Corruption Spreading Like Plague : PM Abhisit

[bf2002]

He should know....he got in on that corrupt system. At least the ousted Thaksin actually WON a real election. Only the most naive would not understand even with the corruption of that long past election, he was sure to win.

Now you have the illegitimate politician fingering the system.....what a farce.....

And hindsight is 20/20, but thanks for calling an election ahead of the summer holidays for the Western hemispere, and fracking up Thai tourism thru August/September (conservatively estimated based on an election date and the impending social mess that will follow whoever wins).

[surangw]

it must be an Airborn Pathogen in this case ( they all inhale each others b.s.)

[krangeek]

Only way to stop corruption is to pay workers a fair wage, ie., the policemen. Then Syam needs to inforce its laws. Put the buggers in jail, ie., Thaksin et al.

You can't blame Thaskin for this one, he's been on holiday abroad during PM Abhisit's session!

Nothing to do with either Taksin (nouveau riche) or Abbhisit (old establishment) and everything to do with the fact that you are all from more politically advanced cultures than frm whence you came and cannot desist in comparing.

Yes, this is a very nice smiley laid back country. BUT CORRUPT AS FCK.

[rubl]

He should know....he got in on that corrupt system. At least the ousted Thaksin actually WON a real election. Only the most naive would not understand even with the corruption of that long past election, he was sure to win.

Now you have the illegitimate politician fingering the system.....what a farce.....

And hindsight is 20/20, but thanks for calling an election ahead of the summer holidays for the Western hemispere, and fracking up Thai tourism thru August/September (conservatively estimated based on an election date and the impending social mess that will follow whoever wins).

Hindsight, from 2006-04-27

"Recent Trends in the Politics of Thailand: Perspectives on Thaksin Shinawatr"

http://towardfreedom.com/home/content/view/804/65/

[rubl]

...

Is there favouritism on this Thai visa Forum, such as when Buchholz asked me to prove where Thaksin had given money to the military to purchase Submarines, during his time as Prime Minister. I did prove where it came from and my proof was removed?

...

About submarines I only find recent articles with the latest verdict being a 'wait for the next government. The plan failed to reach the May 3rd cabinet meeting, so with the House dissolved, no progress. Of course there may have been movements in k. Thaksin's period of 2001 - 2006, but I didn't find any. My search technique maybe.

May I suggest you PM me a link and I'll see how I can modify it in an acceptable format without touching it's meaning ?

[whybother]

...

Is there favouritism on this Thai visa Forum, such as when Buchholz asked me to prove where Thaksin had given money to the military to purchase Submarines, during his time as Prime Minister. I did prove where it came from and my proof was removed?

...

About submarines I only find recent articles with the latest verdict being a 'wait for the next government. The plan failed to reach the May 3rd cabinet meeting, so with the House dissolved, no progress. Of course there may have been movements in k. Thaksin's period of 2001 - 2006, but I didn't find any. My search technique maybe.

May I suggest you PM me a link and I'll see how I can modify it in an acceptable format without touching it's meaning ?

Was it removed because it was from the Bangkok Post? The Bangkok Post don't allow links to it in the forum, so the mods have to delete them.

[dale8]

Hello, is corruption a recent activity in Thailand? I am shocked and I will never accept any money sent to me for my influence. Cheers

[PingManDan]

LOL yes there is no antibiotic for this disease, and the PM better look into his mirror and really look into his own eyes, before putting blame on anyone else.

[rich54321]

How is it possible for corruption to spread when there is no where else for it to go??

How very true!!!

[yeeowww]

LOL yes there is no antibiotic for this disease, and the PM better look into his mirror and really look into his own eyes, before putting blame on anyone else.

