Natcha criticized the Fisheries Department for allocating 229 million baht to establish an aquatic species exhibition center in Udon Thani, aimed at showcasing the minister's hometown achievements. Meanwhile, Suphanat condemned the department's eagerness to build aquariums, spending lavishly despite the Ministry of Agriculture already having an excessive number of buildings.
At 09:30 at the Parliament, a session was held to consider the 2570 fiscal year budget bill of 3.78 trillion baht, continuing for the second day. Sopon Sarum, Speaker of the House of Representatives, chaired the meeting, starting with Section 14 on the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives' budget of 53.05 billion baht. Natcha Boonchai-insawat, a party-list MP from the People's Party, argued that the Fisheries Department received 4.8 billion baht, half of which—2.4 billion baht—was personnel costs. Instead of focusing on supporting farmers, it spent on unnecessary projects like establishing an aquatic species exhibition center costing 229 million baht in Udon Thani, with budget commitments starting in 2570. This center, dubbed the aquatic species exhibition or the minister's miracle showcase, is always built in the Agriculture Minister's hometown. She had opposed this project at the subcommittee level before, but the budget was only reduced by 750,000 baht. The Fisheries Department director-general justified the necessity for tourism investment, environmental education, and boosting the economy during construction. The center is seen as a project benefiting certain interests. The Inside Udon page posted joy over the 229 million baht budget for the center, with an anonymous comment attributing it to Agriculture and Cooperatives Minister Watcharapol Khaokham being from Udon Thani. Painfully, a 2025 Udon news page had already described the Kumpawapi Aquarium as a new landmark connecting learning and tourism with a 60 million baht budget. Today, people in Udon know all aquatic species except the Black Barbel Catfish, but there are more ministerial miracle centers than attention to farmers.
Suphanat Meenchainan, a Bangkok MP from the People's Party, stated that upon reviewing the Fisheries Department's budget, he found spending on unnecessary projects, particularly the construction of 16 aquariums under the department's supervision with no sign of stopping. This has led to large committed budgets, such as 594 million baht in Udon Thani and 375 million baht for upgrades in Rayong, as well as other provinces like Phayao, Roi Et, and Nakhon Pathom. He questioned whether this was the Fisheries Department or an aquarium department. Such projects should be done in partnership with the private sector, not solely by the government. Government agencies prefer to purchase and build on their own, controlling the budgets themselves. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives has an excessive number of buildings: 13 agencies with 17,000 buildings in total, including 3,800 buildings in the Department of Agricultural Extension, 2,100 in the Rice Department, and 2,000 in the Department of Livestock Development. Thailand has a total of 100,000 government buildings, which is a ticking time bomb because future budgets will increasingly go to maintenance. Excessive buildings will become a greater burden with maintenance, water, and electricity costs reaching billions. If the Ministry of Agriculture continues this policy, farmers' incomes are unlikely to improve. Therefore, he proposed cutting 1.1% of the budget, about 600 million baht, equivalent to the total budgets for the new aquariums in Udon Thani and Rayong.