After flooding hit his village last year, Abisit Sitthiwong, a 42-year-old farmer in Na Khu district of Kalasin, struggled to restore the farmland he had so faithfully cultivated. The owner of 10 rai of rice fields and 5 rai of fruit plantation, his produce was his main source of income.
Rainy season last year hit the northeast region especially hard, destroying farmers' crops and various other livelihoods -- washing away much of people's investment in the land.
In the aftermath, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha ordered officials to take action to assist the flooding victims, offering them compensation packages to get back on their feet.
"[The local officials] were supposed to help us but what they did was absolutely unacceptable," Mr Abisit said. "They came in and pretended to listen to our problems. Then they spent half the budget they got on us and put the rest in their own pockets. How fair is that?"
The flood relief budget, funded by the Department of Agricultural Extension (DOAE), was handed to administrative offices in Kalasin, and other northeastern provinces affected by the flooding.
But once the money got to the local government, it appears it have only stayed in their hands.
Frustrated and impatient, villagers are now set on getting justice.
GETTING OFF TRACK
When the Thai government was informed of the flooding last year, Gen Prayut ordered the DOAE to offer victims assistance. The project spurred by the order, called 9101, focused on rehabilitating crops and the livelihoods of villagers that were disrupted by the flooding.
The budget allocated by DOAE was handed down to local branches of the organisation in the affected provinces. The money was then distributed to local officials such as village heads and sub-district chiefs who would determine the local needs. They were required to keep a list of what they purchase to outline the precise needs they are addressing.
Procedure dictates that the local officials assigned must speak with villagers and determine what they need. A public hearing is then held to establish what can be reasonably provided.
After the first hearing, the officials are required to contact vendors and merchandisers of the items of need, and request prices in order to assess if the products can fit within the budget.
The officials then report their findings to a second public hearing before they agree on the purchase of all items.
Once the list of items are seen and approved by villagers, the officials must present the local DOAE branch with it any supporting documents to show how the money was spent.
In the case of 9101, several district officials found that the village headmen and sub-district chiefs assigned to the task had not only neglected to follow the guidelines, but pocketed at least half of the money they were meant to spend on rehabilitating the community.
"What we ended up getting was not what we needed," Mr Abisit said. "[The local officials] didn't talk to everyone to ask what they want. They just bought things according to their tastes, including the low-quality items that they gave us.
"I won't tolerate this shameful corruption."
GOT IT IN THE POCKET
After the village headman sent him low-quality catfish, Mr Abisit was confused. He wondered why he had been given such an item when what he really needed was rice seeds to grow on his land. His land did not have a fishpond so his compensation seemed a waste of money.
"I heard from the news that each family would get 5,000 baht worth of agricultural products according to community needs," said Mr Abisit. "The village headman in my district claims he held a public hearing and apparently determined what the majority of us need.
"That's rubbish. I don't even think any public hearing was actually held in my area. If they came to ask me, I would never have said I wanted the fish to begin with."
Mr Abisit found out that there were some fish farmers in his sub-district who complained they had been sent fish half the size of what they asked for. The fish food was also cheap and substandard, costing 50% less than what farmers usually spend on feed.
Village members started to count up the costs themselves.
"I did a rough calculation for the budget in our village," said Mr Abisit. "I added the costs of the fish and fish food from the store where they bought it from. And it turned out that the officials only spent 30% of the overall budget they had received.
"That means they put around 5-6 million baht in their own pocket.
"I want justice. I won't just sit here and do nothing like every other time I see these local village headmen intervene in these agriculture projects. I want Prime Minister Prayut to help us."
Mr Abisit collected as much proof of his suspicion as he could and brought it to the nearby Dumrongtham complaint centre to report on what he believed was a case of corruption.
He also sent a letter to Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha, which is now being reviwed.
"It shouldn't have happened to begin with since this current government has said they are serious about cracking down on all kinds of corruption. I really hope that everyone involved in these corrupt acts go to jail and pay the price for what they did to us," Mr Abisit said.
