Do Good, Be Scammed, and Justice for Boom Panadda

Everything happened so abruptly that when I took a bus on Sukhumvit Road earlier this week, the soap ads inside the bus—where “Boom” Panadda Wongphudee is, or was, the brand ambassador for 24 long years—were still lit bright, while Boom herself is being detained after being accused of siphoning a massive amount of public donations made to her foundation, supposedly meant for helping needy people, for personal indulgence instead.

​”What is good, Boom says it’s good” was the advertising catchphrase of the soap brand, which has become a mantra that many Thais, who are exposed to the phrase over the two decades, would instantly recognise. And yet, the soap company has now terminated her contract.

​The fair-weather friends readily ditch her, even though the justice process has just begun. When Boom’s reputation was supposedly “impeccable,” these very fair-weather friends and admirers relished taking selfies with Boom and praising her. Now it’s the opposite. When she was popular, fair-weather friends got instant social media visibility when posting with Boom. Now that she’s infamous, these very people instead get more social media attention by summarily denouncing Boom as a fake “good person.”

​How convenient…

​Guilty until proven innocent, not innocent until proven guilty, is many Thai people’s understanding of justice. They are quick to judge, and quick to believe or be scammed — but even quicker to ditch her, now that she is being detained and branded as arguably the biggest Thai scammer of the decade.

​The problematic notion of “good people” that are too good to be true is prevalent in Thailand. Many Thais love idealised or vilified characterisations — it’s either simplistic white or black. Many Thais are fond of public figures who are too good to be true. Boom is not the only such idol.

​People can be too trusting. Prone to fairy tales. No wonder scam victims are plentiful in Thailand.

According to findings released by Thailand’s Economic Crime Suppression Division (ECD) this month regarding Boom’s “Do Good” Foundation (Ongkorn Thamdee), police have not specified the exact number of unique individuals who donated, as many people contributed multiple times. However, investigators tracked over 3.2 million separate donation transfers across three bank accounts totaling over 815 million baht.

The amount allegedly siphoned, according to investigators, is 527 million baht, or approximately 65 % of the total donations, diverted for personal benefit rather than charitable work.

​Police reported that the 527 million baht was channelled into 12 categories of non-charitable expenditures. These included 99 million baht transferred directly to her husband, Atip “Got” Anantawan; 36 million baht transferred to foundation committee members; 24 million baht invested in mutual funds; 19 million baht spent on personal credit card bills; and 18 million baht paid to contractors for building a pool villa in Phuket (with additional transfers linked to construction projects in Pathum Thani). Also, 10 million baht spent on life insurance and 4.6 million baht transferred to Panadda’s father.

Then there was 2.7 million baht spent on luxury handbags and jewelry, which was withdrawn from mutual fund accounts.

The bottom line: Only about 280 million baht of the total funds collected was found to have actually been used for legitimate foundation activities.

Khaosod English reports on Wednesday that police revealed approximately 90 percent of the first batch of 32 designer handbags seized in the investigation appear to be counterfeit, pending official authentication.

On Wednesday, investigators searched two more condominiums registered in Panadda’s name, seizing another 12 designer handbags, 53 pieces of jewellery, 11 scarves, and four items of clothing. Police are now tracing the origins of the luxury goods and the money used to purchase them, while questioning people linked to the foundation’s financial transactions.

​The shockwave through the whole “do good” industry is palpable, with the authorities now looking into a dozen other well-known foundations for possible misuse of public donations.

​Henceforth, there needs to be more transparency and accountability. Details of donations made, and how much and how it was spent, should be posted online for all to examine and independently reviewed by a third-party auditor on a monthly basis.
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Temple donations should also be better regulated, as there are, according to official statistics from the National Office of Buddhism (ONAB), over 44,000 active, registered Buddhist temples, or wat, across the country. Misuse and wasteful use of resources by temples should also be tackled, with fewer concrete structures and more hospices, shelters for the poor, orphans, and elderly, and schools preferred.

​In the end, whatever you think about Boom, she should be regarded as innocent until proven guilty. I am not a fan of Boom and had never donated to her “Do Good” Foundation.

Nevertheless, if Thai society learned a thing or two from this case, then perhaps not all the donated money went to waste — to real or counterfeit luxury bags, and more.