BKK Post, March 12, SALWEEN SCANDAL

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SALWEEN SCANDAL

Warrant may be issued for Prawat's wife

A warrant will be issue for the arrest of the wife of deputy forestry chief Prawat Thanadkha if she fails to contact police today, said a deputy chief of the Central Investigation Bureau yesterday.
   Pol Maj-Gen Wasana Permlarp, chief investigator in a case of alleged bribery which sparked off the Salween logging scandal, said police would have no choice but to serve Juree Thanadkha with an arrest warrant if she failed to show up today for questioning in connection with the five million baht hand-delivered to Mr Prawat's home.
   Pol Maj-Gen Wasana brushed aside a report that Mr Prawat was unhappy with the officer's appointment to take charge of the case, saying he would make sure all parties concerned were treated fairly.
   He said he would question everybody linked to the scandal and would file charges
against anyone if he had sub-stantial evidence.
   The officer added he "smelled" more irregularities after the investigation showed only 800 out of 10,000 log certificates were legally prepared.
   In another development, police were looking into the origins of logs seized from a sawmill in Sing Buri province.