I think the Reds just couldn't care less as long as they're paid off. This goes for both general population as well as "professionals" who stand to gain from this rancid behaviour. And when their boat is rocked by whatever means, they feel it is completely justified to overtake and kidnap an entire city for their own greed... and when they don't get their way, well... they revert back to their unsound, troglodyte methods of dealing with their discontent. God help Thailand if the Shinawatra family and it's power mad leader, the worst man in Thailand history is allowed to resume his lying, stealing, cheating, megalomaniac ways. He deserves to be tried and brought to justice, locked up and throw away the key, not put in charge of a political party from which he's already been banned... yet another example of his blatant disregard for the law, having been banned from politics, and even thru his own lying teeth swore he had no interest in but a year ago. Anyone who believes anything coming out of this lunatics mouth should have their head examined. Here for your enjoyment pleasure is yet a small reminder of the scum following he has nurtured.

Edited June 2, 2011 by yeeowww

[pac4155]

Hello, is corruption a recent activity in Thailand? I am shocked and I will never accept any money sent to me for my influence. Cheers

No, it's historical, see my earlier posting (or were you just being facetious?)

Quote from The Rough Guide to Thailand, page 865, History.

"By the time of the king's (Chulalongkorn) death in 1910, Thailand could not yet be called a modern nation-state - corruption and nepotism were still grave problems."

Corruption is an historical part of the Thai psyche and will never be eliminated. It is self-perpetuating; as one person gets scammed,

he scams the next person to get his money back, ad infinitum.

Edited June 3, 2011 by pac4155

[selftaopath]

Going slightly off-topic, but yes, she tried to charge me an extra 2000 baht on top of the fixed fee of 1900 baht, just to send the paperwork to the Udon Thani office where my Thai wife's birth is registered.

I was applying for a 60 day extension as the husband of a Thai national, got married in April this year. I was unaware of the "negotiations" my wife was having with the official until we got home and she eventually

told me what the discussion was about; I went ballistic. Until the Thais themselves decide to rein in the corruption at grassroots level by embarrassing such officials in front of their colleagues, demanding their

name and to speak to their supervisor in a loud voice, and making an official complaint, then nothing is going to change. Thais hate to lose face, particularly in front of a farang, but the more noise you make in

combating the problem at local level, the better. Corruption discriminates against the poor who can't afford the tea-money to have their case heard, even when the law is on their side.

NB I eventually got an extension at the Immigration Ministry in Bangkok, from a very nice official who understood the problem and didn't demand any tea-money. In fact, there is a notice in the Ministry as to the

correct fees and to pay no more. So someone in Government is at least aware of the problem and trying to combat it, but it will be slow progress.

You are not alone in dealing with a particular woman in KK immigration who elicits additional charges - but just to help us foreigners.

[Payboy]

Corruption Spreading Like Plague : PM Abhisit

Woot! He's already rehearsing his speech as leader of the opposition?

[MrChangers]

PM confesses that corruption has increased while he has been running the country. Well get a star and go to the front of the class, I like honesty but now go to the back for shooting yourself in the foot.

Maybe you did the same, Cancer does NOT stop growing when you know you have it, it still grows when your trying to treat it. Your biggest teacher of this problem is exactly the man that wants to return here and take power again.

You will need 10 years here to start to make inroads into this MESS.

My posting was about the timing of this comment. It seems to be very strange that after being in power you confess to a major problem getting worse just as the elections are round the corner. Perhaps this is a warm up for the "If it had not been for corruption we would have won the election" speech. I am searching for an answer but I suspect this is a major spanner going somewhere. If you can tell me, with any good reason, then please do.

[ginjag]

PM confesses that corruption has increased while he has been running the country. Well get a star and go to the front of the class, I like honesty but now go to the back for shooting yourself in the foot.

Maybe you did the same, Cancer does NOT stop growing when you know you have it, it still grows when your trying to treat it. Your biggest teacher of this problem is exactly the man that wants to return here and take power again.

You will need 10 years here to start to make inroads into this MESS.

My posting was about the timing of this comment. It seems to be very strange that after being in power you confess to a major problem getting worse just as the elections are round the corner. Perhaps this is a warm up for the "If it had not been for corruption we would have won the election" speech. I am searching for an answer but I suspect this is a major spanner going somewhere. If you can tell me, with any good reason, then please do.

