Regulators are impotent by choice

Enron, Worldcom and Lehman Brothers all failed because there was unethical and illegal behaviour within the organisations. When corporate thinking becomes morally bankrupt, global bodies such as the securities and exchange commissions are in place to investigate and initiate corrective measures. Strong policing has recently been witnessed in the US, where famous corporations have faced massive fines.

Previously, Thai regulators have pointed to the lack of an effective legal framework with which to apprehend corporate wrongdoers and foreign businesses who knowingly flout and abuse Thai law and ignore human rights. There will never be a better moment for Thai regulators to leverage the current political environment, to hammer out new laws with the government that will grant them the tools they are asking for. 

But will any of this come about? Sadly, my own experiential observations indicate that the regulators are powerless because they choose to be so. 

John Shepherd