Real action needed in war on corruption

A few days ago, Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha did what virtually all his predecessors had done, kick-starting an anti-corruption agenda. In his opening address at a government-sponsored forum, he said what virtually all his predecessors had said – about how graft was destroying every facet of society and hence how urgent and serious the problem was. His action simply has confirmed the state Thailand is in – everyone knows corruption is a big and dangerous problem and everyone knows how we have come to this point, but that’s just about it.

Thailand’s corruption problem is more about what’s next than why it has come about or how serious it is. Solutions can never be found unless rhetoric becomes true action and something is ingrained in the national psyche. Here is how Thailand can fight graft:

Teach the children that a Bt10 fraud is no different from a Bt100 fraud. Tell them that if they are punished for a Bt10 fraud while others get away with a Bt100 fraud, they must blame themselves, and it’s by no means “injustice”. Thailand’s problem stems from the others-are-doing-it mentality, and the tendency to politicise corruption claims. Corruption is corruption, period. For too long in Thailand when we, or our people, are doing it, it’s “necessity”, but when others are doing it, it’s evil.

We must restructure our parliamentary and executive systems completely, making them truly independent of each other, and stop using parliamentary censure to determine the future of allegedly corrupt ministers. Parliamentary censure can still be used to “expose” alleged wrongdoings, but somebody else should rule if a Cabinet member is “guilty”, and the ruling and punishment must be based on the “Bt10 fraud is a fraud” principle.

Have a corruption court. Put all cases on national shows. Broadcast them live. We have plenty of TV channels, don’t we? Of course, they must proceed on the “Bt10 fraud is a fraud” principle. Defendants must defend themselves on grounds they didn’t do it, not “What about the others who are more corrupt?”

Empower the anti-graft officers fully, but create a checks-and-balances system that also makes them accountable to the “Bt10 fraud is a fraud” principle. Give public access to their work, which will enable the increasingly active social media to scrutinise the evidence. A system to protect the whistle-blowers must be in place.

The criminalisation and punishment, of course, will have politicians and bureaucrats as the main targets. What about the private sector or society as a whole? Awareness building must be continuous and serious and must concentrate on the young generation. Make corruption and conflict of interest intense subjects in the curriculums. Never think the issue is irrelevant. Doctors can be corrupt, so can engineers, journalists, athletes, business managers and etc.

Thailand must detach corruption from everything else. This is probably the hardest thing to do, but it’s also probably why corruption is so hard to tackle in this country. What if a salesman who embezzled millions of baht has just saved a girl from drowning? If such a question plays a role in a corruption trial, similar questions will emerge in all corruption cases, not least the politically related ones. The principle here is that while the salesman’s massive embezzlement is not known to have killed anyone, it doesn’t mean it has not. The millions of baht involve many lives, and the effects of the fraud can be long-term and largely unknown. 

Corruption loves rhetoric and hypocrisy. In other words, it hates action and no-nonsense straightforwardness. And it’s waiting to see what Thailand will do next.