The corruption here has been going on for donkey's years, more so when the lord and master of all K.Thaksin moved it on to another level, Abhisit admits it is getting worse, it's the people who blame him for it getting worse. They can see no farther than their noses the P.M. HERE should BUT i'm afraid does not have the power to do much about it. IT'S inbuilt, the cancer creeps but the surgeon in most cases cannot stop it. I wonder what the comments would be if HE lined his pockets the same as Thaksin was caught doing. Sure if I was him I would get out of it, I wouldn't put up with this farcical situation. IT IS beginning to smell bad. Pity as on the world stage he has some respect--NOT the country

[MrChangers]

PM confesses that corruption has increased while he has been running the country. Well get a star and go to the front of the class, I like honesty but now go to the back for shooting yourself in the foot.

Maybe you did the same, Cancer does NOT stop growing when you know you have it, it still grows when your trying to treat it. Your biggest teacher of this problem is exactly the man that wants to return here and take power again.

You will need 10 years here to start to make inroads into this MESS.

My posting was about the timing of this comment. It seems to be very strange that after being in power you confess to a major problem getting worse just as the elections are round the corner. Perhaps this is a warm up for the "If it had not been for corruption we would have won the election" speech. I am searching for an answer but I suspect this is a major spanner going somewhere. If you can tell me, with any good reason, then please do.

The corruption here has been going on for donkey's years, more so when the lord and master of all K.Thaksin moved it on to another level, Abhisit admits it is getting worse, it's the people who blame him for it getting worse. They can see no farther than their noses the P.M. HERE should BUT i'm afraid does not have the power to do much about it. IT'S inbuilt, the cancer creeps but the surgeon in most cases cannot stop it. I wonder what the comments would be if HE lined his pockets the same as Thaksin was caught doing. Sure if I was him I would get out of it, I wouldn't put up with this farcical situation. IT IS beginning to smell bad. Pity as on the world stage he has some respect--NOT the country

Well I'm glad you have glad you have got this, whatever it means, off your chest. Now perhaps you can help with the question I asked which is about the timing of this self damning proclamation of the current situation. Corruption and politics go hand in hand no matter what country, but I have never heard a PM stating this type of strange comment prior to trying to get re-elected. All outgoing PM's paint a good picture of their reign. Please, less of the anti Thaskin waffle as I have heard it all before on other forums, ask why has he made this statement. It does not make sense at the moment.

[ginjag]

Mrchangers @75

What on earth is the matter with posters saying about anti Thaksin waffle, You get the Idea because of all that happened in the past that it's anti Thaksin----IT'S WHAT HE DID, I personally really don't give a fig about him and the reason I speak is that This country believed him. I've heard all of your PRO Thaksin waffle as well.

The point you are asking as to why Abhisit come out and stated re the corruption is getting more bad--I wish I knew. He is only telling everyone what they already know, and behind his words I have a feeling he is kind of saying what the hell can you do when the country is controlled by the military and mafia long term ingrained.

To my mind it may be a dig at These. Who knows, just my honest opinion, it may not satisfy your question but I do not think anyone could. To me the P.M. stands well and out of this mafia system I think he is a good statesman. As I said it could be a way of saying the job at hand is impossible to turn things around until the big powers get on with defending the country, and give the P.M. the power he should hold.

[Puccini]

...Until the Thais themselves decide to rein in the corruption at grassroots level by embarrassing such officials in front of their colleagues, demanding their

name and to speak to their supervisor in a loud voice, and making an official complaint, then nothing is going to change...

What makes you think his collegues are not also on the take and that the supervisor is not getting a share of it?

