Assistant army chief Preecha Chan-o-cha has defended his declaration of wealth in his capacity as a member of the National Legislative Assembly (NLA), saying everything can be explained.
The wealth of Gen Preecha and his wife — bank accounts with 42 million baht and land worth an estimated 9.1 million baht — raised numerous eyebrows.
Preecha: 'Trying to be transparent'
Gen Preecha claims people only focused on his wealth because he is the younger brother of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha.
He defended his assets by saying the declaration submitted to the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) also included accounts of the 3rd Army that he held when he served as its commander.
He did not have to declare assets from his time at the 3rd Army, but he chose to declare them to transparent, said Gen Preecha, who is among a number of military officers appointed to the NLA.
In fact, when he was in the 3rd Army he only had the authority to take the money out of the accounts for specific purposes. He did not own the money.
After he left the 3rd Army, he was no longer authorised to disburse money from those accounts worth a total 46.9 million baht.
On his land acquisitions, Gen Preecha explained that he had nine small land plots with a total area of 1.5 rai, not 1.5 rai each as someone had mistakenly alleged.
Gen Preecha said he has revealed all of his accounts and this might have caused some people to misunderstand the value of his assets.
Gen Preecha was made assistant army chief on Oct 1.
Several NLA members recently disclosed their assets and debts, as required by the constitution, revealing that several state officials have net assets worth more than 100 million baht.