Prawit, govt cronies top ACT corruption watch list

[webfact]

Prawit, govt cronies top ACT corruption watch list

By The Nation

 

File photo

 

DEPUTY PM’S ASSETS AND HAWAII TRIP ARE CONCERNS, FOLLOWED BY PHUKET BRIBES

POTENTIAL CORRUPTION by government cronies is on top of the watch list released by the Anti-Corruption of Thailand (ACT) group yesterday.

 

As part of its “Top 10 issues to watch”, the ACT listed a number of concerns about the activities of people connected to the government. These included the alleged faulty declaration of assets, especially in regards to Deputy Prime Minister General Prawit Wongsuwan’s possession of luxurious watches and diamond rings.

 

Other issues included Prawit’s trip to Hawaii last year and the Interior Ministry’s endorsement of the use of public land in Khon Kaen by a private beverage company. Those issues, the organisation said, lacked clarification from concerned agencies and needed further explanation.

 

Second on the organisation’s watch list was “tea money” and other bribery in Phuket, especially concerning immigration.

 

Bribery related to temples was the third item on the list. The ACT said the issue had greatly affected people’s feelings as it concerned famed temples and monks around the country, yet the investigation seemed to be going nowhere.

 

An alleged bribery scandal concerning aircraft purchases involving Thai Airways International (THAI) and British engine-maker Rolls-Royce was ranked fourth on the watch list, followed by the PTT palm oil investment scandal which has caused the loss of over Bt20 billion of investment in Indonesia.

 

Police ‘most corrupt’

 

The other corruption-related issues on the watch list were: Police reforms; unfair legal treatment that allowed politicians to flee the country; the new National Anti Corruption Commission (NACC) bill; Article 63 under the new charter, which is supposed to support people to help in anti-corruption work; and other anti-corruption related laws, including the public information bill.

 

The organisation said the Royal Thai Police was the agency most often accused of being corrupt and, as such, people expected reform in this area.

 

Unfair legal treatment has allowed a number of politicians and influential figures to elude justice, ACT said. It added that there awere questions or roadblocks concerning anti-corruption, including the NACC law and Article 63.

 

The organisation urged the public to help it monitor any progress related to all of the 10 issues.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/politics/30334924

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2017-12-28

[Dexlowe]

Not a criticism, just a query. I'd like to know whether the ACT report gets into the details of each allegation, spelling out point-by-point why it is making each one. Or is it just mimicking the same broad accusations as everyone else. The people at ACT are quite brave in my opinion, but the devil is in the details, so to speak. 

[Nip]

3 hours ago, Dexlowe said:

Not a criticism, just a query. I'd like to know whether the ACT report gets into the details of each allegation, spelling out point-by-point why it is making each one. Or is it just mimicking the same broad accusations as everyone else. The people at ACT are quite brave in my opinion, but the devil is in the details, so to speak. 

Every now and then ACT raises it's head and every now and then it disappears as quickly as it appeared. Nothing to chew on here folks. Don't waste your time as many including I have done in the past. Oh the Crime Buster also raises his head once in a while. Phuket will never change as long as those investigating the police are the police. 

[Laughing Gravy]

So those that comment on eroding corruption are those who are corrupt. Well I never.

I imagine that I will see pigs fly before any change, as I have given up hope.

[klauskunkel]

4 hours ago, webfact said:

Prawit, govt cronies top ACT corruption watch list

Is this ^^ an intended pun?

[klauskunkel]

4 hours ago, webfact said:

The organisation said the Royal Thai Police was the agency most often accused of being corrupt and, as such, people expected reform in this area.

The reform of the RTP  is finished, it's focus was the yearly reshuffle of inactive posts. 

[wakeupplease]

4 hours ago, webfact said:

Police ‘most corrupt’

Um ah Um what is this I read, could it be true?

 

We know it is so what?

[Eric Loh]

5 hours ago, webfact said:

Police ‘most corrupt’

Sure they are most corrupt in terms of numbers but surely the military win hands down that distinction in terms of value. Those big military procurement and contracts must be very lucrative to enable most generals to have big bank accounts and expensive jewelries.  

[chainarong]

Seems like everyone is watching, nothing will change in Thailand with the entrenchment of  the Military and whilst the status quo remains,  the cream off the top is too enticing to resist , the present structure of the establishment , starting from the very top down, at the cost of repeating myself for at least 3 decades, needs an overhaul , the ones leading and interfering in politics' should  be out protecting the country and the very top should be doing what the head of state does in the UK..........................

[realfunster]

I’d forgetten about the jolly to Hawaii, surely with that and the watches Prawit has to go ?

[Srikcir]

10 hours ago, Dexlowe said:

The people at ACT are quite brave in my opinion, but the devil is in the details, so to speak. 

No.

The devil is in the Computer Crimes Act, Defamation Laws and extra-judicial acts by the NCPO under Article 44 of the Interim Charter that are intended to quiet complaints against the junta and the junta-led government.

That said, even raising "concerns" without details might on any day bring retaliation as potentially damaging the reputation of the country and/or causing "confusion" among the population. So yes, ACT members are brave.

