The People's Party detected suspicious activity during the Year 70 budget subcommittee meeting, noting that several ministries proposed projects unrelated to their missions. They were shocked to find the Ministry of Energy requesting funds to purchase dried banana dryers, while the Agricultural Land Reform Office proposed budgets for machines to make meatballs and sausages. The Deputy Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Interior reacted angrily by slamming the table and pointing at subcommittee members after being questioned about budget documents.
On 4 Aug 2026 GMT+7 at the parliament, Mr. Teerachat Totrakul, former party-list candidate for the People's Party and subcommittee member on ICT equipment and revolving funds under the special committee reviewing the FY 2027 budget bill, stated that the subcommittee's past reviews revealed some government agencies conducted price surveys with companies outside their business sectors. For example, seeking prices for IT systems but consulting real estate firms, or requesting prices for 50 million baht worth of equipment but surveying companies with zero revenue. He presented these irregularities to the subcommittee, but the government faction showed little interest, creating a tense and prolonged review process. For instance, a fire system project for 77 provinces under the Ministry of Interior lacked detailed provincial information. Furthermore, the Ministry submitted two different sets of price quotes to the budget bureau and the subcommittee, prompting objections and a suspension of the meeting. During budget review sessions, when the Deputy Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Interior was explaining, Mr. Teerachat pointed out the ministry's deliberate concealment of information, which led the deputy official to slam the table and point at him—a behavior Mr. Teerachat said was unprecedented and unacceptable.
Mr. Teerachat added that the subcommittee also rushed its deliberations, with the secretary reading out project names incompletely while the meeting still approved them. He could not recall the exact project names but noted that several consecutive projects from the Department of Lands were passed this way. He took photos of the meeting with his phone, leading the subcommittee to summon parliamentary police. He called for live broadcasts of the budget subcommittee meetings for transparency. He also highlighted many projects unrelated to their agencies—for example, the Ministry of Energy proposing to buy dried banana dryers, claiming it was to teach communities about energy transition; the Agricultural Land Reform Office seeking funds to purchase meatball, sausage, and lemongrass cutting machines, raising questions about their relevance; and the Department of Highways proposing carbon credit reduction projects. He suggested it is time to overhaul the budget preparation system.
Second Lieutenant Kittipong Piyawanno, party-list MP for the People's Party and member of the FY 70 budget committee, observed that the subcommittee reviewed network equipment purchases with excessive duplication across projects in the Department of Provincial Administration. In one project, the department director allowed a 3% budget cut, but Mr. Teerachat proposed cutting the entire project as it conflicted with the government's Cloud First policy. The director responded that if the entire project was cut, the proposed 3% cut would no longer be accepted, asserting authority over the subcommittee, which accepted his statement. Mr. Chada Thaiset, MP for Uthai Thani from the Bhumjaithai Party and also a subcommittee member, was present and can attest to this. Mr. Teerachat remarked that this situation reflects the peculiar and problematic nature of the current governmental working system.