"Nirat" vows readiness to work as Director-General of DDPM, respects the Prime Minister's decision, acknowledges the challenge of thoroughly cleaning up the Local Administration Department before assuming the new post, and pledges to do his best.
At 13:15 on 25 Aug 2026 at the Government House, Mr. Nirat Pongsitthithaworn, Deputy Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Interior and acting Director-General of the Department of Local Administration (LAD), said after being appointed Director-General of the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM) that he had not been informed in advance and respects the decisions of Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Anutin Charnvirakul and the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Interior. He emphasized his readiness to work.
When asked about the demanding mission of DDPM in disaster mitigation and how he prepares, Mr. Nirat said they must always be ready. Asked if the departmental transfer might impact the ongoing investigation into local government official corruption, he said he was unaware and had not yet discussed it with the Prime Minister.
Mr. Nirat also spoke about LAD's task to investigate local government official corruption: The first priority is managing correct personnel records and sending them to provinces, municipalities, subdistrict administrative organizations, and provincial administrative organizations to remove those without proper qualifications for appointment. After that, internal reform within LAD must continue, with many tasks remaining to prepare handover to the new Director-General. Regarding corruption investigations, the main criminal prosecution agency is the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC), which may delegate to police or the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) as appropriate. As the administrative head, if any wrongdoing is discovered, the department will continue daily investigations and coordinate with other agencies as needed.
Asked whether the cleanup of LAD will be completed before his transfer to DDPM, Mr. Nirat said it is not an easy task but he will strive to accomplish as much as possible and do his best.