The opposition MPs who have exposed the acquisition of an overpriced office tower by the Social Security Office (SSO) say they are unperturbed by a defamation lawsuit against them by a former labour minister embroiled in the controversy.
Rukchanok Srinork and Sahassawat Kumkong, MPs with the People’s Party, have vowed they will not relent in protecting the public interest.
They also said they have evidence to prove that the Social Security Fund (SSF) has been engaged in spending money in an unusual or suspicious manner.
Suchart Chomklin, a deputy commerce minister in the current government, served as labour minister around the time the SSO paid 6.9 billion baht to buy the SKYY9 Centre, a building on Rama IX Road.
The office claimed the purchase was part of the fund’s off-market investment.
The opposition MPs said the decision to buy it was unsound and irregular as the building’s appraised price was only 3 billion baht.
The SSO secretary-general, Marasri Jairangsee, insisted the market price was 7.3 billion baht based on the income approach formula, but if the cost approach were used, its value would be even higher, at 8 billion baht.
Ms Rukchanok has said the purchase was connected to a former labour minister who belonged to the Palang Pracharath Party (PPRP), but she declined to name anyone. Mr Suchart was a former member of the PPRP.
“We aren’t worried at all [about the lawsuit we are facing],” said Ms Rukchanok. “Anyone in this country can tell that what we are doing and saying works for the public interest. We are dishing out criticism honestly.”
Mr Sahassawat said that, as an MP, he reserves the right to speak about anything he believes to be true in public. His public service extends beyond parliament, he said, adding he has sufficient evidence to back up the allegations he has made.
“What’s the point of becoming a member of parliament if being one means I can only talk about things via an interpellation (in parliament)?” he asked.
Phawadi Saengchan, the lawyer representing Mr Suchart, filed the defamation lawsuit against the two MPs on Tuesday on behalf of the deputy commerce minister, demanding 50 million baht in damages.
The court is set to review the suit and decide whether to accept the case on May 26, the lawyer said.
When the Social Security Office acquired the SKYY9 complex on Asok-Din Daeng Road three years ago for 6.9 billion baht, it was the second-highest valued office transaction of the past two decades, based on data collected by Colliers Thailand.