[AleG]

Well I'm glad you have glad you have got this, whatever it means, off your chest. Now perhaps you can help with the question I asked which is about the timing of this self damning proclamation of the current situation. Corruption and politics go hand in hand no matter what country, but I have never heard a PM stating this type of strange comment prior to trying to get re-elected. All outgoing PM's paint a good picture of their reign. Please, less of the anti Thaskin waffle as I have heard it all before on other forums, ask why has he made this statement. It does not make sense at the moment.

Maybe (shocking!) the man is honest and is telling it as it is instead of BSing?

Or would you prefer him to come out and say, "corruption?, what corruption?" Like Thaksin claiming that the "War on Drugs" had been won and other lies.

I find it perplexing that a person may be grilled for stating the truth.

[ginjag]

Well I'm glad you have glad you have got this, whatever it means, off your chest. Now perhaps you can help with the question I asked which is about the timing of this self damning proclamation of the current situation. Corruption and politics go hand in hand no matter what country, but I have never heard a PM stating this type of strange comment prior to trying to get re-elected. All outgoing PM's paint a good picture of their reign. Please, less of the anti Thaskin waffle as I have heard it all before on other forums, ask why has he made this statement. It does not make sense at the moment.

Maybe (shocking!) the man is honest and is telling it as it is instead of BSing?

Or would you prefer him to come out and say, "corruption?, what corruption?" Like Thaksin claiming that the "War on Drugs" had been won and other lies.

I find it perplexing that a person may be grilled for stating the truth.

Good answer, near as to my thinking in the previous post, Noted another person suggested that Abhisit may well be embedded in the corruption himself, HaHa.....what people sometimes think is unbelievable. I,m not saying that it"s impossible, but the international feel about him is the reverse of Thaksin style, States persons in this world knows who is fair and who is not, That does not include the nations reputation, that"s another story.

[Ricardo]

Well I'm glad you have glad you have got this, whatever it means, off your chest. Now perhaps you can help with the question I asked which is about the timing of this self damning proclamation of the current situation. Corruption and politics go hand in hand no matter what country, but I have never heard a PM stating this type of strange comment prior to trying to get re-elected. All outgoing PM's paint a good picture of their reign. Please, less of the anti Thaskin waffle as I have heard it all before on other forums, ask why has he made this statement. It does not make sense at the moment.

Maybe (shocking!) the man is honest and is telling it as it is instead of BSing?

Or would you prefer him to come out and say, "corruption?, what corruption?" Like Thaksin claiming that the "War on Drugs" had been won and other lies.

I find it perplexing that a person may be grilled for stating the truth.

Good answer, near as to my thinking in the previous post, Noted another person suggested that Abhisit may well be embedded in the corruption himself, HaHa.....what people sometimes think is unbelievable. I,m not saying that it"s impossible, but the international feel about him is the reverse of Thaksin style, States persons in this world knows who is fair and who is not, That does not include the nations reputation, that"s another story.

In a similar vein, PM-Abhisit promises things like a realistic/affordable increase in the minimum-wage, rather than 15k/month for all graduates & 300B/day for all others and tax-cuts-for-the-rich too.

And he says that if the election goes significantly against his party, and he has clearly led them to defeat, then he will accept responsibility & resign as leader of the Democratic Party. Not something a power-mad puppet or clone would say.

Sometimes someone who states the simple-truth is just being honest, not (quite) all politicians are devious, and that's the way he comes across, even after a few years in-office. If only there were a lot more like him, across the whole political-spectrum, in Thailand.

[ginjag]

Well I'm glad you have glad you have got this, whatever it means, off your chest. Now perhaps you can help with the question I asked which is about the timing of this self damning proclamation of the current situation. Corruption and politics go hand in hand no matter what country, but I have never heard a PM stating this type of strange comment prior to trying to get re-elected. All outgoing PM's paint a good picture of their reign. Please, less of the anti Thaskin waffle as I have heard it all before on other forums, ask why has he made this statement. It does not make sense at the moment.

Maybe (shocking!) the man is honest and is telling it as it is instead of BSing?

Or would you prefer him to come out and say, "corruption?, what corruption?" Like Thaksin claiming that the "War on Drugs" had been won and other lies.

