The People's Party (PP) has called for urgent reform of parliamentary committees, questioning whether taxpayer money is being spent effectively amid allegations of inefficiency, duplication and conflicts of interest.
Party spokesperson Pukkamon Nunarnan, however, defended committee work, arguing that MPs should not be judged solely on prior expertise.
Pawoot Pongvitayapanu, a PP party-list MP, on Monday urged the House Speaker to address what he described as deep-rooted inefficiencies in parliamentary committees.
In a Facebook post, Mr Pawoot said committees, tasked with scrutinising the executive branch and funded by taxpayers, often fail to operate effectively despite holding authority to summon state agencies for information.
Drawing on his experience as both a private-sector representative and committee member, Mr Pawoot said parliament should justify its roughly 8 billion baht annual budget through stronger performances.
He said more than 50 House and Senate committees and over 100 subcommittees now exist, involving several thousand people.
He alleged widespread problems, including committee members being assigned without relevant expertise and attending meetings merely to sign in for allowances before leaving. The quorum system, based on attendance signatures, encourages MPs to move between meetings without substantive participation, he said.
Mr Pawoot also raised allegations of committee positions being used for personal gain, enabling outsiders to exploit parliamentary affiliations for lobbying or intimidation. He criticised unclear agendas, politically appointed chairpersons lacking commitment, repeated summonses of officials and overlapping inquiries that burden state agencies.
Some committees, he claimed, seek sensitive information to benefit personal or affiliated business interests, while duplication remains common as committees revisit issues already studied without consulting earlier reports.
Calling the situation "a pity for taxpayers' money", Mr Pawoot proposed reforms including selecting committee chairs based on expertise, establishing key performance indicators, tightening attendance monitoring and improving coordination among committees to reduce duplication.
Meanwhile, Ms Pukkamon, a PP party-list MP and spokesperson, said committee work should not be judged solely by prior expertise, describing committees as "spaces for learning".
She said MPs often gain knowledge through committee assignments outside their comfort zones and argued that willingness to learn matters as much as expertise.
