Tackling Graft In Thailand Can No Longer Be Seen As A Joke.

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Tackling graft can no longer be seen as a joke
By The Nation
2011-02-17

If Thailand does not start to combat the problem of pervasive corruption, public anger will boil over and politics will descend into more chaos

A recently announced joint effort by two government agencies responsible for combating corruption must not become another publicity stunt. On February 10, the Office of the Public Sector Anti-Corruption Commission and the Office of the National Anti-Corruption Commission signed an agreement to tackle graft, which is now a chronic problem in this country.

Corruption is widely recognised as one of the major issues disrupting the economic and social progress of Thailand. According to the latest ranking by the Transparency International Corruption Index, Thailand ranks 84th in the world, which is far from satisfactory. The kingdom scored only 3.5 out of 10 in the honesty ranking, which ranges from zero for highly corrupt to 10 for very clean.

Almost every poll conducted among business people and the general public comes up with the result that most people are disgusted at the level of chronic corruption in Thailand. But nothing is ever effectively done to fix it. Thailand cannot remain complacent about the widespread problem of corruption. Last year the kingdom hosted an international meeting to discuss efforts to reduce corruption, in which the National Anti-Corruption Commission came up with four resolutions to try to fix the problem.

These include: instilling desirable, ethical values and discipline in every section of society; making joint efforts to prevent and suppress corruption; enhancing the strength of anti-corruption agencies; and creating professionals to carry out anti-corruption measures. Failure to show the world the result of these efforts would be shameful.

But perhaps unsurprisingly, the effort made so far has not been promising. The anti-corruption agencies are faced with a great deal of red tape that prevents them from efficiently investigating cases relating to corruption. The relevant agencies must have full independence, flexibility and authority to carry out their duties, instead of being constantly pressured by politicians and people in power.

Although corruption-related news arises almost on a daily basis, very few cases are pursued satisfactorily to the end. Therefore, wrongdoers are not discouraged or deterred, and they continue to abuse their power. They steal public money and they continue to get away with it.

It is essential that the anti-corruption agencies cooperate and show that they will not let alleged culprits disappear until investigations are final and the guilty are brought to book.

They can start with the 300 cases currently under investigation by the Office of the Public Sector Anti-Corruption Commission. These cases must be pursued promptly to a final conclusion, free of interference from people in high positions. If the agency can show that it is serious about these allegations, there may be some hope for Thailand to end the shameless theft of taxpayers' money.

In addition, the anti-graft effort will need cooperation from the public and the government. The public and media should continue piling on the pressure to prevent and combat corruption at all levels.

The government, for its part, must demonstrate to the public that it will not tolerate further abuses. But this will be a thankless task. Politicians and people in powerful positions are more likely to succumb to the temptations of graft because their rulings and decisions can be translated into the loss or gain of millions or billions of baht for certain stakeholders.

If senior government ministers can show that they won't tolerate corruption, then their subordinates and public officials are more likely to be discouraged from committing the crime.

Combating corruption may sound like a meaningless cliche in Thailand because the issue has never been fixed. But the warning in the form of public anger is real. An increasing number of people are aware of the extent of the problem and they are disgusted by it.

The rise of the yellow-shirt movement stemmed from disgust at certain politicians who became unusually rich as a result of unfair concessions and monopolies being granted at the expense of the public purse. The rise of the red-shirt movement came from a growing discontent among the public over the inequity of wealth distribution - largely because of corruption and cronyism.

If we don't start to seriously address this cancer in our society, don't be surprised if more people form new colour movements that will rise and create further chaos to topple people in power.