The cabinet yesterday approved a request to transfer Department of Livestock Development director-general Apai Suttisunk from his post, after the scandal involving the procurement of rabies vaccines before and during the former chief's almost two-year stint.
Apai: Becomes inspector-general
According to a cabinet statement, Sorawit Thaneeto, the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives' inspector-general, will take over as the new department chief once an official announcement is published in the Royal Gazette.
Mr Apai will move in the opposite direction and become the ministry's new inspector-general.
In late March, Agriculture and Cooperatives Minister Grisada Boonrach ordered a probe into irregularities in the department's rabies vaccine procurement, particularly during auctions for the contracts in 2016.
The investigations were prompted after several claims stating the department had bought the vaccines from a single company for 25 years. The company was allegedly linked to the wife of a former deputy director-general.
The probe, expected to take 30 days to complete, will focus on four issues: Whether family members of officials sold fake rabies vaccines to the department for decades; whether officials administered substandard vaccines to animals; the performance of department officials, the Public Health Ministry and the Department of Local Administration; and those who exploited the vaccine procurement for personal benefit.
However, the department has not yet received a formal request to establish a subcommittee to conduct the probe, deputy director-general Somchuan Ratanamungklanon said yesterday. According to him, the ministry could set up its own investigation.
Mr Grisada had earlier said no transfers of personnel would be considered until the findings are complete.
The vaccine scandal is another setback for the department, which has come under fire for not being able to supply enough vaccines for stray dogs and cats after the virus spread to more than 20 provinces nationwide as of last month.
The Food and Drug Administration has recalled all the vaccines concerned which have been procured and distributed.