"Asapol" urges the DSI to crack down on an exam cheating ring, exposing bribery in local government exams involving payments of 500,000 to 700,000 baht for rapid appointment.
On 26 August 2026, Mr. Asapol Santraiphop, MP for Sisaket from the Bhumjaithai Party and chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Anti-Corruption and Misconduct (NACC oversight committee), spoke on the Thai PBS program "People's Station #SolutionsToProblems." He revealed information about corruption in local government recruitment exams and called on the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) to thoroughly investigate and prosecute the offenders.
Mr. Asapol outlined the timeline of local recruitment exams held every two years from 2017 to 2021. These exams used a method of selecting contractors to conduct the tests instead of competitive E-Bidding. This process had led to complaints and confirmed corruption cases, resulting in prosecutions of senior officials in Nakhon Ratchasima province and a former Satun provincial administrative organization chief. Without revising the terms of reference (TOR) and if the 2021 methods remain, there is a high risk of recurring corruption in future exam rounds.
The NACC chairman exposed bribery tactics, stating that brokers persuade candidates to pay between 500,000 and 700,000 baht, claiming it is worth it like buying life insurance in exchange for lifelong benefits and family welfare over a 25-year civil service career. The corrupt network mainly divides into two groups: those who failed the exam but paid to have their scores adjusted to pass, and those who passed with low scores but paid to have their rankings improved to secure early appointment without waiting on the reserve list.
For long-term prevention, a draft local personnel management act is under consideration to transfer authority to the Civil Service Commission to conduct the first exam phase, which would help screen candidates and reduce corruption. Meanwhile, the NACC is urged to audit the transparency of officials and contractors from various universities retrospectively, including scrutiny of the exam budgets totaling billions of baht.
Additionally, Mr. Asapol said that after coordinating with the DSI, the department's director-general is willing to take responsibility for the case. He noted that candidates who paid bribes but were not listed in exam results might face charges of fraud against the public. Victims or informants can report complaints through six DSI channels: in-person visits, mail, hotline 1202, the website dsi.go.th, and the DSI’s official Facebook and Line accounts.