Former Justice Minister Pol Col Thawee Sodsong says five disciplined officials are scapegoats in Thailand’s exam scandal, calling for digital forensics, witness protection and asset seizures to expose the suspected masterminds behind manipulated recruitment scores.
Former Justice Minister Pol Col Thawee Sodsong says Thailand’s widening local government recruitment exam scandal extends far beyond the five disciplined Department of Local Administration officials, arguing they are scapegoats for a corruption network that allegedly altered examination scores, sold government jobs and shielded the real masterminds. Citing the official examination process, Thawee is demanding a digital forensic investigation into more than 400,000 examination records, backed by witness protection, criminal prosecutions and asset seizures, saying only scientific evidence can expose everyone involved, from bribery-paying candidates and brokers to those who orchestrated one of Thailand’s biggest public recruitment frauds in the history of the state.
Former justice minister Pol Col Thawee Sodsong has called for a full digital forensic investigation into Thailand’s widening local government recruitment exam scandal.
He argues five disciplined officials from the Department of Local Administration (DLA) are merely victims of a far larger corruption network. Instead, he says investigators must identify those who organised the scheme, altered examination scores and profited from the fraud. He also urged authorities to pursue severe punishment, witness protection and asset seizure against those responsible.
The Prachachart Party leader and party-list MP made the remarks in a Facebook post on Friday. In it, he wrote: “Using digital forensics techniques and witness protection measures, we are launching an operation to crack down on the masterminds behind the local government exam cheating scandal.”
Government probe widens. Thawee says disciplined officials became victims while masterminds escaped
His intervention comes as the government expands its investigation into suspected corruption surrounding the 2025-2026 civil service and local government recruitment examinations.
Earlier, Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul and the Ministry of the Interior ordered a seven-day investigation. That inquiry led to serious disciplinary action against five lower-ranking DLA officials.
However, Thawee argued that the disciplinary action addresses only one layer of the case. According to him, the officials became convenient targets while those directing the operation remained untouched. He described the five civil servants as “victims” forced to shoulder responsibility for an extensive corruption scheme.
Notably, Thawee based much of his argument on an official statement issued by Srinakharinwirot University (SWU), which administered the examinations. The university explained that it processed the raw examination scores before transferring them to the DLA on flash drives.
The DLA then reviewed the results before returning them to SWU for official certification and stamping. Only afterwards were the final examination results announced. In Thawee’s view, that sequence identifies the critical period when the raw score files were outside the university’s control.
SWU score handling process identified as the crucial stage where the raw examination was manipulated
He argued the official explanation points directly towards the manipulation. According to Thawee, individuals unlawfully opened Excel files containing the raw examination scores. They then allegedly altered candidates’ marks before certification.
As one example, he claimed a raw score of 37 could have been changed to 74. Such changes, he alleged, enabled candidates who had paid money to secure government appointments.
Meanwhile, Thawee said investigators believe approximately 9,000 applicants paid to reserve positions. That figure greatly exceeds the 6,669 vacancies available. He said the reported payments ranged from 350,000 to 800,000 baht per applicant. In his assessment, those figures indicate an organised operation rather than isolated misconduct by a handful of officials.
As part of this, Thawee proposed a comprehensive digital forensic examination of the original examination files. He said backup copies of the raw score data supplied by SWU should be transferred from the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) to the Institute of Forensic Science.
Digital forensic specialists could then examine every electronic record for inflated or manipulated scores. He argued that scientific analysis would reveal precisely how many results had been altered.
Digital forensic examination could identify altered scores and expose the full scale of the fraud network
More than 400,000 candidates sat the examinations. Through digital analysis, investigators could identify every applicant whose score had been unlawfully changed. In parallel, they could determine how many candidates allegedly bribed public officials.
Those individuals could face prosecution under Section 144 of the Criminal Code. Candidates who knowingly assisted officials in performing their duties improperly could also face charges under Section 157, together with other criminal offences.
Separately, Thawee urged investigators to identify everyone who acted as an intermediary. He said brokers collected money from applicants seeking guaranteed appointments. Such conduct, he argued, could constitute an offence under Section 143 of the Criminal Code.
He also proposed barring applicants who paid bribes or acted as intermediaries from entering government service. Lower-ranking officials, meanwhile, should be considered for witness protection under National Anti-Corruption Commission regulations if they cooperate with investigators.
Witness protection and criminal charges could help investigators dismantle the bribery and broker network
In response, investigators should use protected witnesses alongside digital evidence to expose the wider network, Thawee said. He urged authorities to trace every stage of the operation.
That includes those who paid the money, those who collected it and those who acted as brokers. It also includes those who recruited applicants, commissioned the operation or directed others behind the scenes. Ultimately, he argued, the investigation must reach the masterminds rather than ending with junior officials.
On another front, Thawee suggests politically influential figures benefited from organised corruption networks operating above the law. He claimed the scheme involved buying and selling influence alongside the allocation of government positions through reserved quotas.
Thawee calls for investigators to trace influence networks and seize assets linked to exam corruption
According to his statement, those quotas benefited associates and the children of influential figures. He urged investigators to follow both financial and organisational links until those responsible are identified.
Finally, Thawee said digital forensics offers impartial, transparent and scientifically verifiable evidence. Unlike opinion or public pressure, he argued, digital evidence establishes facts capable of independent verification. He also warned that delaying forensic examinations risks losing crucial electronic evidence.
Officials face disciplinary action over exam cheating scandal as appointments get the go ahead case by case
Job appointments in poisoned exam process goes ahead as the impact of the scandal is still expanding
For that reason, he called for digital forensic experts to become involved from the earliest stage of corruption investigations involving electronic data. Combined with witness protection, he said, digital evidence can identify brokers, organisers, recruiters, public officials and those who neglected their duties. Those responsible, he concluded, should face the full force of the law, including criminal penalties and asset seizure.
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