'Clear govt system needed' to prevent fake deals

The Commerce Ministry has plans to adopt technology and an online system as well as to improve laws and regulations regarding government procurement or other contracts to prevent fraud in the future.

Deputy Commerce Minister Apiradi Tantraporn said the ministry has also adopted the World Trade Organisation’s regulations on government procurement as its guidelines so that Thai officials will have a good idea of how to respond to politicians’ orders and of their responsibilities.

This lesson was learned from the case of two senior Commerce Ministry officials who will be dismissed or fired.

The decision to remove the Foreign Trade Department officials came after a National Anti-Corruption Commission investigation indicated that the two officials were allegedly involved in four "government-to-government" rice deals during the administration of prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra and her commerce minister Boonsong Teriyapirom.

To prevent future problems, the ministry has already launched a "zero corruption" campaign to encourage officials to resist all forms of force and "say no" to bribes.

"I admit that it was difficult to refuse the orders of supervisors. However, officials who face pressure to join in fraud can deny that and insist on their loyalty to refuse getting involved in any kind of corruption," he said.

Nipon Poapongsakorn, distinguished fellow at the Thailand Development Research Institute, suggested every government to have a clear accounting system and audit committee to inspect the government’s procurement projects. For rice trading, the Commerce Ministry needs to have open books on rice stocks and the money earned from rice sales.

The government agency should have explicit regulations and laws to be used as guidelines so that officials can know how to proceed with their work. If any directions are issued by politicians, there should be a clear paper trail with printed documents and the signatures of the politicians so that government officials can follow their orders.

Without a paper record, Thai officials should have the right to refuse to follow "verbal instructions" as it could lead to problems for them in the future.

Since government work may involve some conflict of interest or threats by a politician to remove them from a position, Thai officials need to insist on doing the right thing.

Any promotion or benefit from fraud is wrong and could land them in trouble in the future. "‘Honesty and knowledge" would be weapons to protect good civil servants, he added.

One academic said Thailand should also have an independent committee to consider the promotion, demotion or reshuffling of government officials.

Since politicians currently have full authority to rotate bureaucrats, sometimes they tell officials to obey their commands, resulting in corruption, a source said.