Acknowledgement of the truth needed
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How is it possible to regulate an almost entirely corrupt business environment? It isn't possible without a fundamental acknowledgement of the truth.
Do the Thai regulators work on the assumption that everything within the corporate system is corrupt? Of course they don’t, but they should.
Is there a regulatory framework in Thailand that has been specifically designed for public limited companies operating in a corrupt environment? Experience suggests not.
And therein lies the rub.
If the Thai regulators simply choose to rely on standard auditing procedures (those designed for companies deemed to operate in accordance with common ethical laws) then they offer corrupt corporations “a free hand” in the creative corruption process.
This creates a two-tier system – one to make life straightforward for the crooks and the other for the “easy-going” stewardship of the regulators. In turn, this “spins” a totally false picture (for the likes of foreign investors) of what is going on in Thailand.
If the regulators themselves are not in compliance with their environment, they are colluding with the criminals by design, thereby destroying the economic structures and the sustainability of the Thai image in the long term.
A test case (which may be looming) is necessary to shake things up. The current uncreative regulatory structure is in urgent need of an up-to-date “corporate sustainability framework” that can be run in parallel with more traditional “policing” methods focusing on accountancy auditing.
Creative corruption should be challenged with creative regulation and law enforcement.
John Shepherd
