Ms. Trinuch Thienthong, Minister of Labour, addressed reports that 12 million Baht from the Social Security Office’s administrative budget was used to renovate the cafeteria at Social Security Office Area 3, located within the Ministry of Labour compound. She stated that the matter dates back to 2018 and had already gone through the approval process for both the budget and construction. Nevertheless, she has requested the Social Security Office to compile and submit a complete summary of the facts directly to the Minister within 24 hours.
The Labour Minister said that what concerns her even more is the potential impact on the confidence of over 24.5 million insured persons who are questioning the Social Security Office. Every Baht and Satang in the Social Security Fund comes from monthly wage deductions from workers, set aside to provide life security for insured persons, covering them from birth, illness, death, disability, unemployment, child welfare, through to old-age pensions that serve as security in later life. These funds belong to the insured persons, not to the Social Security Office. Any use of the funds must therefore be correct, transparent, and fully auditable.
“I would like to thank civil society for bringing these issues to light. This serves as a reminder that the Social Security Office must operate with great care to build social security for insured persons, not to create wealth for the organisation. It must always be recognised that insured persons are the owners of the funds, not merely contributors,” Ms. Trinuch said. She added that the inappropriate or erroneous management of insured persons’ funds is not only a serious wrongdoing, but also something that erodes the social security system and undermines the confidence of insured persons, confidence that may take a lifetime to rebuild.
Ms. Trinuch further stated that the disclosure of these issues presents a valuable opportunity for the Social Security Office to raise its transparency standards. Going forward, the Social Security Office should strengthen its governance by disclosing investment information, clearly explaining the fund’s status, and detailing how funds are invested, so that the public can access information conveniently and promptly. It must also be open to direct feedback from insured persons in order to improve services and benefits in a targeted manner, and to ensure that every Baht and satang of insured persons’ money is used with transparency as the guiding principle. This will allow the Social Security Office to truly fulfil its founding intention of caring for insured persons throughout their lives, from birth to death.
