(ECNS) -- A massive civil service recruitment exam fraud scandal in Thailand has put nearly 6,000 local government officials at risk of dismissal, with three key suspects already arrested by authorities.
Unsit Sampuntharat, Thailand’s Interior Ministry permanent secretary, confirmed on Thursday that irregular scores were detected among 5,814 candidates from last year’s local government recruitment exams. The authorities plan to revoke the appointments of 3,621 officials with solid evidence of wrongdoing starting as early as Friday, to safeguard recruitment fairness for legitimate candidates.
Unveiled in June, the scandal involved corrupt officials electronically altering exam results for bribes ranging from 350,000 to 800,000 Thai baht per candidate to secure government posts. Three main suspects, including a municipal official and a university adviser, have been remanded in custody, facing charges of falsifying official documents.
Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin condemned the fraud as “disgusting”, warning it created a vicious cycle of official corruption. Authorities will review over 800,000 exam sheets and recalculate scores nationwide to thoroughly investigate the widespread scandal.
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