The Parliamentary Committee on Political Development invited Burapha University to clarify the issue of the canceled local exam contract. "Lisa Phakamon" urged the Local Administrative Organization to resolve the TOR issues, emphasizing the need to trace those who created the corruption system.
On 5 August 2026 GMT+7, the Parliamentary Committee on Political Development, Mass Communication, and Public Participation convened to review the recruitment for local government officials for 2024–2026. They invited representatives from Burapha University, the original winning bidder for the exam organization, before the contract was later transferred to Srinakharinwirot University.
Ms. Phakamon Noon-anant, a party-list MP from the People’s Party and chair of the committee, said that over a month later, the local exam fraud is becoming clearer, and all agencies are investigating what happened during the 2025 local exams. However, she stressed that the discussion must go further to identify who created the corrupt system and who allowed the cheating to happen. Without this, merely examining the events risks repeating the problem next year, offering only a superficial fix.
The committee chair added that this is the third session examining the matter, noting that Burapha University, which never appeared before any committee, had its contract canceled by the Department of Local Administration, despite originally being the exam organizer. The department claimed complaints of cheating against Burapha University, but further information from their representatives revealed that the issue was not just complaints but also that Burapha's TOR lacked strictness, potentially enabling fraud.
Ms. Phakamon questioned that TOR should be set by the employer, not the contractor. She asked whether blaming the TOR for allowing cheating is Burapha University's fault or the Department of Local Administration's. She welcomed Burapha University and the TOR drafting representatives to personally clarify and answer questions today.
The question today is that the TOR did not explicitly name the winning bidder, yet changing many rules simultaneously might have advantaged only one bidder. The department justified canceling Burapha University's winning announcement by citing the TOR’s lack of strictness and failure to allow employer oversight at every step. However, these TOR conditions were set by the employer’s TOR committee; contractors must follow them. Therefore, these reasons cannot justify canceling contracts or blaming contractors. Moreover, the department’s other reasons ignored facts, unfairly and unreasonably canceling Burapha University’s contract.
Ms. Phakamon concluded by affirming that fraud cannot be committed by one side alone. The beginning of this case must involve collusion between the Department of Local Administration and the contractor, both aware and consenting. She hopes for progress today, with the committee aiming beyond identifying wrongdoers to asking who authorized and created the corrupt system. This is a matter the public and society need to know and understand.