Thailand has revoked the appointments of 3,868 local government officials after an investigation found that examination scores had been altered in a nationwide recruitment process.
The action was completed across the country on August 31, the deadline fixed by the Ministry of Interior. The case concerns Thailand’s 2025 local government recruitment examination, which was taken by nearly 3 lakh candidates.
The Department of Local Administration found irregularities involving 5,925 candidates whose examination scores had been altered. But that does not mean all 5,925 had entered government service.
After checking appointment records against the corrected examination data, officials found that 3,868 of those candidates had already been appointed. Those appointments were therefore revoked. More than 1,000 others were still waiting for appointment and will simply not be called for service.
Algoritha Security Launches ‘Make in India’ Cyber Lab for Educational Institutions
Why 5,925 Candidates Became 3,868 Officials
The difference between the two figures is important.
The 5,925 figure represents candidates whose examination scores were found to have been manipulated or altered. The 3,868 figure represents the smaller group whose altered results had already led to actual appointments.
Thailand’s authorities spent weeks comparing examination records and corrected scores before deciding which appointments had to be cancelled. Provincial committees received the relevant names and were responsible for completing the administrative process.
The August 31 deadline was intended to ensure that the revocations took effect nationwide on the same date. Officials said almost all provincial committees had completed their meetings by the deadline, while around six provinces had no names requiring revocation.
The government has also made clear that the administrative action is separate from the criminal investigation. Thailand established a fact-finding committee in July under Deputy Prime Minister Pakorn Nilprapunt to oversee the wider investigation and ensure that evidence is examined without interference.
Investigation Points To Wider Examination Fraud
The scale of the suspected manipulation has raised questions about how the recruitment examination was administered and how altered scores were able to influence the final rankings.
A government probe reported in August found irregularities across several stages of the 2025 examination process. Investigators found allegations that scores were deliberately increased for candidates who had failed, while additional points were also allegedly given to some candidates who had already passed.
The probe also identified a striking discrepancy in appointments. As many as 15,520 appointments were reportedly made against only 8,548 approved vacancies, according to findings reported by The Nation.
The investigation has therefore moved beyond the candidates who benefited from altered scores. Authorities are examining whether officials and other people involved in manipulating examination records could face criminal or disciplinary action.
Police have already summoned suspects in connection with the alleged fraud. The Anti-Money Laundering Office has also been examining financial transactions involving more than 200 targets, indicating that investigators are looking beyond the examination records to possible financial links.
Even Resigned Officials Are Part of the Action
The administrative process also covers 146 people who had already resigned from their positions.
Nirat Pongsitthaworn, deputy permanent secretary of the Interior and acting director-general of the Department of Local Administration, said those 146 people were included among the 3,868 appointments subject to revocation.
Officials said no lawsuits had been filed against the administrative action as of August 31. Authorities have pointed to comparisons between original examination data, altered scores and corrected results as evidence supporting the decisions.
The government is now preparing for the vacancies created by the revocations. New appointments are expected to be made by the end of October 2026, according to the Department of Local Administration.
For Thailand, however, replacing the affected officials will address only the immediate administrative problem. The larger issue is whether the recruitment system can prevent examination records from being manipulated in the first place.
The government has said the people responsible must be identified and dealt with under the law. A fact-finding committee established in July is continuing to coordinate information from the agencies investigating the case.
The episode has exposed a particularly damaging weakness in public recruitment: when examination scores can be altered, the credibility of the entire selection process comes under question. For thousands of candidates who took the examination without benefiting from the alleged manipulation, the consequences extend beyond the 3,868 revoked appointments.