[Chris Lawrence]

11 hours ago, webfact said:

As part of its “Top 10 issues to watch”,

Is the watch!

[Chris Lawrence]

They also need to audit Temples after big celebration days. Independent Auditors.

[Chris Lawrence]

Do some research into the NACC. What is their success rate since 1991? How many big fish have been caught? So what are these guys going to do? They want their jobs, so they will put their hands under their backside and sit on them until they are directed.

[fakename]

Corruption Watch List! Good name! How many watches does it take to make a corruption watch list!

[Eric Loh]

3 hours ago, Chris Lawrence said:

Do some research into the NACC. What is their success rate since 1991? How many big fish have been caught? So what are these guys going to do? They want their jobs, so they will put their hands under their backside and sit on them until they are directed.

• Thirteen years after the Thai military and police spent millions on bogus GT200 "bomb detectors", the NACC investigation is "on-going".^[14]According to the Bangkok Post, "Because it was so thoroughly and risibly cheated, the army has never allowed a full accounting of the cost, in baht and in human lives. Rough estimates put the economic cost at around 500 million baht."^[16]

• Preecha Chan-o-cha, brother of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, appointed his son to a military officer's post in September 2016. A filed complaint charged nepotism. Prayut declared there was nothing wrong with the appointment, and the NACC dropped the case a month the complaint was filed. Since 2014 and the military takeover, activists have accused the regime of nepotism and misconduct. The NACC has dismissed all the cases citing lack of evidence. Cases dismissed by the NACC include allegations that the billion baht Rajabhakti Park complex was fouled by corruption and inexplicable expenses.^[14]

• The NACC's most visible recent investigation stems from a 2013 corruption complaint against former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra over her government's bankrupt rice subsidy program. Within months the commission announced it had enough evidence to try Yingluck for failing to stop widespread corruption in the program. Her trial is on-going.^[14]

• In 2011, London-based liquor conglomerate Diageo PLC, agreed to pay the US Securities and Exchange Commission more than US$16 million (561 million baht) to settle Foreign Corrupt Practices Act offences involving bribes to foreign officials in Thailand and two other countries between 2003 and 2009. In Thailand, Diageo paid US$12,000 per month from 2004-2008 to a Thai government and political party official for "consulting" services which helped it win favourable decisions from the Thai government.^[17]Since 2011, according to former NACC commissioner, Medhi Krongkaew, NACC's probe into the Thai governmental malfeasance has "barely progressed".^[18]

• Aircraft engine-maker Rolls-Royce has admitted to British authorities it paid bribes three times in Thailand over the course of 15 years: US$18.8 million from June 1991 to June 1992, US$10.38 million from March 1992 to March 1997 and US$7.2 million from April 2004 to February 2005. Altogether the payouts amounted to be worth just over one billion baht.^[19] The NACC, investigating the case, has been accused of mishandling it, with no bribe-takers identified nearly two weeks after the British firm's 17 January admission to a UK court^[20] that it had bribed Thai Airways and Thai government officials to win engine orders.^[21] In a separate but related US action against Rolls-Royce, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) claimed that Rolls Royce had paid more than US$11 million in commissions,^{[22]:4, 6, 9-12} aware that some of the funds would be used to bribe officials at Thai energy company PTT and its subsidiary PTT Exploration and Production (PTTEP). The payments were made from 2003-2013 and related to contracts for equipment and after-market products and services.^[23] Admitting its guilt, Rolls-Royce paid US$170 million to settle the case.^[24] PTT vowed to investigate. Subsequently, PTT Chairman and CEO Tevin Vongvanich said that the company was unable to find anyone who "allegedly took bribes".^[25] The Bangkok Post has characterised NCAA's actions in the Rolls-Royce case "timorous and ineffective".^[25]

• When the NACC revealed the asset declarations of new NLA members, it was disclosed that Bangkok police chief Police Lieutenant General Sanit Mahathavorn has received monthly payments of 50,000 baht since 2015 from alcohol conglomerate Thai Beverage PLC (ThaiBev) as an adviser to the firm.^[26] Sanit also serves as a member of the city's alcohol control committee, raising conflict of interest issues. Calls for him to step down from his police post were immediate.^[27] In January 2017 a Royal Thai Police investigation confirmed that Sanit is not violating police rules by holding an advisory role with a major alcohol conglomerate.^[28]On 1 March 2017, more than two months after the original allegations were made, both Sanit and ThaiBev denied that he was ever employed by ThaiBev and that the report was due to clerical error.^[29] Just two weeks after Sanit's denial that he was on ThaiBev's payroll, Thailand's Office of the Ombudsman said that it had obtained his original financial disclosure document certified with his signature. It now appears that there were two versions of Sanit's financial disclosure form, one listing ThaiBev payments and one with no mention of ThaiBev. Unexplained is how the ThaiBev salary did not appear on the version of Sanit's financial disclosure statement posted online by the NACC.^[30] In mid-March the Office of the Ombudsman, which had accepted a petition to investigate the case, announced that there is not enough evidence for it to consider and the matter is closed.^[31]

 

Courtesy of Wiki. Just a selective small samples for your reading pleasure. 

