NCCC bribes list 'just a joke'
A group of senators was photographed passing around a list of favoured candidates for the national anti-graft agency during the morning session of yesterday's Senate meeting.
But the whole thing was a joke, according to some of their colleagues. The practical joke came amid rumours of possible bloc voting and bribes among senators selecting pro-government candidates for the National Counter Corruption Commission. The list contained the first names of nine "favoured" candidates next to the figure Bt500,000. Earlier this week, Senator Somboon Thongburan claimed that a bribe of Bt500,000 each had been offered to senators in exchange for their votes for certain candidates for independent bodies. He said this had become commonplace in the Upper House. Caretaker Ranong Senator Thaweep Kvunburee admitted writing the list after hearing the rumours of bloc voting. He said he had asked a colleague to pretend to drop the list inside the meeting chamber. "I was just kidding," he said, denying hidden objectives. Another senator, requesting anonymity, said the list was fake. He said it had been drawn up by certain senators to tease their pro-government colleagues.
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