GAB welcome back Craig R. Arndt, an American lawyer now living in Bangkok. Craig has advised a variety of clients on corruption-related matters and represented corruption victims in damage actions. Below he offers a coda to Government Leaders Should Watch Who Watches Them Wearing Their Pricey Watches
In 2018 the Thai public was mesmerized by a photo showing retired General and then Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan wearing a luxury watch. Activists soon found other photos of him sporting a variety of watches together worth $1.5 million. General Prawit was widely mocked for his explanation that they had been loaned to him by a wealthy now deceased friend and that he was not required to report them on his asset declaration form (here and here).
Thailand’s National Anticorruption Commission (NACC) did investigate the non-disclosure claim, it found nothing wrong. Prawit continued his political career, unfazed and unaffected by what had been short-lived damage to his reputation (here). He was the candidate for Prime Minister for the current ruling party in the recent election. Although that party split, his party still gained 40 seats in the face of a resounding defeat of the generals and their allies (here).
Although the NACC concluded that Prawit failure to report the watch collection did violated the asset disclosure law lot violated the law requriwas willing The agency, however, offered no justification for letting Prawit off the hook (here). Thailand’s increasingly assertive civil society was not ready to let the matter drop.
Political Activist Veera Somkwamkid asked the Administrative Court to order NACC to disclose its findings in the Prawit case. The first level administrative court agreed, and April 2023 the Supreme Administrative Court (SAC) upheld the decision and ordered full disclosure of the NACC Prawit files (here).
The SAC’s decision in the Prawit case does not set a precedent under Thai law. The NACC can thus refuse to disclose its reasoning in future cases, meaning those seeking their disclosure will have to tread the path Veera took in Prawit’s. It may a be a slow and treacherous one, but the NACC and Thai officials are on notice it’s a path determined civil society activists are willing to take.
Prawit may still find it easy to find the time of day given his glitzy watch collection, but in Thailand time may be running short on politicians of his ilk
GAB | The Global Anticorruption Blog 
It’s interesting (at least to me) that the true corruption in this story is less to do with the watches (however gross & egregious that is), and more to do the willingness of an anti-corruption body to give a pass to the corruption (and even suppress knowledge of it). That (NACC’s corruption) has vast potential for ongoing corrupt activity.
The NACC is like a ship tossed on the waves manned by a divided crew. The hope is that over time those who want to steer it in the right direction will gain the upper-hand. The publicity around obvious violations, the pressures by civil society and the international community are helpful. A good news element is the administrative courts’ rulings, both first and final instance.
If I may, this sounds very much like my country Kenya, where anticorruption agencies are weaponized and utilized to make political scores, and punish the innocent, who are often framed and the same agencies whitewash the corrupt and declare them clean, and absolve them of all blame. Thus, you really cannot tell who is corrupt, it all depends on the narratives spurned. The so called evidence flying all over, is quite politized, either it is cooked and someone is framed, or it is real evidence and someone is exonerated through a massive cover up. Very confusing to the general population, where little information is released based on the interests of the status quo!