Ice Rakchanok filed a complaint with the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) accusing Chaiyachonok of corruption in the TH-AI Passport project, uncovering suspicious actions that allegedly allowed siphoning off 1.5 billion baht. She aims to see the corrupt held accountable and imprisoned for their crimes.
On 1 Sep 2026 at 10:00 a.m., at the NACC office, Rakchanok Srinok, a list MP from the Prachachon Party, accompanied by Teerachat Katorakoon, advisor to the parliamentary budget oversight committee, submitted the committee's investigation files to the NACC to examine the transparency of the TH-AI Passport project. Rakchanok stated that the accused include Chaiyachonok Chidchob, Minister of Digital Economy and Society; the Permanent Secretary of the Digital Ministry; the Secretary-General of the National Digital Economy and Society Commission (NDESC); the chairperson of the TOR drafting committee; and related personnel from Human Intelligent company. Chaiyachonok is accused of neglecting his duties because when project irregularities emerged, he did not halt or cancel the project. Other officials reportedly pushed the policy and were involved in drafting the TOR. A key irregularity is the TOR's publicity specifications requiring advertisements on at least 400 billboards nationwide, 6,000 screens in convenience stores across no fewer than 1,500 branches, and 200 screens in shopping malls, conditions only a few operators could meet.
Rakchanok added that the link between Human Intelligent and companies controlling nationwide advertising screens shows the same ultimate beneficial owners registered at the same address. The Prachachon Party has continuously raised this issue, but the Digital Ministry has taken no action. The payment model was also changed from a lump sum where the private contractor would receive the full 1.6 billion baht even if only one person registered, to a pay-as-used system later. She insists the project should be canceled and restarted with TORs allowing fair competition. The latest data as of 31 Aug 2026 shows 1.3 million registered users but only 100,000 active users. Using the ministry’s cost per user, if the lump-sum contract had remained, the state would pay 1.6 billion baht, while actual usage value is only a few million baht. She questions whether this project was fabricated to divert off-budget funds to companies supporting the Blue Regime. If Prachachon had not exposed this, private companies might have pocketed about 1.5 billion baht from the original contract.
When asked if the NACC complaint would stop the project, Rakchanok said it likely cannot be halted now, but responsible parties must be punished, ideally imprisoned. She challenged the NACC’s timing, questioning if the investigation was delayed due to conflicts of interest or close ties to the Blue Regime, which may have hindered the NACC’s effectiveness. The Digital Ministry’s Permanent Secretary has repeatedly lied, claiming cooperation with the budget oversight committee, yet only nine documents were provided out of dozens requested, many of which were publicly available and not requested. Important documents, such as technical proposals from bidding companies and the latest contract annexes, remain incomplete. Thus, the committee must legally demand these documents be submitted by 8 Sep.
