000 individuals, it shows the NACC had prior information and used that along with facts uncovered today to justify filing charges. He trusts the NACC is working professionally and hopes that within three months, all offenders at every level will be punished. This requires follow-up from all parties, and the public can provide information to the NACC committee, which serves as a legislative oversight mechanism.
When asked whether the office in question was the processing point for candidate lists before submission to the CCLCE meeting to announce exam results, Mr. Boonprasong said that the computer was used jointly with SWU to process data, and the list of passing candidates from this workstation was presented to the CCLCE. Once approved, the results were announced on the DLA website, matching the data on the flash drive in the Director-General's office.
When further asked if the data did not match the original submissions, Mr. Asapol said it did not match the paper answer sheets. Upon review, three groups of candidates were found: those who truly passed with correct scores, those who initially failed but had scores altered, and those who passed with low scores that were increased to gain employment in the first, second, and third rounds. All three groups' data came from the workstation and was submitted to the CCLCE before being announced on the website, corresponding with the flash drive data held by the Director-General.
When asked if only one person was involved, Mr. Asapol said the workstation belonged to Director Buranee, but the competitive exam process involved four civil servants: the deputy director-general, the division director, the group director, and an expert. Anyone wishing to access the flash drive in the Director-General's office must obtain permission from the room owner first. Many answers lie within this process, but linking operational-level individuals to high-level superiors requires the work of the NACC and police to piece together all information.
Mr. Asapol said that today additional information was received about investigating suspicious financial transactions exceeding 200 million baht, which is under NACC review. He also noted that according to the terms of reference, the flash drive should be kept in the Director-General's office for inspection, but backup data ended at the workstation. It is unknown whether the data was subsequently stored in the safe, which is another issue to investigate, including why the flash drive data matched the results data used for announcements.
Mr. Asapol said this case is not difficult for the NACC and police; if those involved at various levels provide useful information, they can be protected as witnesses to help link to the highest-ranking individuals.
When asked if today's site visit represented progress, Mr. Asapol said there was progress with confirmation of many issues, leading to 19 additional questions sent to the DLA for explanation. The information will then be compiled into a report for submission to relevant agencies.