An Interior Ministry committee on Friday ordered the cancellation of the recruitment list involving 5,924 candidates after investigators found irregularities in examination scores.
The central committee for local government recruitment examinations would issue a new list after a further review, Interior Ministry permanent secretary Unsit Sampuntharat said.
The decision was the latest development in the scandal arising from the recruitment exam organised by the ministry’s Department of Local Administration last year.
Hundreds of candidates nationwide reportedly paid bribes ranging from 350,000 to 800,000 baht to ensure they got good grades in the exams.
“We reviewed the scores of over 279,000 candidates who sat the exam, out of around 400,000 applicants in total,” Mr Unsit said. “Among those 279,000 candidates, irregularities were identified in the scores of 5,924 individuals who had already been appointed.”
All appointments made based on the cancelled list will be revoked, and candidates who passed the examination fairly will be placed on the new list and called for appointment.
The ministry said earlier that 3,621 local government officials, out of nearly 15,000 appointed after the exams, were expected to have their appointments permanently revoked after authorities found evidence linking them to the scandal.
Mr Unsit said the new list of successful candidates should be available by early next week. No re-examination will be required.
He said the irregular examination scores included candidates whose scores had been increased significantly, candidates whose already high scores had been raised further without explanation, and candidates whose scores differed by only one mark but whose answer sheets or supporting documents required further examination.
The ministry plans to appoint an independent organisation, such as Thammasat University or the Office of the Civil Service Commission, to re-examine more than 800,000 answer sheets submitted by over 400,000 candidates.
In a related development, a police source said the Crime Suppression Division would file additional charges against 11 people caught doctoring exam results at a Nonthaburi house last month, after three key suspects in the exam fraud case were arrested this week.
