As all parliamentary meetings will officially end on Feb 28, members of the Upper and Lower Houses are rushing to deliberate draft laws and wrap up their proposals and probes into corruption.
The quantity and quality of legislation passed, as well as their investigations into public complaints, are seen as a barometer of the worthiness of our senators and MPs.
Yet one probe conducted by the Senate's ethics committee against a senator accused of helping his female assistant land jobs and advance her career at government agencies is likely to be kept in the drawer despite it being completed and sent to the Senate in December. If so, the public will be owed an explanation as to why.
It focused on Senator Thani Onlahiad following a petition in early September by ex-Democrat MP Watchara Phetthong, who accused him of abusing his power to help his assistant further her career.
Mr Watchara accused the divorced senator of having an intimate relationship with his assistant, Pol Cpl Kornsasi Buayaem, a 43-year-old official who is facing human trafficking charges after reportedly illegally detaining, abusing and forcing her maid, for whom she secured a military job, to work.
Lest the public forget, the news of Pol Cpl Kornsasi -- who the media also referred to as "Jay Nuch" -- shocked the country over six months ago. She reportedly told the assistant national police chief, Pol Lt Gen Surachate Hakparn, that she had managed to secure the position with the help of a phu yai -- or "senior figure" -- back in 2017.
She has various sources of income -- from the Royal Thai Police, from the Senate as a senator's assistant, plus monthly remuneration for her position in the Internal Security Operations Command's (Isoc) Region 4 -- even though she did not perform her duties as expected, as she never relocated near the restive deep South.
This week, Senator Somchai Sawangkarn has publicly asked the Senate Speaker to table the probe at the Upper House session. Hopefully, the speaker will see this through, so as not to further harm the image of the junta-appointed Senate.
While the Upper House seemingly prefers to keep tightlipped, another committee plans to take the high road. The Lower House's committee on corruption -- which conducted a similar probe into senators in the same case -- is prepared to send the outcome of the investigation to the National Anti-Corruption Committee, according to Pol Gen Sereepisuth Temeeyaves, an MP for the Seri Ruam Thai Party and chairperson of the Lower House's corruption committee.
Pol Gen Sereepisuth reportedly told a TV news interview that the Lower House's probe involves two senators: Thani and "another senator who happens to be the brother of a deputy prime minister".
Why didn't this firebrand spell out the senator's name? According to media reports, Adm Sitthawat Wongsuwon and Pol Gen Patcharawat Wongsuwon -- both brothers of Deputy PM Gen Prawit -- are being probed by the Lower House's ethics and corruption committee. Keeping the outcome quiet is unfair to them.
Today, this Lower House's committee will discuss the probe. We hope our lawmakers act fairly to everyone, including the accused.
If the inquiry finds the senators were in the wrong, then this is a blatant case of cronyism at the top of the political pyramid. And keeping silent means being complicit.