PROBLEMS CROPPING UP
Saipen Phukayan, the village head of Baan Khokkham in the Buaban sub-district of Samut Sakhon, has seen the apparent corruption pervasive in these inner circles first-hand. She says village headmen across different regions regularly get together to plot how to steal money from official budgets.
She says she reached a point where she could no longer tolerate the behaviour.
"I am chosen to represent the people of my village," says Ms Saipen.
"I don't get selected to make money off of their hardships. So I told the other village headmen that I wouldn't get my hands dirty in these projects and I walked away from those meetings."
The first instance of corruption she encountered was the 9101 project, involving the production of organic fertilisers to help farmers whose land was hit by flooding last year.
When she heard a group of village headmen and sub-district chiefs planned to split money from the project, Ms Saipen told them she would never think of committing such an act.
Besides representing her village, Ms Saipen is a full-time farmer. She owns rice paddies that help her make a living. After her own rice paddies faced heavy rainfall, she became of one of 1,252 houses in Baan Khokkham severely affected by the flooding.
She reported the village needs to authorities, requesting 5,000 baht worth of agricultural products, including special ones for the frog and cricket farmers in the community.
The sub-district chief paid visit one day and interviewed villagers about what they needed, but Ms Saipen says the meeting fell short of its purpose.
"As a member of local government official circles, I know what a public hearing is," said Ms Saipen. "What we had wasn't that. After that first visit [by DOAE], the sub-district chief brought us all rice seeds with fertiliser for all the farmers, including frog and cricket farmers.
"But what can the frog and cricket farmers do with rice seeds when they don't have any rice paddy to grow them with?"
Growing suspicious, Ms Saipen begun investigating the market prices of the items stacking up. The officials had set the price of 700 baht per kg of rice and 560 baht per kg of fertiliser.
The villagers found these prices expensive, becoming concerned they couldn't afford the government-provided products.
Eventually, they found a local shop where they could buy 560 baht per kg for rice and 440 baht per kg of fertiliser.
After cross-comparing with the officials' products, Ms Saipen found that the real costs of rice were 320 baht per kg and 128 baht per kg of fertiliser.
"That means from the entire budget meant for the community, the officials managed to keep 6.4 million baht for themselves," said Ms Saipen.
"Maybe because we are so faraway from the central government is the reason why local government officials feel like they can do whatever they like. But I'm done with all of this. I won't let them do this to us any more. I want justice."
LEFT OUT TO DRY
After three other districts in Kalasin reported similar happenings to Baan Khokkham, Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha advised the governor to stop the problem before it worsened. The governor proceeded to ask local military officials to help investigate the villagers' complaints.
Col Manop Kaikhuntod, the deputy director of the Internal Security Operations Command in Kalasin, has been responsible for investigating these corruption claims since the end of last year.
He spoke with villagers across three districts caught up in the post-flooding relief project mishaps.
"The case is now under investigation and we have made a lot of progress," Col Manop said. "Part of the problem is the fact that the local government officials don't explain everything to villagers clearly enough so that they can understand the procedures."
The investigation came across problems like the size of fish being underestimated and fertilisers being lower quality than what the farmers were accustomed to using.
"When they buy things in bulk, something the vendors don't manage to sell it all. So they have to deliver what they have. That's the main thing villagers are having problems with," Col Manop said.
"It's nothing too complicated. All the activity can be traced with paper-based proof. I'm quite certain that we will be able to find those who have corrupted the system. I will report them if they are found guilty of corruption to the Office of Public Sector Anti-Corruption Commission to let them deal with it," he added.
"Gen Prayut has zero tolerance for corruption and he will take action against people who are found guilty of it.
"The money that hasn't been spent the way it was meant to be will have to be given back and redistributed in the way it was meant to -- according to villagers' needs. Even if the money is spent, they will have to find the way to give it back," he said.
While the investigation is underway, villagers are still waiting to get the help they need.
For a village head like Ms Saipen, all she really needs is a system free of corruption.
"We have suffered from this long enough," she says. "I think it's time that we get rid of corrupt people and run our country the way civilised countries are.
"I want the case that happened in Kalasin to be the last one. The corruption will only hold us back from developing our society. I would really love to see a change."
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