Corruption is cancerous in Thailand

by Hans Bosch

When it comes to corruption, state Thailand second place in Asia, after the Philippines and together with Indonesia. A not too good result. Worldwide, the 'Land of Scams' ranks 84th out of 160, just above the African countries of Lesotho and Malawi.

Corruption is cancerous in Thailand and the problem is getting worse. It seems that every building and every transaction is hampered by the payment of 'tea money'. The Land Office and Customs Department in particular are formidable cashiers. From my own experience I know that upgrading a piece of land did not pose any problem after paying 5000 THB. Almost every company in Thailand can relate to this and on the various discussion forums you can find countless stories of people who had to pay more (extra) than the value of the package itself to receive a package from abroad.

Last week, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva put his finger on the sore spot, saying that corruption in Thailand is on the rise. According to him, this threatens the moral and ethical principles of society. The problem is that corruption starts at the top with greedy but powerful figures and then spreads like an oil slick downwards. Everyone's greed knows no bounds and the majority of the population in Thailand accepts corruption as inevitable, and sometimes very useful if you want to get something done quickly. Large amounts are involved in projects such as the Sky Train, fire trucks and the new airport. Thailand's National Anti-Corruption Commission has seen no improvement in this abuse over the past five years, nor has the World Bank. The fear is now that corruption will only increase as a result of the poor economic outlook. Macro-economically, Thailand is growing like a cabbage, but the ordinary citizen notices little or nothing of this.

Occasionally a powerful figure is caught, presumably because he has not paid (sufficiently) to other parties involved in the corruption. However, that happens little by little. The common people are more likely to deal with police officers who want to improve their living conditions somewhat. Please note: an ordinary agent starts with 6000 THB, currently 150 euros per month. His captain goes home with 12.000 THB, not enough to feed the mouths of his wife and children. A major general in the police touches 42.000 THB and a general 60.000. However, the policeman has to buy his gun and handcuffs himself, as well as his motorcycle. These days you can do that on credit… Until then, he has to make do with his son's toy gun.

'funding outside the system' has been created by the ex-prime minister Thaksin who has fled. That means nothing other than that every agency has its own ways of bringing in extra money, even to pay for the petrol of official cars and mopeds. The police apparatus is therefore more of a commercial company than an institution that has to enforce the law. To meet Uncle Agent's basic needs, pretty much anything is allowed. And if you want to move up in the hierarchy, that also comes with a price tag.

This state of affairs can hardly be blamed on the individual agent. He has to deal with an ancient system that he has to adapt to, under penalty of leaving. A fundamental cleaning of the entire device is an absolute necessity, with harsh rules and penalties. This was eventually also achieved in Hong Kong and Singapore. However, whether it will ever come to that in Thailand is highly questionable.