Prolific petitioner Ruangkrai says Paetongtarn failed to divest Alpine Golf stake promptly

Political activist Ruangkrai Leekitwattana has asked the Election Commission (EC) if Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra should be removed from her post for failing to divest her shares in a golf club until two weeks after she became premier.

Speaking at the EC offices on Tuesday, the prolific petitioner said the law prohibited a minister from holding more than five percent of the shares in a company in order to prevent corruption. Ms Paetongtarn had a 30% stake in Alpine Golf and Sports Club until Sept 3, he said.

She was elected as prime minister by parliament on Aug 16 and received formal endorsement from His Majesty the King on Aug 18.

Mr Ruangkrai said that Ms Paetongtarn, who is also the leader of the coalition-core Pheu Thai Party, transferred the shares in the golf club to her mother Khunying Potjaman Na Pombejra. Earlier Ms Paetongtarn and her two siblings had held 30% each in the company and their mother had a 10% shareholding, he said.

Mr Ruangkrai urged the EC to speed up investigation, adding that he would file a similar complaint with the National Anti-Corruption Commission.

The latest filing brings to 13 the number of petitions known to be filed so far against the Pheu Thai Party and/or Ms Paetongtarn — six of them by Mr Ruangkrai — with various agencies. All of the petitions allege corruption or ethics violations related to various decisions made by the premier or the party.

Land controversy

Aside from the link to the Shinawatra family, Alpine Golf and Sports Club has been controversial for its holdings of a large plot of land in Pathum Thani province.

The land in Klong Luang district had been donated by a widow, Noem Chamnanchartsakda, to Wat Dhammamikaramvoraviharn, a temple in Prachuap Khiri Khan province, in 1971.

After her death, the Maha­mongkut Ratchawittayalai Foundation was appointed executor of Noem’s estate. The foundation sold the land to Alpine Real Estate and Alpine Golf and Sports Club.

The Council of State, the government’s legal advisory body, later found the sale was illegal, as the site was monastic land.

In 2017, former Pheu Thai Party leader Yongyuth Wichaidit was sentenced to two years in prison for abuse of authority in connection with the sale of the monastic land.

The National Anti-Corruption Commission found that Yongyuth had wrongfully cancelled a Department of Land order that revoked the sale of 732 rai of monastic land owned by Wat Thammikaram to Alpine Real Estate Co and Alpine Golf & Sports Club, in 2002.

He appealed but the sentence was upheld and he began serving it in February 2020. Yongyuth was released from prison on health grounds in September 2020, on condition that he wear an electronic monitoring bracelet until his sentence ended.

The main entrance of the Alpine Golf Course in Pathum Thani. (File photo)