[brucec64]

• Thirteen years after the Thai military and police spent millions on bogus GT200 "bomb detectors", the NACC investigation is "on-going".^[14]According to the Bangkok Post, "Because it was so thoroughly and risibly cheated, the army has never allowed a full accounting of the cost, in baht and in human lives. Rough estimates put the economic cost at around 500 million baht."^[16]

• Preecha Chan-o-cha, brother of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, appointed his son to a military officer's post in September 2016. A filed complaint charged nepotism. Prayut declared there was nothing wrong with the appointment, and the NACC dropped the case a month the complaint was filed. Since 2014 and the military takeover, activists have accused the regime of nepotism and misconduct. The NACC has dismissed all the cases citing lack of evidence. Cases dismissed by the NACC include allegations that the billion baht Rajabhakti Park complex was fouled by corruption and inexplicable expenses.^[14]

• The NACC's most visible recent investigation stems from a 2013 corruption complaint against former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra over her government's bankrupt rice subsidy program. Within months the commission announced it had enough evidence to try Yingluck for failing to stop widespread corruption in the program. Her trial is on-going.^[14]

• In 2011, London-based liquor conglomerate Diageo PLC, agreed to pay the US Securities and Exchange Commission more than US$16 million (561 million baht) to settle Foreign Corrupt Practices Act offences involving bribes to foreign officials in Thailand and two other countries between 2003 and 2009. In Thailand, Diageo paid US$12,000 per month from 2004-2008 to a Thai government and political party official for "consulting" services which helped it win favourable decisions from the Thai government.^[17]Since 2011, according to former NACC commissioner, Medhi Krongkaew, NACC's probe into the Thai governmental malfeasance has "barely progressed".^[18]

• Aircraft engine-maker Rolls-Royce has admitted to British authorities it paid bribes three times in Thailand over the course of 15 years: US$18.8 million from June 1991 to June 1992, US$10.38 million from March 1992 to March 1997 and US$7.2 million from April 2004 to February 2005. Altogether the payouts amounted to be worth just over one billion baht.^[19] The NACC, investigating the case, has been accused of mishandling it, with no bribe-takers identified nearly two weeks after the British firm's 17 January admission to a UK court^[20] that it had bribed Thai Airways and Thai government officials to win engine orders.^[21] In a separate but related US action against Rolls-Royce, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) claimed that Rolls Royce had paid more than US$11 million in commissions,^{[22]:4, 6, 9-12} aware that some of the funds would be used to bribe officials at Thai energy company PTT and its subsidiary PTT Exploration and Production (PTTEP). The payments were made from 2003-2013 and related to contracts for equipment and after-market products and services.^[23] Admitting its guilt, Rolls-Royce paid US$170 million to settle the case.^[24] PTT vowed to investigate. Subsequently, PTT Chairman and CEO Tevin Vongvanich said that the company was unable to find anyone who "allegedly took bribes".^[25] The Bangkok Post has characterised NCAA's actions in the Rolls-Royce case "timorous and ineffective".^[25]

• When the NACC revealed the asset declarations of new NLA members, it was disclosed that Bangkok police chief Police Lieutenant General Sanit Mahathavorn has received monthly payments of 50,000 baht since 2015 from alcohol conglomerate Thai Beverage PLC (ThaiBev) as an adviser to the firm.^[26] Sanit also serves as a member of the city's alcohol control committee, raising conflict of interest issues. Calls for him to step down from his police post were immediate.^[27] In January 2017 a Royal Thai Police investigation confirmed that Sanit is not violating police rules by holding an advisory role with a major alcohol conglomerate.^[28]On 1 March 2017, more than two months after the original allegations were made, both Sanit and ThaiBev denied that he was ever employed by ThaiBev and that the report was due to clerical error.^[29] Just two weeks after Sanit's denial that he was on ThaiBev's payroll, Thailand's Office of the Ombudsman said that it had obtained his original financial disclosure document certified with his signature. It now appears that there were two versions of Sanit's financial disclosure form, one listing ThaiBev payments and one with no mention of ThaiBev. Unexplained is how the ThaiBev salary did not appear on the version of Sanit's financial disclosure statement posted online by the NACC.^[30] In mid-March the Office of the Ombudsman, which had accepted a petition to investigate the case, announced that there is not enough evidence for it to consider and the matter is closed.^[31]

 

Courtesy of Wiki. Just a selective small samples for your reading pleasure. 

Excellent, informative post. Steven100, any rebuttals? Or should ACT just leave Thailand instead of whinging all the time?

Sent from my SM-N950U1 using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[Nip]

7 hours ago, Chris Lawrence said:

Do some research into the NACC. What is their success rate since 1991? How many big fish have been caught? So what are these guys going to do? They want their jobs, so they will put their hands under their backside and sit on them until they are directed.

NACC and PACC and AMLO and Ministry for Justice indeed every single Ministry and Government body is run by? Yes you gueesed it. The Royal Thai Police so nothing is going to change. Also you will find policemen heading Thai charities. Where there is muck there are police.

[Chris Lawrence]

Wait to China is fully onboard. 'Move on nothing to see here'