Gen Prawit declares assets of B87m

Gen Prawit Wongsuwon during a visit to Wichian Buri district, Phetchabun province, on Jan 7, 2024. (Photo: Palang Pracharath Party)
Gen Prawit Wongsuwon during a visit to Wichian Buri district, Phetchabun province, on Jan 7, 2024. (Photo: Palang Pracharath Party)

Gen Prawit Wongsuwon, former deputy prime minister and chairman of the Sports Authority of Thailand (SAT), has declared 87 million baht worth of assets, according to the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC).

The agency on Wednesday published the declared assets of political office-holders and government executives. The wealth of Palang Pracharath Party (PPRP) leader Gen Prawit caught media attention.

He is required to declare his assets every three years.

Prawit, 78, declared his status as “single” and reported assets of 87.84 million baht and a small debt of 757 baht. His assets were bank deposits of 40.48 million baht, investments of 6.53 million baht, three blocks of land in Bangkok and Pathum Thani worth about 10 million baht, five vehicles worth 13.6 million baht, and other assets worth 229,500 baht.

He reported an annual income of about 2.34 million baht that included 762,540 baht in pensions, living allowances of 146,736 baht, the salaries of a deputy prime minister when he held that cabinet post, 893,040 baht, and position salaries of 546,000 baht.

Among his five vehicles worth 13.6 million baht in total, Prawit declared a Jaguar worth 4 million baht on June 28, 2021, and a Mercedes Benz worth 2.5 million baht, on June 6, 2022.

Other assets included a TW Steel watch worth about 15,000 baht, nine rings worth about 132,000 baht and three guns.

In June last year, the Supreme Administrative Court ordered the NACC to disclose all details of the findings from its investigation into the luxury watch controversy involving Prawit.

Prawit was accused of falsely declaring his assets or concealing facts regarding a large collection of luxury watches and rings that came to light after online sleuths began studying pictures of him at various public events and noted the very expensive watches he was wearing.

Prawit said then that the watches were all borrowed.

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Vocabulary

  • asset: a thing of value - สิ่งที่มีคุณค่า
  • borrow: to take and use something that belongs to somebody else, and return it to them at a later time - ยืม
  • controversy: a disagreement, especially about a public policy or a moral issue that a lot of people have strong feelings about - ความขัดแย้ง
  • debt (noun): an amount of money that you owe - หนี้, นี้สิน
  • declare: to tell the tax authorities or other government agency how much money or other assets you have or have have earned - แจ้ง, เปิดเผย
  • deposit (noun): money kept in a bank account - เงินฝาก
  • luxury: the best and most expensive of something - ที่หรูหรา 
  • pension: money that someone regularly receives after they have stopped working because of their age, paid either by their company or by the government - บำนาญ, เงินบำนาญ
  • salary: a fixed amount of money that you earn each month or year from your job - เงินเดือน
  • sleuth (noun): a person who investigates crimes -
  • vehicle: a machine that you travel in or on, especially one with an engine that travels on roads, e.g., a car, bus, van, truck, etc. - ยานพาหนะ
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