Although there is no guarantee that the probes will be dormant forever, the retirement of Damrong “the Demolisher” Pidech from his post as director of Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Conservation (DNP) and the transfer at the same time of Pol Col Dutsadee Arayawut, former Secretary-General of Public Sector Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC) have been followed by a hollow silence.
Mr Damrong retired at the end of September, while Col Dutsadee was appointed as one of the Deputy Permanent Secretaries at the Ministry of Justice, his brief being to concentrate on drug suppression.
While Mr Damrong concentrated on alleged encroachment into the Sirinart Marine National Park, Col Dutsadee was looking at illegal land grabs by government officials themselves or cases in which officials took bribes to issue illegitimate land papers.
Mr Damrong was replaced, after some three months, by Manopat Huamuangkaew, who immediately set about reshuffling senior staff. Mr Manopat stressed that the Sirinart investigation was not dead, but it currently shows no public signs of life.
The new Secretary-General of the PACC, Pokpibul Potranun, also appears to be doing nothing – in public at least – to further Col Dutsadee’s probe.
Col Dutsadee told The Phuket News today (February 11) that he did not want to talk about the land story as it is “no longer my responsibility”. He also declined to comment on the direction of the PACC land probe now.
However, in an earlier interview in Bangkok, he said that politics had had an effect on his work and had played a part in his transfer.
“Many people have called to urge me to stay as the main person in [this job]. [But] I feel tired and discouraged. Everyone [who is] affected by politics gets scared and finally stops.”
He said he believed the Phuket land probe was not the sole factor in his reassignment.
“Phu Lanka, Phu Luang [land encroachment issues in Chaiyapoom province] were one of the catalysts,” he said. “They really attracted the attention of the press.
“Basically, they intended to remove me [from the land investigations]. On September 1, the Minister of the Ministry [of Justice] talked to me about moving to a new job. I asked him why. He said he wanted me to help the police.”
Prompong Nopparit, Pheu Thai Party spokesman and a member of the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC), who last year made several high-visibility visits to Phuket related to “bad land”, stoutly denied that political interference had anything to do with Col Dutsadee’s reassignment or the choice of successor to Mr Damrong.
“I can assure you that political influence was not involved in moving people or choosing replacements,” he told The Phuket News today.
“Different people have different ways of working. Mr Damrong and Col Dutsadee have very active approaches to their work, but their replacements may more fastidious when it comes to investigating the documentation.
“In some investigations checking all the documentation takes a long time. In the case of the Freedom Beach land, for example, we [the NACC] spent four months checking the paperwork.”
He added that both the PACC or DNP are ruled by the law; it is their responsibility to investigate and suppress land cheating, and no powerful person can stop them.
“It does not matter how high their position or how powerful people are, if they break the law they must be suppressed,” he said.
Phuket will now have to wait and see whether the various investigations will come back out of hibernation or will die quietly from being frozen out.