The Constitutional Court has terminated the ministerial status of Saksayam Chidchob.  He was suspended from performing his duties last year following an asset concealment scandal.

On 17 January, the Constitutional Court voted 7 to 1 to terminate Saksayam Chidchob’s status as Transport Minister.  He was found guilty of concealing his holdings in a construction company. The court concluded that the evidence indicated that he had engaged in illegal activities.

Saksayam served as Transport Minister in the second cabinet of the former PM Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha. During a no-confidence debate in 2022, a complaint was filed against him by the then-opposition parties.

The complaint stated that he was a shareholder of Buri Charoen Construction in violation of Section 187 of the Constitution, which forbids ministers from holding shares in any company. Saksayam allegedly used a nominee to hold his shares in the company. The court accepted the complaint and suspended him from ministerial duties on 3 March 2023 pending a ruling.

The Buri Charoen Construction was established in 1996 with the Chidchob family as its largest shareholder.  Saksayam allegedly gave up his shares in 1997 to enter politics. He was still a major shareholder of the company between 2015 and 2017, when the company was awarded construction projects valued at over 400 million baht from the Ministry of Transport.