Panel ends probe into 4 gold bribery suspects

PUBLISHED : 23 Jun 2026 at 04:48

A Supreme Court independent inquiry panel has concluded its examination of four people in a bribery case linked to former deputy national police chief Pol Gen Surachate Hakparn.

A Supreme Court source said the panel had reached its findings in a case in which a National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) commissioner, Ekawit Watchawalaku, is accused of accepting a bribe in gold from Pol Gen Surachate to suspend an investigation into his alleged links to an online gambling operation.

The four are Mr Ekawit, Pol Gen Surachate, Sombat Thorntham, the NACC vice-commissioner, and Surasit Phonlaruean, Mr Ekawit's chauffeur and personal aide.

They will be given a chance to make statements, the source said, before another panel meeting slated for mid-July that may decide whether to indict them ahead of an Aug 25 deadline.

No charges have yet been filed, and the sections of law the four allegedly breached have not been disclosed.

If the panel finds the allegations unfounded after hearing their statements, it may order the case closed, and that order would be final. If it finds the accused seriously breached ethical standards, the matter would go to the Supreme Court for a ruling. If it finds they committed the alleged conduct but did not breach ethical standards, the case file would be sent to the Attorney-General for prosecution.

The panel is the first in Thailand appointed directly by the head of the Supreme Court. Chief Justice Adisak Tantiwong ordered the nine-member panel set up in February after the Senate lodged a complaint calling for a probe of Mr Ekawit.

The panel holds the same powers as the NACC under Section 53 of the 2017 Act on Criminal Procedure for Holders of Political Positions.

The alleged bribery was disclosed by Pol Col Phakphum Pismai, a former close aide to Pol Gen Surachate, who said Mr Ekawit had accepted gold bars weighing 246 baht, worth 15 million baht, in return for helping Pol Gen Surachate in the case.