The financial disclosures, published on Oct 31, cover the declarations of officials who came to serve as mayors, NACC Phuket Chief Suwat Saowaran confirmed to The Phuket News.
According to the documents released by NACC Phuket, the declarations filed detail the annual income and assets of officials, and outgoing officials.
Under Thai law, while some personal details are withheld from public view, office holders must declare the income and assets of their spouses.
The following are the details released by NACC Phuket:
Supachok La-ongphet – Phuket Town Mayor
Income: B545,480 salary, B1,200,000 bonus
Assets: B10,943,645
Spouse’s Income: B360,000 salary, B120,000 bonus, 420,000 from farming
Spouse’s Assets: B6,037,500
(Total annual income: B2,646,480; Total assets: B17,018,725)
Lalita Maneesri – Patong Mayor
Income: B366,480 salary, B90,000 bonus, B90,000 from meeting allowances
Assets: B16,139,481
Spouse’s Income: B350,000 salary, B150,000 bonus
Spouse’s Assets: B1,350,729
(Total annual income: B1,046,480; Total assets: B17,490,210)
Wanlop Nadon – Karon Mayor
Income: B638,640 salary
Assets: no assets reported
Spouse’s Income: B144,000
Spouse’s Assets: no assets reported
(Total annual income: B782,640; Total assets: B0)
* NACC Phuket Chief Mr Suwat has confirmed to The Phuket News that this entry is under investigation
Samran Jindapol – Chalong Mayor
Income: B0 salary, B2,455,000 from market rental, B1,800,000 from land rental
Assets: B25,448,078
Spouse: Declared not married
(Total annual income: B4,255,000; Total assets: B25,448,078)
Thames Kraitat – Rawai Mayor
Income: B756,000 Salary, B1,514,025 from land rentals, B2,700 from interest, B39,6000 from Electricity and water charge from business
Assets: B769,587,471
Spouse’s Income: B762,000 salary, B24,000 Bonus, B550,300 from house rentals, B40,000 from interest, B30,000 from dividend, B6,600 from Electricity and water charge from business and B438,000 from car rental
Spouse’s Assets: B80,448,507
(Total annual income: B4,163,225; Total assets: B850,035,979)
Kreetha Chotiwichanphiphat – Wichit Mayor
Income: B900,000 salary, B500,000 bonus, B962,000 from house rentals, B1,320,000 from land rental, B30,000 from fruit farming, B40,000 from vegetable farming
Assets: B69,365,961
Spouse’s Income: B10,000,000 inheritance, B240,000 from selling vegetables
Spouse’s Assets: B11,434,294
(Total annual income: B13,992,000; Total assets: B80,800,255)
Jirayut Songyot – Ratsada Mayor
Income: B756,000 salary, B1,200,000 from restaurant
Assets: B1,956,000
No Spouse
Mr Jirayut also reported that his child had assets of 164,761
(Total annual income: B1,956,000; Total assets: B18,380,067)
Sunirun Rachatapruek – Mayor of Cherng Talay Municipality (which is separate from the Cherng Talay Tambon Administration Organisation, or OrBorTor, which oversees Bang Tao.)
Income: B756,000 salary, B72,000 bonus, B7,992,000 from ownership in an unnamed resort, B4,734,000 from house rentals
Assets 224,412,806
Spouse’s Income: (section left blank)
Spouse’s assets 9,997,523
(Total annual income: B13,554,000; Total assets: B234,410,329)
Chalermpol Kerdsup – Srisoonthorn Mayor
* Income: B756,000 salary, B840,000 from house rentals
* Assets: B92,463924,547
* Spouse’s Income: entered as “0.00”
* Spouse’s assets B26,936,463
Mr Chalermpol also reported that his child had assets of B100,000
(Total annual income: B1,596,000; Total assets: B119,499,758)
Panya Samphaorat – Pa Khlok Mayor
Income: B756,000 salary, B960,000 from building rentals, B18,000,000 from sell land
Assets: B91,968,347
Spouse’s Income: entered as “0.00”
Spouse’s assets B22,886,463
Mr Panya also reported that his child had assets of B60,540
(Total annual income: B19,716,000; Total assets B114,915,665)
Regarding Panya Samphaorat, who has been re-elected as Mayor of Pa Khlok Municipality,
Mr Panya was allowed to be mayor for a second term despite facing corruption charges (The Phuket News still has yet to confirm whether the charges have been ruled on).
Mr Suwat reiterated that the declarations serve as a key mechanism to ensure transparency and accountability among public officials, and also encourage public participation in the inspection and verification of the asset declarations submitted to the NACC.
“This inspection ensures that politicians do not conceal or falsely declare their assets, and locals can observe and provide information on whether the assets declared by politicians are accurate, such as seeing a car used regularly but not shown in the declaration,” he added.
“NACC officers will compare the asset declarations from when they assumed office and when they left office. If assets are found to have increased by millions, officers must detail the specific items, such as deposits, cars or land. If the extra assets can be explained by their income, like four years of salary, then it would make sense and be no problem,” he noted.
“In the case of many mayors in Phuket such as Mr Suphachok, owner of The Sense and Mr Thames are often businesspeople or those with established constituencies, resulting in high asset values, which may stem from private businesses like hotels,” he noted.
“Failure to submit asset declarations is considered an offense and subject to penalties,” he added.
“The most common issue is not the failure to file asset declarations ‒ the NACC has been requesting submissions for years,” he explained. “The real problem is officials who submit false information. If a declaration is more than 60 days late, they must explain the delay, but in many cases the documents are submitted on time yet contain fabricated details.”
“If a violation is found (intentionally failing to submit or submitting false information), legal action will be taken (arrested) and prosecuted,” he said.
He added that the NACC will continue to monitor officials’ asset declarations even after they leave office, as part of its ongoing transparency measures.