Minister implicates Thai party boss

Minister implicates Thai party boss

BANGKOK (AP): A series of embarrassments to Prime Minister
Chuan Leekpai's government widened on Wednesday in the aftermath
of a Cabinet reshuffle that revived images of corruption
associated with a key coalition partner.

Pongpol Adireksarn, removed by his own Chart Thai party as
agricultural minister in Tuesday's reshuffle, accused party boss
Banharn Silpa-archa of sidelining him because he had resisted
Banharn's alleged attempts at getting his hands on ministry
money.

Pongpol told a news conference late Tuesday that he had
incurred Banharn's ire when he refused to allow him to oversee a
US$600 million loan from the Asian Development Bank to
restructure Thailand's agricultural sector.

"My pledges to safeguard the Asian Development Bank loan might
have irked some greedy people," Pongpol was quoted as saying in
The Nation newspaper. "The party has plunged to its lowest point
in 25 years because the party is led by a dictator."

The accusations from Pongpol, generally perceived as a well-
educated, honest member of the party, carried echoes of 1995-
1996, when Banharn was prime minister of a government widely
perceived as one of the most corrupt Thailand had known.