Thailand Ranks 78th In World Corruption Index

[webfact]

Thailand ranks 78th in world corruption index

BANGKOK, 7 June 2011 (NNT) – Thailand ranks 78th among 178 countries worldwide listed in the 2010 corruption perception index released by the Transparency International.

Apart from the global position, Thailand was ranked 10th among 24 Asian countries with the score 3.5 out of 10 points. Meanwhile, Singapore got the highest score for transparency at 9.3 out of 10.

Corruption in Thailand tends to get severer and more complex. The government was expected to lose 1.4 billion baht from procurement of drugs and equipment in 1998, 770 million baht from iTV concession amendment in 2003 and 4.3 million baht from procurement of CTX bomb scanners in 2005.

All the damages from corruption practices had taken away educational opportunities from over five million people who should have enjoyed the 15-year free education sponsorship, as well as construction of schools, health stations and roads.

There were 2,000-3,000 complaints about corruption on average yearly in the past decade. The number of complaints stood at over 8,000 in 2008 alone. Thailand in the past ten years scored 3.0-3.5 points in the Transparency International ranking.

-- NNT 2011-06-07

[Cobalt60]

They would have rated first but a brown envelope changed hands under a table

[kdc1899]

the wife just raked in 10K baht in her local elections. Every candidate was handing out 1K baht to secure a vote

[NanaFoods]

the wife just raked in 10K baht in her local elections. Every candidate was handing out 1K baht to secure a vote

LOL.... "to secure a vote" .... at best, seems they've secured the same chances at getting the vote before the payout.

....and that's only if she hasn't decided already... Amazing Thailand.

Edited June 7, 2011 by NanaFoods

[julemanden]

the wife just raked in 10K baht in her local elections. Every candidate was handing out 1K baht to secure a vote

That's Not corruption but Transparency !

[avalonmick]

This report was released in October 210! A lot of stuff has changed hands to keep it out of the media. So why now?

[avalonmick]

http://www.transparency.org/policy_research/surveys_indices/cpi/2010/press#report

[eddie61]

Only 2000-3000 complaints.

I estimate that at least 2,000- 3,000 incidents of bribery by traffic policemen and putative offenders alone take place every day around the country, though that may be a very conservative figure.

Add to that the bits and bahts required here and there to run a bar, or motorcycle taxi gang, or food stall on a street: there are probably 100's of thousands of instances of corruption taking place every single day in the land of smiles.

I can only conclude that Thais like it that way.

You make your bed and you sleep in it.

Karma!

[kdc1899]

This report was released in October 210! A lot of stuff has changed hands to keep it out of the media. So why now?

because the red shirts are going to again sweep the elections in a landslide that will need to be explained by reports of corruption.

[animatic]

Maybe best not to confuse greatly increased reporting of complaints with actual rise in graft. I suspect it's about the same, but maybe improving a little, due to fear of the increased reporting.

Edited June 7, 2011 by animatic

[Thai at Heart]

The more things change the more they stay the same.

There only seems to be more of it around, because there is more economic activity around. How they make any attempt to measure accurately what goes on in this country economically I have no idea, none of the figures reflect the true size of the Thai economy.

[PepeLePew]

Rwanda is more transparent at 66th!

[PingManDan]

They would have rated first but a brown envelope changed hands under a table

LOL yes , didn't I read just a month ago or so, Thailand was rated 16th in the world for brown envelopes passed under the tables, in just about every sector of the business world, right down to the tuk tuk driver

[skate1047]

Yeah - this poll is accurate...

The better countries are at hiding their corruption.. the MORE corrupt they are.

Nothing Thailand has done has been felt around the world.

The United States and their bankers on the other hand....

[wolf5370]

Yeah - this poll is accurate...

The better countries are at hiding their corruption.. the MORE corrupt they are.

Nothing Thailand has done has been felt around the world.

The United States and their bankers on the other hand....

