Thailand's fraud on the rise
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Companies in Thailand face a mounting threat of fraud and cybercrime, with 35 per cent reporting major fraud in the past 12 months, and respondents expecting an increase over the next three to five years, according to PwC's first-ever Thailand Economic Cr
Businesses need to be pre-emptive and put in place fraud prevention measures such as whistleblower programmes and proper monitoring of bidding and procurement. Without these things, Thailand can prove a high-risk place to do business, according to Sira Intarakumthornchai, CEO for PwC Thailand.
“Thai businesses are expected to see a rising trend of complex embezzlement, corruption and IT-related crimes over the next three to five years,” Sira said. “We expect to see fraud risk grow in coming years unless businesses meet the challenge head-on.”
PwC publishes an annual global Economic Crime Survey and this first-ever Thailand survey gives businesses a new tool to address risk in the Kingdom. The survey shows that economic crime – the so-called white-collar crime – takes many forms in Thailand. Anti-competitive practices, including price fixing, bid rigging or market sharing, were reported by 25 per cent of respondents – over triple the global average; and 79 per cent said fraud was internal, against 56 per cent globally.
Of internal fraudsters, Thai respondents said more than 80 per cent were in senior and middle management. The study polled businesses and found a growing trend of embezzlement, computer hacking and asset misappropriation, placing Thailand above global threat levels.
