Airports of Thailand Plc (AoT) is set to hire an outside company to investigate the assets of 13 former yellow-shirt co-leaders to cover the damages resulting from their protest that led to the closure of Suvarnabhumi airport 10 years ago, a Transport Ministry source said.
The suspects were all members of the now-defunct People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD).
According to the source, approval is still required from the authority's board.
The AoT manages Suvarnabhumi and five other airports in Thailand, including Don Mueang.
The Civil Court ordered the 13 former PAD figures to pay over 522 million baht in compensation to the AoT, with an annual interest rate of 7.5% as of December 2008.
Suriyasai Katasila, one of the people charged, said yesterday it would "not make sense" for the AoT to hire a separate company to conduct probes into their assets.
"Even with all 13 of us combined, our assets would not even be worth hiring another company for," he said. "I don't see why the AoT can't do it themselves."
According to Mr Suriyasai, the former leaders do not have enough money to pay the fine.
But the source said members of the former protest group never met with AoT representatives to settle the matter.
"They are most likely waiting for the legal process to be followed through on, such as probes into their possessions. They could end up declaring bankruptcy," the source said.
Mr Suriyasai said he needed to consult with the other core members on how they wished to proceed.
Veera Somkwamkid, a prominent PAD figure who was not included on the Civil Court's list of 13, said the AoT -- or an outside company -- would "naturally" have the right to conduct the probes, so long as they were conducted within the confines of the law.
"But what are they going to do when the assets don't cover the fines?" he said. "We stand firm that the fine is unjustified, because no damage was incurred to Suvarnabhumi property. We didn't even set foot on a runway.
"It was the AoT president at the time who closed the airport [for 10 days]."