Not enough being done to fight graft, says UNDP as it calls on Thai lawmakers to participate

By The Nation

 

Meyer

 

Renaud Meyer, resident chief of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), is calling on all Thai lawmakers to help fight corruption. Praising Thailand’s efforts so far, he noted that some issues need to be addressed since certain influential figures and groups with vested interests still pose obstacles when it comes to building a less-corrupt society. 

 

Meyer made this comment during a regional conference on Monday (September 9) on the result of anti-corruption efforts over the past five years. 

 

The Anti-Corruption Organisation of Thailand (ACT) collaborated with UNDP and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes (UNODC) to hold a two-day regional forum under the topic, "Increasing Transparency and Integrity in Public Procurement in the Context of the SDGs”, which kicked off on September 9. 

 

Mana Nimitmongkol, ACT’s secretary-general, agreed with Meyer and told The Nation that Thai politicians have yet to actively participate in the fight against graft. In fact, he said, very few political parties had the battle against corruption on their agenda when campaigning for votes during the March election. 

 

The organisation also reported the result of five experiments in Thailand using integrity pact (IP) and Construction Sector Transparency Initiative (CoST) – tools that are used globally to detect corruption – and claimed that these tools helped save about Bt100 billion in government budget. The tools help monitor suspicious behaviour and enable people to actively prevent corruption in government agencies. 

 

Yanee Sangsrichun, adviser to the Fiscal and Financial System Development at the Comptroller General’s Department, said the government was cooperating with civil organisations and has adopted IP for procurement projects that are worth more than Bt1 billion and CoST for projects worth less than Bt1 billion. These tools have been implemented since 2015.

 

She said, so far, the country has saved Bt83.1 billion, of which IP projects have contributed Bt74.8 billion and CoST Bt8.3 billion. 

 

Vichai Assarasakorn, vice chairman of ACT, which has helped improve and develop IP and CoST, said the aim is not just about cutting down on procurement costs. It is a social collaboration between the government and the private sector as well as civil society, he said, adding that public participation in government procurement projects bring good governance. He said savings from this system is expected to hit Bt142.8 billion by the end of this year.

 

Mana, however, put the corruption to inconsistent government policies. 

 

“The government and its agencies do what they want to do. For instance, public-private partnership [PPP] projects or large concessions such as duty-free licensing, are not under the IP initiative,” he said. 

 

He also noted that influential figures or groups with vested interests were still able to make deals that have irregularities. 

 

“In order to substantially eliminate corruption, all large public procurement projects should come under IP scrutiny,” he added.

 

Source: https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30375998

 

-- © Copyright The Nation Thailand 2019-09-10

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6 minutes ago, webfact said:

He also noted that influential figures or groups with vested interests were still able to make deals that have irregularities. 

It's got to start from the top down, not just from 94% down !

1 hour ago, webfact said:

Not enough being done to fight graft, says UNDP as it calls on Thai lawmakers to participate

are you kidding 

Thanks for telling us what we have known for the last 30 years.  Rule #1 in doing business in Thailand:  avoid Thai officialdom.  Service Thailand from the outside through trusted, Thai agents.

 

Thailand has a good, patient workforce, but government regulations and corruption spoil it. 

4 hours ago, webfact said:

Not enough being done to fight graft, says UNDP as it calls on Thai lawmakers to participate

No point in calling for help from the lawmakers. In Thailand it is the lawmakers who make the laws to make money for themselves and their friends, aka "certain influential figures". 

Nothing will change in the Land of the Never Ending Coups.

5 hours ago, webfact said:

it calls on Thai lawmakers to participate

Lawmakers the most corrupted people of the population.

5 hours ago, webfact said:

Not enough being done to fight graft, says UNDP as it calls on Thai lawmakers to participate

How can you fight graft when the elite are at the top of the list and protected from every angle?

5 hours ago, webfact said:

Not enough being done to fight graft, says UNDP as it calls on Thai lawmakers to participate

They have no clue what they are talking about, the lawmakers are already participating. They are at the front of the trough serving themself first.

Is this some kind of joke? Does this paper pushing UN bureaucrat actually think his little report will change things. Corruption starts at the VERY top and is so entrenched in the Thai mentality.

1 minute ago, phkauf said:

Is this some kind of joke? Does this paper pushing UN bureaucrat actually think his little report will change things. Corruption starts at the VERY top and is so entrenched in the Thai mentality.

Corruption is taught at schools. It happens subconsciously while students witness directors and teachers cheat the funding system and steal their scholarship funds and extort money from parents for school admissions and graduation results. Corruption is an accepted way of life.

Praising Thailand’s efforts so far.

 

Is he up to the job if he was he would be saying all swamps full to overflowing????

6 hours ago, webfact said:

Praising Thailand’s efforts so far, he noted that some issues need to be addressed since certain influential figures and groups with vested interests still pose obstacles when it comes to building a less-corrupt society. 

Is he referring to the last couple days of the newly elected House?

Because otherwise:

• did he miss the use of absolute power by the military junta for five years to override anti-corruption laws, reject an elected House and encourage a society to accept corruption as a way of life (ie., through loyalty, patronage, "gifts," government nepotism)?
• did he miss a junta-written constitution, junta-appointed pro-military Senate and pro-military Election Commission that assure survival of the junta's government infrastructure matrix for at least to 2032?
• did he miss the junta laws that limited a free and open election in 2019 while the junta itself ignored those laws for its own election advantage?
• did he miss that the Army's Internal Security Operations Command is politically embedded throughout all levels of local civil government to assure compliance with the junta's National Strategic Plan?
• etc.

Really the only thing he can praise is that the current government hasn't been caught directly by the Public or by whistleblowers for outright corruption. Give it a year and see if the military's "pavlovian conditioning" has succeeded in the new government.

Maybe he should call on someone to fight the corruption. cronyism and political correctness that infests the UN?

 

The UN - the world's biggest ineffective, inefficient, talking shop employing and overpaying highly qualified pontificaters to achieve little and then blame anyone but themselves!

6 hours ago, Borzandy said:

Lawmakers the most corrupted people of the population.

Yes just look at the lawyer in the Bexit fiasco,but they won't be there come the next general election . People have been awakened by their orquwardness and self interests. 

Thai lawmakers already participate.....to the full.

A shamless Nation lacking integrity and responsibility  ...how could anything possibly go wrong

Not enough being done to stop graft.... Has he looked in his mirror lately?

We’re about to have an extension built... been told the land department want 40-50k to approve the plans !!!! 

 

Graft is inherent in every facet of society such that it has become the norm.