I find it perplexing that a person may be grilled for stating the truth.

Good answer, near as to my thinking in the previous post, Noted another person suggested that Abhisit may well be embedded in the corruption himself, HaHa.....what people sometimes think is unbelievable. I,m not saying that it"s impossible, but the international feel about him is the reverse of Thaksin style, States persons in this world knows who is fair and who is not, That does not include the nations reputation, that"s another story.

In a similar vein, PM-Abhisit promises things like a realistic/affordable increase in the minimum-wage, rather than 15k/month for all graduates & 300B/day for all others and tax-cuts-for-the-rich too.

And he says that if the election goes significantly against his party, and he has clearly led them to defeat, then he will accept responsibility & resign as leader of the Democratic Party. Not something a power-mad puppet or clone would say.

Sometimes someone who states the simple-truth is just being honest, not (quite) all politicians are devious, and that's the way he comes across, even after a few years in-office. If only there were a lot more like him, across the whole political-spectrum, in Thailand.

I wish there were more people(including Thai) could think the P.M. is reasonable, and pretty honest. I dont know truly if he is or not-but a gut feeling tells me he is far better than any other candidate out there. Why someone should smear the man when most people and Himself know why he cannot do as he wants,even as P.M.--So many people are hiding from reality. You need a massive civil unrest here to dislodge the real power here, not blame the P.M.

[tim armstrong]

When there is no real enforcement of the law and/or prosecutors/investigators not seriously going after corrupt activities nor people willing to testify/file a complaint, then corruption just continues to grow deeper roots. Thailand provides a great growing environment for corruption. But don't worry, sound bites by govt officials and politicians will fix everything.

EXACTLY. Welcome to LOS=Land of Scams/Lack of Sanctions.

Eventually the country will be so severely devastated that a change will occur. I suspect NOT before. When the pain outweighs the pleasure then "you" (Thailand) will change.

I agree with your analysis, but the country will never be 'devastated'. The basic economics are very strong, even with corruption. To stop it you have to go much deeper as its part of the Thai way of thinking, as it is throughout Asia. It's considered 'normal' to pay to have even simple matters dealt with quickly, or to improve one's options. The words fair, and honest have only vague meanings in Thai. Whether its a struggling family or a mega corporation, paying for services is normal.

Its normal because bargaining is normal, unregulated pricing is normal, cash transactions without records are normal, and all governments are reluctant to change the status quo. Thais are not community minded, they are family centred and will do whatever to protect their own little patch. I suspect it will be a long, long time if ever before the pain outweighs the pleasure.

[Valentine]

Corruption is growing throughout the world, not only here. Look at the FIFA debacle. I don't even like football but that shocks me. When corruption is endemic, deep rooted & many think it is OK then it is seriously difficult to stop.

[krangeek]

Hey....He's in charge. Stop passing the baht. If there's corruption, than the baht stops with him.

Agreed. I mean <deleted>?! Where's he been for the past 'two years'? And his remedy? Pretty please stop paying bribes with sugar on top. What a completely inept gutless bloody milksop.

And No, I am in no way advocating another impotent 'crackdown' in the way of shooting people on the streets (picture if you will, bent police officers and government officials slumped over their desks in pools of blood), and if not, why not, plenty of photographs of poorly dressed people being splashed all over the local papers during Taksin's war on drugs.

Just a handful of those ACCEPTING bribes being handed down long custodial sentences would be a very good start. What's this boy afraid of? Hmmmm ...?

Edited June 4, 2011 by krangeek

[swillowbee]

... one of the characteristics of "representative democracy", is it's remarkable ability to produce political officials who are "representative" of the constituency that elects them ... even in an imperfect electoral system, as Thailand's.

... the corrupt Thai government is to me a crystal clear image of the whole of Thai society ... it is perfect ... you could reasonably unplug any elected Thai official, replace him with a randomly selected Thai citizen, and no one would know the difference.

