Phumtham spars with Anutin

Deputy Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai has accused former Interior Minister Anutin Charnvirakul of unfairly channelling local budgets to Bhumjaithai Party (BJT) strongholds during his tenure — an allegation Mr Anutin has denied.

- AEKARACH SATTABURUTH

Mr Phumtham said that while local administrative organisations outside BJT areas received only 1-3 million baht, key strongholds of the former coalition party — such as Buri Ram and Surin — were allocated much larger sums. Some received as much as 700 million baht.

These allocations, he said, came from the government's 157-billion-baht economic stimulus package, which was intended for local administrative bodies nationwide.

Citing notifications from the Budget Bureau, Mr Phumtham also accused Mr Anutin of approving budget requests that did not match those recorded in the bureau's database.