A probe into Department of Local Administration (DLA) recruitment exam results has found irregularities among 5,372 candidates, accounting for 35.84% of nearly 15,000 applicants who reported for appointment as local government officials.
Unsit Sampuntharat, permanent secretary for the interior, said the Interior Ministry had completed its own investigation into the alleged fraud in the 2025 local government recruitment examinations.
The review focused on identifying irregularities and determining whether any ministry officials were involved, while parallel investigations are being conducted by the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC).
He welcomed the appointment by Prime Minister and Interior Minister Anutin Charnvirakul of a committee chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Pakorn Nilprapunt to examine the allegations.
The panel which includes national police chief Pol Gen Kittharath Punpetch has been given 30 days from July 6 to complete its initial investigation.
He said the DLA had reviewed all 14,988 candidates who reported for appointment out of 15,520 candidates called for recruitment.
A total of 9,217 candidates, or 61.5%, were found to have normal scores, while 5,372 candidates were identified as having irregularities.
Among those irregularities cases, 3,044 candidates are flagged for general anomalies in the scoring system, representing 20.31%.
Another 1,522 cases involved discrepancies in which answer-sheet scores were one point lower than figures recorded in the electronic database, accounting for 10.15%. A further 806 candidates, or 5.38%, failed to meet minimum score requirements, including receiving fewer than 10 marks in English.
The DLA said another 399 cases, or 2.66%, remained under review due to technical and documentation issues, including unclear image files, missing image records and candidates whose names did not appear in the electronic database.
Original documents and answer sheets are being re-examined to determine the final outcome. Among the 10 examination centres nationwide, Chiang Mai recorded the highest proportion of normal results at 79.15%, followed by Phitsanulok at 72.9%.
