Jaruvan Maintaka

The SAC appointed Puangrat Vongpo, her deputy, as acting auditor-general on July 8.[13] When Puangrat retired on Sept 30, 2004, the commission appointed Jerarat Noppawong na Ayutthaya as acting auditor-general, effective from Oct 1.

The State Audit Commission later nominated Wisut Montriwat, former deputy permanent secretary of the Ministry of Finance, for the post of Auditor-General. The Senate approved the nomination on 10 May 2005. However, King Bhumibol Adulyadej, in an unprecedented move, withheld his royal assent. The National Assembly did not hold a vote to overthrow the royal veto. In October 2005 the Senate rejected a motion to reaffirm her appointment, and instead deferred the decision to the SAC.[14]

The appointment of a replacement for Jaruvan was strongly criticized by the powerful Wang Nam Yen faction of the Thai Rak Thai party, especially by MP Pramuan Ruchanaseree and faction leader Sanoh Thienthong.[15][16][17] In late 2005, the issue came close to breaking the Wang Nam Yen-faction from the TRT.

The controversy led many to reinterpret the political role of the King in Thailand's constitutional monarchy.

While her status as Auditor-General was still in contention, Jaruvan joined the Democrat Party and the People's Alliance for Democracy in petitioning the King to replace Thaksin Shinawatra as Prime Minister. However, demands for royal intervention met with much criticism. The King himself, in a speech on 26 April, responded "Asking for a Royally appointed prime minister is undemocratic. It is, pardon me, a mess. It is irrational"[18]

On 15 February 2006 The State Audit Commission (SAC) decided to reinstate Jaruvan as Auditor-General. Its unanimous decision came after it received a memo from the Office of King Bhumibol Adulyadej's Principal Private Secretary, advising that the situation be resolved.[19] The SAC concluded by unanimous vote that the royal command that appointed Jaruvan was still in effect, despite the Constitution Court's ruling that her appointment was illegal and unconstitutional.

The junta soon made Jaruvan a member of an Assets Examination Committee, tasked with investigating corruption allegations involving projects approved by the deposed government. Jaruvan threatened to resign from the Committee if its scope was not expanded to include all cases of alleged irregularity, including the personal wealth of former Cabinet ministers as well as "policy corruption", where policies were approved to allegedly benefit personal interests. Specifically, she wanted the Committee to investigate the sale of Shin Corporation to Temasek Holdings. Her lobbying was successful: the original AEC was dissolved in less than a week, she was appointed leader of a new 12-member committee with greater powers, including the power to freeze the assets of members of the Thaksin government accused of corruption. The new AEC was also empowered to investigate allegations of tax evasion. The leader of the original AEC, Sawat Chotephanich, was demoted in the new committee; he later resigned, reportedly in protest.[20] The remaining members of the new committee included several figures who had been publicly critical of the Thaksin government, including Kaewsan Atibhoti, Nam Yimyaem, and Sak Korsaengreung.

The AEC received an hour-long weekly spot to produce a reality show publicizing its work.[21]

In January 2007, the AEC requested that the Financial Institutions Development Fund (FIDF) file a charge against Thaksin and his wife over their 772 million baht purchase of four plots of land from the FIDF in 2003. The charge was based on an alleged violation of Article 100 of the National Counter Corruption Act, which specified that government officials and their spouses were prohibited from entering into or having interests in contracts made with state agencies under their authorisation. Article 4 of the Act stated that wrongdoers must be direct supervisors of the damaged party - in this case, the FIDF. However, the FIDF is a financial institution under the direct supervision of the Bank of Thailand, which at the time of the transaction Pridiyathorn Devakula was Governor.[22]

Pridiyathorn Devakula defended the FIDF transaction, saying that it was transparent.[23] Chanchai Boonritchaisri, a senior director of the central bank's Legal and Litigation Department, also claimed that the FIDF did not view itself as the damaged party, as the land was sold to the Shinawatras at a price higher than its then appraised value (about 700 million baht).[24] The FIDF originally purchased the land from the bankrupt Erawan Trust in 1995 for 2.14 billion; Erawan Trust had seized the land from a defunct borrower for only 103 million baht.[25]

Jaruvan countered by complaining to the public about how some state agencies failed to co-operate with the AEC. She also accused claimed that Pridiyathorn violated the law by sitting on the Board of Directors of more than three state enterprises. Pridiyathorn later resigned from the junta-appointed government.[26] The FIDF eventually filed charges against Thaksin and his wife, noting that "damage that occurred was not necessarily due to the price received during the auction, but rather technical problems." Jaruvan then sought legal amendments that allowed charges to be filed against public officials by parties who had not been damaged.[27]

The AEC also appointed panels to investigate alleged irregularities in the Thaksin government's 1.4 billion baht rubber seedling project as well as the procurement of CTX 9000 bomb scanners and power supplies for Suvarnabhumi Airport.