More time given to Prawit to explain his luxury watches
The National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) expects to get a clarification from deputy premier Prawit Wongsuwan over the controversial luxury watch case next month, further extending the deadline for the anti-graft agency to wrap up the politically-sensitive case.
Prawit has been accused of not declaring the 25 expensive watches he has been seen wearing on different occasions. According to NACC chairman Pol General Watcharaphol Prasarnrachakit, Prawit will be asked to verify the specific incident in which he was alleged to have one of the 25 luxury watches on his wrist before the agency can go ahead with this case.Corruption index A notice will be sent to Prawit in the next one or two days.
After that, the embattled deputy premier will have another 15 days to respond to the agency’s request, so the case will become clearer in March at the earliest. Previously, Prawit postponed meetings with the anti-graft agency three times due to his busy work schedule.
Meanwhile, the NACC is closely monitoring the announcement of 2017 Corruption Perception Index (CPI) by Transparency International in which Thailand last year received just 35 points out of a total 100. The government earlier said it aims to reduce corruption so that the country gets 50 or more points by 2021. At present, the CPI covers a total of 180 countries worldwide.
Source: Nation
