Private sector believes corruption weakens
The private sector has warned that as corruption tends to destroy competitiveness, all sections of society should see that the law is enforced strictly so as to scare people away from engaging in such damaging activity.
Pramon Suthiwong, honorary president of the Thai Chamber of Commerce, said during a “Social Development and Increased Competitive Capability” seminar yesterday that corruption was a real problem for the nation’s competitiveness, as it is is rife in both the public and private sectors.
The Board of Trade has established a network to fight corruption in 42 organisations.
“The goal of reducing and preventing corruption has already been set, and early results are showing progress. The next hurdle to clear is to get corruption-prevention programmes operating internationally, with many more organisations participating,” he said.
Income inequity is another obstacle that contributes to a reduction in overall competitiveness, he said. The private sector has attempted to help by contributing money to various projects such as the “One Rai One Trillion” project, which aims to help farmers increase their incomes.
Unfortunately, however, some government projects which in theory hope to solve the problem of inequality, can in practice often lead to just more corruption, which then again reduces competitiveness, he said, citing the rice- pledging project as an example.
“If the government continues with the rice-pledging project, it will lose more than Bt1 trillion and will interfere with the global trading of rice. Traders who have become part of the international trade mechanism will be forced out of business in two to three years.
“The government should revise the approximate price of the rice-pledging project and adjust the process of pledged-rice distribution. The government should not be a rice trader, but rather it should open the market to international traders to buy and distribute rice using the already established market mechanisms,” Pramon said.
Thailand ranks low in a number of categories, according to a World Bank ranking of countries. During the agency’s 1996-2010 study of both the public and private sectors, the Kingdom had low marks in terms of political stability and public opinion, reflecting a lack of personal responsibility and a lack of respect for law and order, he said.
Corruption was perceived in the report to be a big problem both here at home and by observers abroad, and government regulations were considered to be lax and inefficient, he added. All sectors of the country should, therefore, join hands to help resolve these issues and thereby increase the nation’s competitiveness.
Duangkamol Chotana, director of the Nation Group, told the seminar that existing laws against corruption must be enforced strictly and quickly, in order to punish wrongdoings and scare away others from engaging in corruption.
New standards must also be created so that society will shame and exclude people who cheat, she said.
“When everybody’s actions are transparent, the shadow behind which cheaters operate will be removed. Only then can the nation expect to increase its competitive capability. To achieve success, it will require profound changes within Thai society. Social concerns such as quality of life, and concerns for better education, greater care of the environment, and most important greater income equality through better distribution of resources, are needed.” Duangkamol said.
