Japanese Contractor Bribes City Thai Officials

[samgrowth]

The sources said Thai officials are reviewing material received from Tokyo prosecutors and will decide whether the case constitutes bribery under Thai law.

If you pay 500 Baht to Thai traffic police for not writing a speeding ticket, it is call a win-win. It is NOT a bribe. Not in Thailand anyway.

[JoeThePoster]

Corruption seems the the way of life in Asia., except Singapore of course.

Yeah, in Singapore its a monopoly business.

[TAWP]

Samak handed over the gubernatorial reins on 28th August 2004.

Apirak's tenure began a day later.

So the answer to the question is: Yes, in 2003 Samak was the one at the helms.

[Chang_paarp]

Is the vile Samak implicated in this one as well?

This is old news. The Thai Gov. investigated itself and found no wrong doing.

Case closed.

This case was raised when the prosecution began in Japan some time ago (SRJohn please give the reference). At the time the government decided that it had no implications in Thailand, however as Samak was PM at the time and things have now changed there may be a different response from the goverment.

[Seneque]

The sources said Thai officials are reviewing material received from Tokyo prosecutors and will decide whether the case constitutes bribery under Thai law.

If you pay 500 Baht to Thai traffic police for not writing a speeding ticket, it is call a win-win. It is NOT a bribe. Not in Thailand anyway.

Speeding tickets are in my world (mainly chiangmai-bkk highway 1) 200bt including a receipt and valid (sic) for a full day ! ... why would i pay 500bt for not having a speeding ticket receipt ? ... strange.

Used to work in construction and obviously bribery is fierce the world over ... interesting to see that bribery in thailand is spelled or viewed differently, but this should not come as news as it is a fact of life.

[yeti]

This was first discussed here.

[yeti]

And the Thai partner of Nishimatsu being Italian Thai Development which was also implicated in numerous corruptions cases (new airport CTX scanners, cracks in the airport runways, Ua Athorn housing project, etc.), we all know that there won't be any prosecution in Thailand.

edit: removed the link to Italian Thai Development website as it triggers a virus warning.

Edited January 14, 2009 by yeti

[FatherF]

This is what happens when there is a change of government. When your party falls out of favor its time to visit whatever country your children are attending school at $30,000 to $50,000 each per year. Anyone from this government going to put those 350 firetrucks and fireboats in service?

Sorry, I don't understand what this has to do with the topic???

400m yen, whats that in Baht?

400m yen = B156m

[h90]

Wouldn't it be easier to look for the non-corrupt officials and fire them for stupidity? Oh, maybe they can't find any.

I think there aren't any.....

[oceano]

So? which is the news???

This is normal businness.

[samgrowth]

So? which is the news???

This is normal businness.

Just take all of them for a night out at Poseidon. Everthing can be work out from there broker by the new Commerce Minister.

[Jai Dee]

Samak and aides named in Japanese bribe scandal

Former Bangkok governor Samak Sundaravej, his deputy and several officials have been implicated in another bidding scandal that saw four company officials arrested in Japan earlier this week.

"We hope the Foreign Affairs Ministry and the Office of the Attorney General will contact their Japanese counterparts for more information on this case," Democrat MP Chanchai Issarasenarak said yesterday.

As a member of the House anticorruption committee, he chairs a panel to investigate the bribery scandal surrounding Nishimatsu Construction Company.

"The case is now in the hands of the National Anti-Corruption Commission," Chanchai said.

On Wednesday, four former Nishimatsu executives were arrested in Japan reportedly for paying money to Bangkok Metropolitan Administration officials in 2003 to win the bidding for an infrastructure project.

The Japanese firm and local giant contractor ItalianThai Development formed the joint venture that landed the job.

Source: The Nation - 16 January 2009

[sriracha john]

This was first discussed here.

Thank you....

Is it possible to please merge this thread into the original as it really is an update?

Samak and aides named in Japanese bribe scandal

Former Bangkok governor Samak Sundaravej, his deputy and several officials have been implicated in another bidding scandal that saw four company officials arrested in Japan earlier this week.

If a merge doesn't occurs, I still like this Samak photo from frodo in the original thread:

"I am innocent. I have nothing to do with this."

[slapout]

Thailand seems to want to be blind, deaf, and dumb when it comes to graft paid by business groups outside Thailand to groups/individuals here in the government and or private/public sector. Too bad there is not a policy for a Thai whistle blower with a reward based on monies involved. Seems to work good with police (reward system) but then thats just joe public paying, so the same logic could not be applied to the pillars of the country.

