POLITICS / SALARIES, CONSTITUTION, DEMOCRACY

CNS staff, members get another 15% rise

PRADIT RUANGDIT

The 423 staff and members of the Council for National Security were awarded a 15% pay rise by the cabinet yesterday, as they had requested. This brings their total salary hike since the Sept 19 coup to 30%.

The cabinet approved the increase in recognition of their dedication and hard work.

''The CNS members have even worked on public holidays to strengthen national security, so they deserve it,'' said deputy government spokesman Nattawat Suthiyothin.

The CNS had sought a bigger than usual pay rise as a special case.

Of the 423 officers, 60 are attached to the secretariat office and 355 to the special task force.

Mr Nattawat said the cost of the salary increases would be shouldered by the officers' respective units.

If the units were short of cash, additional funds would be allocated by the government, Mr Nattawat said.

The Democracy Confederation, meanwhile, petitioned Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont to investigate alleged irregularities in the way the CNS spent the 1.2-billion-baht fund to finance the Sept 19 coup, and another 555 million baht to set up its special task force.

Confederation chairman Weng Tochirakarn said he understood the 555 million was meant for soldiers' allowances, but he had learned each soldier was receiving a daily allowance of only 50 baht.

The group would press the National Counter Corruption Commission and the Assets Scrutiny Committee to look into the two budgets.

They would also ask the graftbusters to look into the prime minister's ownership of 20 rai of land in a reserve forest on Khao Yai Thieng mountain in Nakhon Ratchasima's Sikhiu district.

Bangkok Post

Wednesday April 04, 2007