Around 5,925 local government employees across Thailand are expected to lose their jobs this month after investigators confirmed their positions were secured through a rigged 2025 civil service recruitment exam, Deputy Interior Minister Worasit Liangprasit said Monday, in what officials are describing as the country’s largest public sector corruption case in years.
Worasit said committees investigating the exam results and overseeing local government personnel will meet Wednesday and Thursday to finalize the removals. He said local administrators are expected to act quickly once the reviews are complete. He put the scale of the operation at roughly 10,000 people, including candidates, intermediaries and officials who helped alter scores.
The case centers on a 2025 recruitment exam for the Department of Local Administration, which the department had commissioned Srinakharinwirot University to administer. A review launched after the scandal surfaced in June found irregular scores among 5,814 of the roughly 15,000 candidates who were appointed. Interior Ministry permanent secretary Unsit Sampuntharat said authorities began revoking appointments for the first batch of 3,621 officials in July, where evidence of wrongdoing was clearest, to protect the standing of candidates who passed honestly.
Investigators say the scheme involved officials electronically altering exam results in exchange for bribes ranging from roughly 350,000 to 800,000 baht per candidate, depending on the position sought. Three suspects considered the ringleaders have been arrested and remanded in custody after a Thai court denied their bail requests, finding the group operated as an organized network that undermined the state administrative system. They face charges including falsifying official documents. Eleven additional civil servants linked to the scheme are expected to face the same charges.
Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, who also serves as interior minister and oversees the Department of Local Administration, has said the truth of the case will be made public as police continue building evidence against those involved.
The affected positions span local administrations nationwide, though officials have not detailed how the removals will be distributed by province. The dismissals are expected to create a wave of vacancies at municipal and district offices in the coming weeks, though the government has not yet outlined a timeline for replacing the roles.
The exact number of employees ultimately dismissed has shifted as the investigation has widened, from an initial 5,814 flagged scores in June, to 3,621 confirmed revocations in July, to the 5,925 figure cited by the Deputy Interior Minister this week. That reflects a fraud case authorities say is still being sorted through committee by committee, rather than a change in the underlying findings.