... take a look at the values expressed through the behaviors practiced by Thais ... we see it day in and day out, across this entire nation ... the behaviors of hi-so and low-so and everyone between ... spiritual, social, economic, legal, education, everything ... these Thai's cultural values are all nicely expressed through their government.

... everyone talks about changing corruption in Thailand ... not going to happen ... that requires changing cultural values ... cultural values will take multiple generations to influence, even if there were a will by any Thai with the moral standing to lead Thais away from inferior cultural values ... there is here no Gandhi, Martin Luther King, or Nelson Mandella ... that Thai has yet to be born.

Edited June 4, 2011 by swillowbee

[krangeek]

... one of the characteristics of "representative democracy", is it's remarkable ability to produce political officials who are "representative" of the constituency that elects them ... even in an imperfect electoral system, as Thailand's.

... the corrupt Thai government is to me a crystal clear image of the whole of Thai society ... it is perfect ... you could reasonably unplug any elected Thai official, replace him with a randomly selected Thai citizen, and no one would know the difference.

... take a look at the values expressed through the behaviors practiced by Thais ... we see it day in and day out, across this entire nation ... the behaviors of hi-so and low-so and everyone between ... spiritual, social, economic, legal, education, everything ... these Thai's cultural values are all nicely expressed through their government.

... everyone talks about changing corruption in Thailand ... not going to happen ... that requires changing cultural values ... cultural values will take multiple generations to influence, even if there were a will by any Thai with the moral standing to lead Thais away from inferior cultural values ... there is here no Gandhi, Martin Luther King, or Nelson Mandella ... that Thai has yet to be born.

Hmm. Good post. I'd always thought Taksin to exemplify the average Thai.

[themockrat]

And he says that if the election goes significantly against his party, and he has clearly led them to defeat, then he will accept responsibility & resign as leader of the Democratic Party. Not something a power-mad puppet or clone would say.

How so? If the puppeteer's puppet loses the election, he will obviously replace the puppet. Makes no sense in keeping the show going with the same puppet that didn't win you the election.

[gemini81]

And he says that if the election goes significantly against his party, and he has clearly led them to defeat, then he will accept responsibility & resign as leader of the Democratic Party. Not something a power-mad puppet or clone would say.

How so? If the puppeteer's puppet loses the election, he will obviously replace the puppet. Makes no sense in keeping the show going with the same puppet that didn't win you the election.

puppet: is that the only word you know? Do you even know what they heck you're talking about?

[newtronbom]

<br />

<br />Only way to stop corruption is to pay workers a fair wage, ie., the policemen. Then Syam needs to inforce its laws. Put the buggers in jail, ie., Thaksin et al.<br />

<br /><br />You can't blame Thaskin for this one, he's been on holiday abroad during PM Abhisit's session! <img src="http://static.thaivisa.com/forum/public/style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif" /><br />

<br /><br /><br />

Are you saying that Thaksin Shinawatts monthly/weekly/daily whatever, telephone and video phone ins to his lackeys and associates (regardless of how pathetic they may seem to some), along with all the many other manipulations of the "power elite" here by him, which could include bribery and/or blackmail in many cases - note I say "could" as I have no proof - are you saying that they do not in any way effect a lot of the "policy decisions" that are made here? Or what about the course of investigations by those very same people he is controlling into corruption? For a man who you say is "on holiday" and not to be blamed for the many ills and injustices we are talking about in Thailand, it seems to me, that he is working very hard to control the present/future of Thailand and is still having no small effect on the course of this country or the events that are taking place now. If somehow you could arrest and convict all the offenders, there are not enough prisons to hold them all. I say that corruption here is not simply a matter of law. It is a cultural thing more than any other and to get rid of it, the people of this country have to change the way they think and how they are brought up. That is no small task and will take time. Shutting Thaksin up would certainly be a good start though, as I believe apart from the damage he himself is causing, he is also being used by more than a few here in power, to manipulate the events that will change/or not, the future of this country.