http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7843972.stm

I have been quite surprised by how the Chinese have handled this, I always thought of China as being a huge, corrupt super power and would have expected them to have just brushed this under the carpet but they seem to be sending out a very strong message here.

Could anyone ever see something like this happening in Thailand? It seems here that all the business owners or 'hi so class' do as they please but if a communist nation like China can hand out punishments then how come Thailand can't?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7843972.stm

I have been quite surprised by how the Chinese have handled this, I always thought of China as being a huge, corrupt super power and would have expected them to have just brushed this under the carpet but they seem to be sending out a very strong message here.

Could anyone ever see something like this happening in Thailand? It seems here that all the business owners or 'hi so class' do as they please but if a communist nation like China can hand out punishments then how come Thailand can't?

China has a history of extremely harsh penalties for this type of crime within the buisness world. There have been a number of CEO's executed, just as there have been a number of government officials executed for corruption.

No, this would not be likely in Thailand, but then again, it would not be likely in most nations.  In the US, massive fraud in the businessworld would most likely result in a moderate sentence in a federal minimum security prison ("Club Fed").

Used to discuss thse topics with some law students when I worked in Hanoi (over 10 years ago) and they explained that under the law...Chinese -Vietnam etc someone who steals from a private company/joint verture/overseas bank might get a whack on the back of the hand and do a stint in the local nick.

On the other hand if you pinch a bag of rice from a state monopoly or anything that affects the people ...then its the big one..usually a bullet in the back of the head.

The family is then sent the bill for the round and are expected to pay it. ...

Ultimate Loss of Face ......

China has a history of extremely harsh penalties for this type of crime within the buisness world. There have been a number of CEO's executed, just as there have been a number of government officials executed for corruption.

Per chance, I have a very close Chinese friend, actually a former high school classmate, with rather high business and social connections in Beijing where he resides. He has had a number of acquaintances executed over serious corruption scandals. According to him, the only thing holding the government back from executing a hundredfold more people is that there are not enough trained people to replace the corrupt ones. But he says to make no mistake about it, the PRC government is committed to eliminating the endemic corruption, but that it is pragmatic enough to do it slowly.

Thailand will not be able to initiate a similar response until the corrupt officials in the highest levels of the military and government is eliminated and replaced by people with a longer term vision. I do not see this happening in the short term and only the stars can foretell future leadership in this direction.