Charge corrupt officials but without bias: poll

By The Nation

 

 

BANGKOK: -- Most people have been paying attention to the recent legal prosecutions against allegedly corrupt people and want justice to be done without political bias, a Suan Dusit Poll released on Sunday has found.

 

Of 1,219 people nationwide, 67 per cent thought that prosecution for corruption must be applied equally to everyone, and 56 per cent said that politicians and state powers should not interfere in the justice process.

 

Around 54 per cent said that recent cases have drawn public attention because many defendants were public figures, and almost 52 per cent said that the cases are a warning to future politicians not to participate in graft.

 

The poll, entitled “What do people think about recent prominent cases”, was conducted from August 29 to September 2.

 

The issuance of an arrest warrant against fugitive former PM Yingluck Shinawatra particularly caught the attention of most of those surveyed, at 84 per cent. 

 

Almost 71 per cent were aware of the imprisonment of TV personality Sorayuth Suthassanachinda, almost 70 per cent had followed the 42-year jail sentence for ex-commerce minister Boongsong Teriyapirom and more than 54 per cent had paid attention to the 36-year imprisonment of Boonsong’s ex-deputy, Poom Sarapol.

 

Poom and Boonsong were sentenced on August 25 for faking a government-to-government rice deal as part of Yingluck’s rice-pledging scheme.

 

Asked how these cases reflect Thai society, 64 per cent said that Thai politics are doomed and should be heavily reformed, 60 per cent said that corruption occurs in every circle, 57 per cent said that corruption laws should be reinforced so that there are no loopholes, 47 per cent said that authority had been wrongly exercised and 44 per cent see political polarisation continuing.

 

Asked what they learnt from these prosecutions, almost 69 per cent said that the wrongdoings should be prosecuted, 62 per cent said that administration of government should be honest, and 59 per cent said that a corruption problems still exist in Thailand.

 

Around 54 per cent said that morality should be taught to younger generations and 49 per cent said that all sides should be urged to keep eyes open for possible corruption.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/politics/30325637

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2017-09-04

3 minutes ago, webfact said:

Asked how these cases reflect Thai society, 64 per cent said that Thai politics are doomed and should be heavily reformed, 60 per cent said that corruption occurs in every circle, 57 per cent said that corruption laws should be reinforced so that there are no loopholes, 47 per cent said that authority had been wrongly exercised and 44 per cent see political polarisation continuing.

 

Politics ARE a reflection of Thai society.

 

Speaks volumes...

2 hours ago, webfact said:

60 per cent said that corruption occurs in every circle,

I don't believe this at all. 100% of Thais I know say this. I guess the only ones that would say corruption doesn't exist would be the corrupt.

Corruption is everywhere here, everyday every government office , police station.

Sorry fact is Thai people accept it as the norm, if i want to get something done, i will have

to pay.No government office operates without corruption, the higher up the chain, the bigger the bribe, it is disgusting.

The people to blame are all the people who give money, they should refuse to be involved, but they dont.-

11 minutes ago, colinneil said:

Corruption is everywhere here, everyday every government office , police station.

Sorry fact is Thai people accept it as the norm, if i want to get something done, i will have

to pay.No government office operates without corruption, the higher up the chain, the bigger the bribe, it is disgusting.

The people to blame are all the people who give money, they should refuse to be involved, but scan tsthey dont.-

You start by saying that corruption is (essentially) everywhere and then finish by saying that people shouldn't pay.

 

An admirable sentiment but not practical as if "bribes" are asked for or expected then you pay or you get nothing done, regardless of the rights or wrongs of a situation. And if you do refuse to pay a bribe you'll oftentimes then find yourself with additional "problems".

 

Change will come from the top down, not the bottom up.

16 minutes ago, colinneil said:

Corruption is everywhere here, everyday every government office , police station.

Sorry fact is Thai people accept it as the norm, if i want to get something done, i will have

to pay.No government office operates without corruption, the higher up the chain, the bigger the bribe, it is disgusting.

The people to blame are all the people who give money, they should refuse to be involved, but they dont.-

I agree except for the last bit. As you say "if i want to get something done, i will have

to pay." If you don't pay it doesn't get done. Common excuse is "Oh, we can't find your papers. We'll look for them but we're very busy." Hand over some money. "We found your papers."

Start with the police.  Today's hidden cameras should enable everyone to expose these guardians of justice.  The only problem would be who do you report it to.  Facebook? You-tube?

What people want and what people get are rarely aligned.

a poll done last year said that around 70% of thais say graft/corruption is ok as long as they get a piece of it, this in itself says a lot on how many thais actually think. As long as the population have this attitude it will never stop, doesnt matter who is being corrupt they need to be arrested and jailed but here that rarely happens unless your poor of course. Also doesnt matter which side of politics you support when corruption is involved people need to come down on it, not support it because it was one of "theirs" that was involved.

Edited September 4, 20178 yr by seajae

Corruption starts with the government and works its way down Quiet Normal here Thailand has 250,000 strong police force Out of that 250,000 I would say 240,000 are corrupt

Actually, corruption is probably good for most of us "westerners" because we have more money than the average Thai so can afford to buy results. But most of us are disgusted by the corruption because we are more "educated/informed" about how bad it is for the country.  Until someone educates Thais on why it is bad for everyone, nothing will change.

Happyman 58, pushing the barrow a bit, how about 248,000.

They are trained by their bosses how to be successful

2 hours ago, Tatsujin said:

You start by saying that corruption is (essentially) everywhere and then finish by saying that people shouldn't pay.

 

An admirable sentiment but not practical as if "bribes" are asked for or expected then you pay or you get nothing done, regardless of the rights or wrongs of a situation. And if you do refuse to pay a bribe you'll oftentimes then find yourself with additional "problems".

 

Change will come from the top down, not the bottom up.

You say if you refuse to bribe, you get nothing done.

Well i disagree with that, when i went to change from 1 year license to 5 year license, i was told farang cannot get 5 year license.

After spending all day arguing , refusing to hand over money, i got out my phone, and infront of the man demanding money, i called 1111, 5 minutes later i walked out with 5 year license.

Before youi start having a go about me walking out with 5 year license, this was 1 month before my accident.

1 hour ago, colinneil said:

You say if you refuse to bribe, you get nothing done.

Well i disagree with that, when i went to change from 1 year license to 5 year license, i was told farang cannot get 5 year license.

After spending all day arguing , refusing to hand over money, i got out my phone, and infront of the man demanding money, i called 1111, 5 minutes later i walked out with 5 year license.

Before youi start having a go about me walking out with 5 year license, this was 1 month before my accident.

Hey Col i got invited on Thursday night to an event to open the new Tourist Police Station In Ubon You think i should go LOL?

2 hours ago, colinneil said:

You say if you refuse to bribe, you get nothing done.

Well i disagree with that, when i went to change from 1 year license to 5 year license, i was told farang cannot get 5 year license.

After spending all day arguing , refusing to hand over money, i got out my phone, and infront of the man demanding money, i called 1111, 5 minutes later i walked out with 5 year license.

Before youi start having a go about me walking out with 5 year license, this was 1 month before my accident.

I was generalizing as you know, but good that you stood up for your principles and achieved something. It doesn't always (usually) work out that way however.

How many Thai's are in positions they are not qualified or not capable of doing a good job, you have start at the bottom of a problem to get to the real corruption, maybe start with asking everyone to produce their qualifications and prove they are worthy of the job they are doing.

Edited September 4, 20178 yr by nev
Spell check.