Corruption spreading like plague : PM

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Corruption spreading like plague : PM
The Nation 2011-06-02


Corruption has inflicted untold damage to the country's competitiveness, spreading like a neverending plague, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said yesterday, urging all sectors of society to unite in rooting out graft.

"As government leader, I know politicians have been joint suspects," he said, conceding that he was not satisfied with the anticorruption fight in the past two years under his watch.

Abhisit said he hoped the July 3 election would be a turning point for every political party to come up with a road map to fight corruption, which he believed had become a complex issue and could not be easily detected.

He voiced concern about the attempts to rig the bids for public projects by inflating the benchmark price, thus adding kickbacks as part of the cost borne by the government instead of the tea money paid by the winning contractor. The inflated cost would later be distributed via moneylaundering.

He was speaking at an anticorruption seminar jointly organised by the government and the private sector. Seminar sponsors included the National AntiCorruption Commission, the Federation of Thai Industries, the Thai Chamber of Commerce and the Thai Bankers' Association.

Thai Chamber of Commerce chairman Dusit Nontanakorn called for businesses to unite and refuse to pay bribes.

"Corruption involves givers and takers of bribes, therefore the politicians and bureaucrats could not take what the business sector refuses to pay," he said.

Dusit said it was time to ensure the country's survival by rooting out graft and refusing to be involved in such violations.

Leading professionals such as Kesree Narongdej and Tortrakul Yomnak called for stronger internal checks within government agencies and personnel instead of focusing on each offence after it had already caused damage.

Community leader Chartchai Luengcharoen said an increase in people's participation in the policymaking process would be a way to check the spread of corruption.

A number of seminar participants were critical of the media, arguing that media professionals had failed to uncover irregularities because they put ties with news sources above their job responsibilities.