Powerful politicians fuelling graft, anti-graft network says
The strong influence today's politicians wield has led to more corruption, a seminar heard yesterday.
“Some projects have bribe costs up to 50 per cent of the total [project] budget through the special procurement practice. Politicians verbally order officials to ask [bidders] for under-the-table money, which is a method that is difficult to investigate,” said Somsong Sajjapimook, a member of the National Anti-Corruption Network.
The worsening of the corruption problem creates adverse effects not only in terms of huge losses for the country but also its slow development, he told the seminar on “Morals of Politicians and Government Officials”, organised by the Commerce Ministry’s Department of International Trade Promotion. The corruption forced on officials has also hurt their morale and work efficiency.
A study by the network found that there had been a severe rise in the instance of bribery in the past few years. Although many anti-corruption campaigns have been launched, graft is still rampant.
“Officials are in fear of powerful politicians, as they are worried about their jobs in the future,” Somsong said.
Jait Satawornseelporn, a representative from the Administrative Court, said government officials should make sure that any illegal instructions they receive be documented in the politician’s handwriting.
Raksagecha Chaechai, deputy director-general of the Ombudsman’s Office, said Thailand had relied mainly on capitalism and the patron-client system, which also caused corruption to flourish because of overlapping benefits.
“Thailand urgently needs to increase morality in society, in particular among youth,” she said.
“The government should also pass strict laws to suppress corruption. For instance, in Singapore, there is a serious investigation of every government official and politician before they take their positions,” Raksagecha pointed out.
Tinnakorn Khamavichanurat, senior investigator at the corruption suppression bureau of the National Anti-Corruption Commission, said his agency was accelerating the setting up of NACC centres this year to receive more in-depth information about graft in each province.
The office aims to open 23 NACC centres this year on top of the existing nine and targets 77 new centres nationwide next year.
