Bangkok—
On February 5th, 2024, Ms. Ayarin Panrit, the spokeswoman for the Minister of the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, gave a statement regarding a fire that broke out at the Ministry of Agriculture building on February 3rd.
Capt. Thamanat Prompow, the Minister of Agriculture and Cooperatives, and Mr. Chaiya Phromma, the Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Cooperatives, inspected the building after being granted permission from Police Forensic Science to collect documents and survey the damage.
Upon police forensic science investigation, the source of the fire was assumed to start from a kitchen room as there were many electrical appliances and flammable materials such as curtains and wallpapers. No foul play was suspected.
Capt. Thamanat ordered relevant agencies to inspect the building to survey the damages and plan building structure renovation. Currently, the Department of Irrigation is being used as a temporary office for the Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Cooperatives.
Chaiya publicly stated that the working office received only small damages and that documents were kept in a good place. Chaiya asserted that he would continue working as normal.
However, the Move Forward Party MP raised a question regarding the transparency of the fire incident and requested an inspection of CCTV. In response to the controversy, Ayarin publicly stated that police forensic science officers gathered evidence following Thai laws to determine the exact cause of the fire incident.
Ayarin emphasized that political issues should not be involved and the work of officials should not be interfered with.
