Photo courtesy of Thai PBS

 

Former Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai has challenged Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul to demonstrate that politicians can be both wealthy and uncorrupted. During a parliamentary debate on the government's policy statement, Chuan highlighted the commitment to eradicate corruption but criticized the lack of specific strategies for achieving this goal.

 

Chuan, once a leader in the Democrat Party, emphasized vote-buying in elections as a major corruption issue. He argued that politicians often turn to corrupt practices to recover costs spent on securing votes. According to Chuan, once in power, corrupt politicians typically appoint like-minded bureaucrats, further entrenching the cycle of corruption.

 

He noted that despite their wealth, politicians like Anutin, Paetongtarn Shinawatra, and Srettha Thavisin have all faced scrutiny. Chuan called out Anutin, whose family owns a substantial engineering firm, to set an example by being both affluent and untainted by corruption.

 

Key Takeaways

• Chuan Leekpai has challenged Anutin to prove that wealth and integrity can coexist in politics.
• The government's policy statement on fighting corruption lacks clear implementation details.
• Vote-buying is highlighted as a root cause of political corruption.

 

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  Adapted by ASEAN Now from Thai PBS 2025-10-01

 

 

10 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

According to Chuan, once in power, corrupt politicians typically appoint like-minded bureaucrats, further entrenching the cycle of corruption.

 

That's how the game works.....

You'd be hard pressed to find anyone that isn't corrupt in parliament. 

Good on him, talk like that is dangerous in Asia. Hope he's safe 

14 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

Former Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai has challenged Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul to demonstrate that politicians can be both wealthy and uncorrupted.

They can be, but rarely are.

59 minutes ago, hotchilli said:

They can be, but rarely are.

Why does the word contract come into mind here 

Chuan, an honest, likeable and modest guy, but not a great PM.

It could also be approached by publicly funded programmes in social media, TV and printed press addressing the issue with the voters. Explain them, what it means to sell their vote and for the 500 Baht they get they will have to pay a manyfold back. 

But that would result in a conflict of interest as those who should run the programmes are the same who benefit of getting bought into office - game over ..........

A mate of mine is the son of a Senator - was in power for 30 years located 2 hours from Bangkok. He was a minister for a brief while in the 90s, so a genuinely powerful man. He knew his old man was corrupt and understands how corrupt the entire system is. He hates it with a passion.

 

Ten years ago his old man popped his clogs and his son briefly considered running in his place. He pulled out after a couple of months of planning and testing the waters with his old man's cohorts. 

 

What he told me was that you can't run a campaign here without spelling out how you will pay (off) your team. They want to know what schemes you have, what they will generate and how much their cut will be. No young politician with good intentions can make headway here - DOA.

Let's face it, most (if not all) wealthy and powerful people in this part of the world became that way from corruption.

Former Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai should challenge Anutin on his corrupt Blue Party and its Senate money laundering scheme. Anutin is a slimy snake who only cares about power and money. Anutin makes Thaksin look like a saint. 

It's a shame that the honest and decent folks either don't make a good leader, or simply cannot get elected, or once elected are denied the leadership position. 

 

I think it's good that Anutin is being questioned, and I think the chances of a man in his position being honest are incredibly remote. That likely applies to anyone at the national level in nearly every country of the world these days. And that's a very sad truth. 

59 minutes ago, 2long said:

Let's face it, most (if not all) wealthy and powerful people in this part of the world became that way from corruption.

 

"This part of the world" being the surface.

10 hours ago, DualSportBiker said:

What he told me was that you can't run a campaign here without spelling out how you will pay (off) your team. They want to know what schemes you have, what they will generate and how much their cut will be. No young politician with good intentions can make headway here - DOA.

I think that very much depends on which party you want to join. 

13 hours ago, DualSportBiker said:

A mate of mine is the son of a Senator - was in power for 30 years located 2 hours from Bangkok. He was a minister for a brief while in the 90s, so a genuinely powerful man. He knew his old man was corrupt and understands how corrupt the entire system is. He hates it with a passion.

 

Ten years ago his old man popped his clogs and his son briefly considered running in his place. He pulled out after a couple of months of planning and testing the waters with his old man's cohorts. 

 

What he told me was that you can't run a campaign here without spelling out how you will pay (off) your team. They want to know what schemes you have, what they will generate and how much their cut will be. No young politician with good intentions can make headway here - DOA.

A Constituency MP certainly has to have other sources of income to supplement his/ her income.

This is because apart from paying his team, the MP will be expected to attend funerals  and weddings of people in his/ her province.

There the MP will make a short speech ( thereby boosting the status of the family who invited him/her), and hand over the obligatory white envelope containing cash. 

This may happen several times a week 

If the MP refuses to attend, word will soon get out as to his meanness, not good for the next election!

 

On 10/1/2025 at 4:07 AM, snoop1130 said:

to demonstrate that politicians can be both wealthy and uncorrupted

 

Behind every fortune there is a crime.  Right, Mr Shin?

 

On 10/2/2025 at 5:38 AM, dinsdale said:

You'd be hard pressed to find anyone that isn't corrupt in parliament. 

I believe Chuan Leekpai was himself pretty straight, at least  by Thai standards, He was known as "Mr clean"  and was considered to be rather stupid by his peers as he never really amassed any wealth whilst in power.   Sounds like a loser to me

18 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

It's a shame that the honest and decent folks either don't make a good leader, or simply cannot get elected, or once elected are denied the leadership position. 

 

I think it's good that Anutin is being questioned, and I think the chances of a man in his position being honest are incredibly remote. That likely applies to anyone at the national level in nearly every country of the world these days. And that's a very sad truth. 

Well the UK has "Sir Kier Starmer"  a man who comes across as arrogant and pathetic at the same time , but ,   relatively  speaking as honest as the day is long      and look at the mess there.   Seems to be no place for honesty at any level in politics anywhere

19 hours ago, 2long said:

Let's face it, most (if not all) wealthy and powerful people in this part of the world became that way from corruption.

lets face it , its not just this part of the world

10 hours ago, nahkit said:

I think that very much depends on which party you want to join. 

Well, the only party that is genuinely new since I last had this chat with him is the winning-and-banned party of an orange hew. However, putting that one to the side, this Thai national with 40 years of inside and high-level political experience disagrees with you. Not knowing your background, I'd have to place my bets on him being right. Of course, we can't place bets for fear of being knicked! 55