Nation would be in ruins without takeover: Vicha
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National Anti-Corruption Commission member Vicha Mahakun yesterday defended the May 22 coup, saying Thailand would be in ruins now if not for the military takeover.
Vicha claimed that there were news reports stating that foreign mercenaries had been dispatched to Thailand before the coup and many sectors in society could be bought with money.
He made the remarks during a lecture on the use of religion in combating corruption, with a call for local leaders including religious leaders to promote honesty in society.
He said corruption was the greatest impediment to national development and it required a synergy between religious leaders to confront and reduce it.
Anti-corruption work could not be the responsibility of the NACC alone. People’s thinking needed to be changed and all sectors including the religious sector must be mobilised to oppose it.
The commissioner said some Thais sold their land to foreigners, just like some Burmese in Mandalay sold property to Chinese investors to make money and relocate elsewhere.
In Thailand, Vicha said, some people encroached on public land in national parks and obtained fake land title deeds and then sold them to foreigners.
He said the illegal practice occurred in Phuket, Samui and Pattaya.
Foreigners owned land in these areas and people felt awkward talking about it.
“We can’t lose even a single square inch [of Thailand],” he said.
Vicha said corruption was a “sin” which affected everyone, no matter their status, and the corrupt should be “cursed every day and night”.
He said collecting inheritance tax was a good start in addressing the country’s inequality problem and Japan had been doing this since that country’s Edo era (1603 to 1868).
