Media, 'idleness' blamed for lack of progress on graft

Democrat MP Warong Dechgitvigrom, who has been a key person digging up irregularities in the government’s rice-pledging scheme, said it was the media, free TV and newspapers that were not performing their duties as they were supposed to.

The media used to provide investigative reports. When a corruption case was exposed, they would follow and report more angles in the following days. Columnists would also give critical commentary to stimulate social sentiment and actions. However, what happens nowadays is reporting day-to-day news and that is all, he said.

Warong raised the example of the Democrats coming under heavy fire in the case of rotten canned fish found in relief kits distributed by the Abhisit Vejjajiva government. Witoon Nambutr was forced to resign as social development and human security minister. If the media did the same for the rice-pledging scheme, this government would not have survived this long, Warong said.

Some interests, possibly in the form of advertising, are keeping the media silent, he said.

Pheu Thai MP Kokaew Pikulthong said the public does not condone corruption but accepts it because attempts to eradicate graft had failed. Some then changed their mind to accept corruption as long as they also gained something.

“I don’t mean that that thinking is right. But people have no choice. No matter who becomes the government, from political parties or from the military, corruption is there,” he said.

Vicha Mahakhun, a member of the National Anti-Corruption Commission, said “idle Thais” are pervasive. They do not want to fight, fearing they will get in trouble.

 

Patronage system

“It’s the patronage system that we’re accustomed to. When we need something, we go to the authorities or people who have more power than us. This promotes corruption as a way of life,” he said.

The rice-pledging scheme is a good example of Thais’ idleness, he said. Thailand is an agriculture country, over a million people benefit from the scheme and no one wants to risk being.

While the NACC is in charge of anti-corruption work, the agency had become a byword for slowness. “NACC” stands for “National Anti-Corruption Constipatedly”, he said, citing the lengthy legal and procedural requirements hindering the agency’s work.

Many pollsters regularly conduct surveys on people’s opinions on corruption. Sukhum Chaloeysub from Suan Dusit Poll said Thais might not join in fighting corruption as they believe they can benefit from it, they see legal loopholes or claim the need to cheat because, for example, they have debts to pay. Some also imitated fraudsters as they see cheating people getting way unpunished.

Ten years ago, people were still afraid to cheat as they believed in karma. Many attempts to fight corruption do not seem to be taken seriously, he said.

Sing Singkachorn of Bansomdej Poll said there was a gloomy trend for more and more Thais to accept corruption. He hopes research institutes in collaboration with the media would help draw people to see the vicious consequences and help solve the problem.

Pramon Sutivong from the Anti-Corruption Organisation of Thailand, which includes a network of companies joining its campaign, said movements to stop corruption have not achieved the anticipated results. 

The government is ignoring the problem, companies still cooperate with cheaters as they would also benefit from the fraud, government officials still pay to get promoted and the public then lacks an anti-graft conscience, Pramon said.

The media lack guts to dig in and expose corruption, he said.

Pramon said there is no magic bullet to create immediate change, but there has been a good sign in that more people and organisations have come to join his network in the past few years.

“Nothing is certain. Some exposed issues might be completely ignored. But some issues might create changes within one to two months,” he said.