Parliament's renovation budget request comes under scrutiny

Parliament has come under intense scrutiny after it requested hundreds of millions of baht in additional budget for renovations when many Thais are still grappling with economic hardship.

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The request for an additional budget, which would go towards a 4D cinema and refurbishing a little-used pavilion known as Sala Kaeo (Crystal Pavilion) at parliament, has been slammed by critics, including several MPs from the People's Party, as wasteful.

The contentious proposal includes a request for 113 million baht to fund the refurbishment of Sala Kaeo, which Assoc Prof Puangthong Pawakapan, of Chulalongkorn University, said was unnecessary.

He said the pavilion has only been used a couple of times since the parliament building opened due to the extreme heat inside the structure during the daytime.