[Jai Dee]

This was first discussed here.

Topics merged.

[Jai Dee]

Nishimatsu 'planned Thai contract bribes'

Japan's Nishimatsu Construction Co planned to offer about 350 million yen (US$3.8 million) in bribes with its joint venture partner in Thailand to then Thai government senior officials to win a 2003 tunnel construction project, sources said Thursday (January 15).

Nishimatsu, a Tokyo-based second-tier general contractor, and its Thai partner reportedly prepared a total of 480 million yen ($5.3 million) for bribery maneouvering, with Nishimatsu contributing about half the amount.

The Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office on Wednesday (January 14) arrested a former vice president of Nishimatsu Construction, Keiji Fujimaki, 68, on suspicion of smuggling 70 million yen into Japan from abroad.

The public prosecutors special investigation squad asked Thai prosecutors to cooperate in investigating the case as a violation of the Unfair Competition Prevention Law, as Nishimatsu and its Thai partner are suspected to have committed bribery, the sources said.

The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration in the Thai capital commissioned the public works project to construct a 3.5km tunnel to let water out of a canal in central Bangkok as a flood-prevention measure.

Nishimatsu and its local joint venture partner won the flood prevention tunnel construction project contract for about 7 billion yen ($77.5 million) in July 2003.

Nishimatsu held talks with its Thai partner and planned to offer bribes to BMA and Thai government officials to win the contract, the sources said.

Each company reportedly contributed about 240 million yen ($2.6 million) to the bribery fund.

Nishimatsu and its Thai partner also reportedly decided how to apportion the 350 million yen ($3.8 million) in bribes among several senior Thai officials, and to give the remaining 130 million yen ($1.4 million) to local bodies responsible for monitoring bribery activities.

Kazuhiko Takahara, 63, a former deputy manager of Nishimatsu's overseas operation department, was rearrested Wednesday on suspicion of violating the Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Law.

More than 400 million yen ($4.4 million) was used to win the contract for the Bangkok construction project, the public prosecutors special investigation squad quoted Takahara as saying.

Fujimaki admitted to the allegation that he instructed Takahara to bring 70 million yen illegally into Japan, sources said.

Fujimaki is believed to have ordered his subordinate, Takahara, to bring the money without declaring it to customs authorities on five different occasions to Japan from Hong Kong and other locations from February 2006 to August 2007.

Source: Asia News Network - 16 January 2009

[TAWP]

Nishimatsu and its Thai partner also reportedly decided how to apportion the 350 million yen ($3.8 million) in bribes among several senior Thai officials, and to give the remaining 130 million yen ($1.4 million) to local bodies responsible for monitoring bribery activities.

That is how you do it...bribe the ones responsible for monitoring against what you are infact doing and you get away free. Makes one all warm and cousy to think about.

[otherstuff1957]

Remember the CTX scandal and the Bangkok Movie Festival scandal? In both of those cases people were sent to jail overseas on corruption and bribery charges. In both of those cases, the Thai authorities couldn't find any evidence of corruption at their end.

The same thing will happen here.

[DMasut]

SAY IT ISN'T SO!!! Is this possible in Thailand?

I thought Thai people quit this after not being able to top when U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney got approval from his boss U.S. President G.W. Bush for Halliburton to be paid $750,000,000,000 in "No-Bid" contracts for "re-building" translation "Tea Money" Iraq?

I thought "Tea Money" in Thailand was just an "Expedite" charge.... like the difference you pay EMS or FEDEX for standard delivery or "OVERNIGHT DELIVERY"?!

[sriracha john]

NACC may probe tunnel bribery case

National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) is investigating the BMA's tunnel project to see whether a sub-committee needs to be set up to look into the matter more closely. NACC spokesman Klanarong Chantik said his organisation is beginning to look into the case after former senior executives of a Japanese construction firm Nishimatsu Construction Co were arrested this month for bringing cash into Asian countries including Thailand to pay bribes. The company and a Thai firm were reported to have given 125 million baht in bribes to BMA officials to secure a contract to build a drainage system. The 2.09-billion-baht project to lay a tunnel stretching from Lat Phrao to the Sean Saep canal in 2003 was undertaken through its consortium with Italian-Thai development Plc, when Samak Sundaravej was Bangkok

Continued here:

http://www.bangkokpost.com/breakingnews/13...el-bribery-case