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The hearing which occurred on Tuesday 22nd July 2008 saw four more witnesses for the prosecution. These included former Chairman of the Asset Examination Committee, Nam Yimyaem (นายนาม ยิ้มแย้ม); Former FIDF Manager, Sawangjit Jaiyawat (นางสว่างจิตต์ จัยวัฒน์); Bank of Thailand real estate manager, Runruang Kokuthok (นายไพโรจน์ เฮงสกุล); and Former Permanant Secretary of the Ministry of Finance, Somchainuk Engtrakul (นายสมใจนึก เองตระกูล). The first witness, Nam Yinyaem, defended the AEC and told the Supreme Court's Criminal Division for Political Office Holders the body did not bully the Financial Institutions Development Fund (FIDF) into petitioning it for the Ratchadaphisek land auction to be brought to court, and that everything was done by the book, when questioned by defence lawyers regarding the fact that the AEC had pre-prepared a written form of complaint, he testified that this was merely to speed the process along as the AEC only had a limited period of time to work, and that the previous forms submitted, failed to comply with the NCCC Act which demands that complaints must state who had caused the damage, and the amount of damage to the state before any investigation can proceed to call witnesses. Nam Yinyaem did agree with the defence argument that the AEC were unsure at the time which agency would have the power to submit the complaint.
Nam, also testified that he held no personal grudges against the couple, but felt that a wrong had been committed. He testified that he didn’t even know them personally. I cannot influence our side when the full members of the AEC approved the case should proceed with the case.
Another witness, former FIDF manager Sawangjit Jaiyawat, was asked by a defence attorney whether the amount earned by the FIDF from the land auctioned to Pojaman was considered a business loss. Sawangjit answered no. The defence team highlighted the fact that a nearby land plot was sold by the FIDF to MCOT at an even lower rate of 55,500 baht sq wah as opposed to the 58,000 baht sq wah that Pojaman paid
Doubts about whether the land was sold to Pojaman at below-market price continued as Runruang Kokuthok, who is in charge of real-estate management at the Bank of Thailand, responded to a judge's question about the price. He said he could not know the market price, because no similar land in the area was sold at about the same time.
The final witness of the day, Former Finance ministry permanent secretary,Somchainuk Engtrakul, who was also the Deputy Chairman of the FIDF reconfirmed that the committee was of the opinion that the sale to Pojaman should go ahead, and also stated that although there was no minimum price set for the land, the Board of the FIDF had amongst themselves decided that the sale would only go forward if the offer was higher than 750 million baht. He also stated that the extending of the period of time for paying the deposit from 7 days to 10 days was to ensure that the maximum number of bidders would complete in the auction, thereby giving the FIDF the maximum price.
The next court session is set for Friday 25th July instead of Tuesday 29th as had previously been allocated. No reason was given for the decision by the court.
