“Why did the CPI decline, contrary to the achievement of the work in preventing corruption?”

Countries with a high CPI mean they are more transparent, and lower rate of corruption. If a country has a low CPI, it means that the country is less transparent, and has high corruption. On January 30, 2024, Transparency International released the results of the Corruption Perception Index (CPI) for the year 2023. It revealed that Thailand received a Corruption Perception Index (CPI) scored 35 points, ranked 108th of 180 countries of the world, and ranked 4th among 10 ASEAN member countries.

In the meantime, agencies involved in anti-corruption corruption in Thailand have mobilized all their powers to prevent and suppress corruption, strengthening the country’s image to zero corruption, while also creating transparency in promoting trade and investment among foreign countries. This is in particular the Office of the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC), a core agency responsible for the prevention and suppression of corruption, which is working to its fullest capacity in preventing and suppressing corruption in all dimensions. It also provides various anti-corruption recommendations and measures to the government. All of these are the result of the intention of the officials to the goal of a corruption-free Thailand and to have higher CPI score among other countries.

An example of the anti-corruption work of the NACC under the supervision of NACC Secretary-general Niwatchai Kasemmongkol is “Two- years of operations of the Corruption Deterrence Center or CDC Center” with the aim of vigilance, evaluation, and investigation of the corruption-related issues as aligned with the policy to prevent and suppress corruption, focusing on effective preventive measures to reduce corruptions and number of cases under the suppression system throughout the past two years.

The Corruption Deterrence Center (CDC) reported the performance of its operations and identified 1,553 cases of corruption. Of these, the NACC takes corresponding actions at different stages:

• 985 cases have been verified, monitored, and forwarded to the responsible agencies for action.
• 339 cases have been resolved by the responsible agencies.
• 169 cases are in the preparation stage before initial data verification.
• 60 cases have been verified and confirmed as incidents of corruption, and officially recorded in the PESCA (Preliminary Examination System on Corruption Accusation).

Among those cases, the issues related to corruption reported to the CDC are categorized into:

• 1,151 cases requesting scrutiny of procurement and construction processes in public utility projects.
• 223 cases involving misconduct or neglect of duty, potentially leading to misunderstandings about the individual's role or power for personal or others' illegitimate gains.
• 130 cases requesting scrutiny of state officials concerning the misuse of public resources for personal or others' illegitimate gains.
• 47 cases where state officials have solicited, accepted, or received assets or other benefits.
• 2 cases where state officials were unusually wealth.

When focusing on the budget of projects that the CDC has scrutinized, the cumulative budgetary value exceeds Baht146. 65 billion. (* calculated from the budget of the project being inspected, not the amount of corruption). If no CDC center comes to monitor and investigate corruption, if calculated only 10 percent of Baht 146.65 billion of 1,553 corruption cases, how much detrimental damage will our country have?

Although many countries, including some investors, do not attach much importance to the CPI score, the CPI score target has been set in Thailand’s master plan under the national strategy on the (21) issue of anti-corruption and misconduct (2018 – 2037) and set indicators The “Thailand Corruption Perception Index” is required to score more than 50. 

Over the past several years, the corruption situation in Thailand has considerably improved, but the CPI score has not improved as much as it should be. Hence, the NACC called for Transparency International to disclose the source of the survey or database that is evaluated to ensure transparency, while also providing recommendations from a survey agency so that the country in the survey can resolve the problem right to the point.

Nonetheless, regardless of the CPI scores, the most important achievement in anti-corruption is the collaboration among the government, public and private sectors. The government sector works transparently, while citizens help in monitoring and whistleblowing, and the private sector is united in anti-corruption. The goal of zero-corruption in Thailand can be achieved if all sectors are steadfast in zero tolerance for corruption.
                
Source: https://www.nacc.go.th/categorydetail/20180831184638361/20240215102232?    

*This press release translation is funded by National Anti-Corruption Fund (NACF).

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