The Bangkok Post followed with an update of findings from The Office of the Ombudsman pointing that the Thailand capital’s city hall extravagant lighting show was financed using budget allocated for next year.
A report released by Thai Visa News on Wednesday pointed out the city had spent emergency funding on the 40 million Thai baht (US $1.11 million) lighting project.
The figure was slightly lowered to 39 million Thai Baht by the country's leading English media The Bangkok Post.
The Office of the Ombudsman has asked those with knowledge of irregularity spending in the lighting show to come forward and file their complaints.
Financial checks are being made on the lighting show organized by the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) to ensure financial transparency, said the Office of the Ombudsman secretary-general, Raksakecha Chaechay.
Concerned netizens have voiced they would have preferred the city authorities to spend the money on lights in crime prone streets, or on security cameras and CCTV systems.
Pranee Sattayaprakob, head of the BMA's Culture, Sport and Tourism Department also announced Ombudsman officials have launched a probe on the bidding process for the project.
Up to 5 million colorful lights were installed for the lighting project, and the City Hall offices were adorned with 500,000 LED lights.