Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has defended the legal right of National Legislative Assembly members to employ family members, after 57 lawmakers were found to have hired relatives at public expense.
Gen Prayut said he had asked the NLA, which comprises mostly military personnel, to clarify the issue and had been informed that there was no breach of the interim constitution.
The former army chief rejected comparisons between the NLA and the previous parliament, which was criticised as the “family house”, as “conditions are different”.
Gen Prayut conceded the military-appointed lawmakers may have to consider whether to add a clause to the new charter to clarify the situation for future MPs.
He was responding to a report by Isra News Agency that revealed 57 of the 220 NLA members had hired immediate family members or relatives as personal aides, with their salaries drawn from public coffers. Some had hired more than one family member.
Isra found that Nipon Narapitakkul has hired his wife, daughter and son to help with his work, while Adm Taratorn Kajitsuwan has given jobs to his wife and daughter.
Other NLA members who have appointed more than one relative include Khunying Songsuda Yodmani, ACM Narongsak Sangapong, Pol Lt Gen Boonraung Polpanich, Gen Somjed Boontanom, Gen Suchat Nongbua and Gen Ongard Pongsakdi, according to the report.
A personal assistant is paid a monthly salary of 15,000 baht, a personal expert can expect 20,000 baht a month and a personal specialist 24,000 baht.
“Some NLA members once said politicians are all evil,” Democrat Party deputy secretary-general Sathit Pitutecha said.
“But now I think I have enough information [to rebut that and argue] there certainly are decent politicians whose moral standards are far higher than those in the NLA."