Why would corruption have to be "felt" internationally? That's like implying that international theft is worse than local theft - when theft is theft regardless.

In the past these polls have been done on a "feel good grade" on a census like form. Problem is many people in Thailand expect corruption and actually think it is acceptable (gin muang - eat [of the] land) - this puts Thailand higher in these lists than they should be if a "normal person" (whatever that means) measured countries by the same yard stick. Not saying this poll is done that way, but I can't see any other way that would be better. Personally, if we looked at just (so-called) democracies around the world, and only consider institutional corruption (by the state and state officials - including the police) then I would personally think Thailand would be in the bottom few precent of countries (probably along with all the worst African countries and newly liberated democracies in the middle east!) - but then I have not lived everywhere, like everyone else, so am biased (or perhaps snow blinded) with what I see here.

[stanley2550]

Corruption is good...where else can you pay off a cop right on the spot for violating a traffice law. U gotta love that.

[whybother]

Why would corruption have to be "felt" internationally? That's like implying that international theft is worse than local theft - when theft is theft regardless.

In the past these polls have been done on a "feel good grade" on a census like form. Problem is many people in Thailand expect corruption and actually think it is acceptable (gin muang - eat [of the] land) - this puts Thailand higher in these lists than they should be if a "normal person" (whatever that means) measured countries by the same yard stick. Not saying this poll is done that way, but I can't see any other way that would be better. Personally, if we looked at just (so-called) democracies around the world, and only consider institutional corruption (by the state and state officials - including the police) then I would personally think Thailand would be in the bottom few precent of countries (probably along with all the worst African countries and newly liberated democracies in the middle east!) - but then I have not lived everywhere, like everyone else, so am biased (or perhaps snow blinded) with what I see here.

"In the past these polls have been done on a "feel good grade" on a census like form. ... Not saying this poll is done that way,"

It is done that way.

Thailand ranks 78th among 178 countries worldwide listed in the 2010 corruption perception index released by the Transparency International.

[foxteen]

Corruption in Thailand has been for long time,i think will be minor change with the new government.Lot has to be done to have some law and order

[whybother]

Rwanda is more transparent at 66th!

Stanley ... The idea is, when you quote a post, you add a few of your own thoughts underneath the quoted text.

[Crushdepth]

the wife just raked in 10K baht in her local elections. Every candidate was handing out 1K baht to secure a vote

Good on her...I hope she manages to collect a second round Take their money and then vote for someone who isn't handing it out.

Edit: Just realised she doesn't seem to have such an option...oh well.

Edited June 7, 2011 by Crushdepth

[whybother]

the wife just raked in 10K baht in her local elections. Every candidate was handing out 1K baht to secure a vote

Good on her...I hope she manages to collect a second round Take their money and then vote for someone who isn't handing it out.

Edit: Just realised she doesn't seem to have such an option...oh well.

She can still vote "No" ... unless the yellow shirts are paying people too.

[Crushdepth]

Thailand share's the 78th spot with Columbia, so let's not imagine this is anything to be proud of.

[bungalownights]

Thailand was 59 in 2005 (when Thaksin was in power)

and not suprisingly drops by almost 20 points under Abhisit administration by 2010.

[Trentham]

Corruption is good...where else can you pay off a cop right on the spot for violating a traffice law. U gotta love that.

Often it is paying off the cop for a traffic law you didn't violate

[chuang]

the wife just raked in 10K baht in her local elections. Every candidate was handing out 1K baht to secure a vote

That's Not corruption but Transparency !

I would say it's "convenience fees"...

[chuang]

Thailand was 59 in 2005 (when Thaksin was in power)

and not suprisingly drops by almost 20 points under Abhisit administration by 2010.

So we know which government is more corrupt....

[bungalownights]

Thailand was 59 in 2005 (when Thaksin was in power)

and not suprisingly drops by almost 20 points under Abhisit administration by 2010.

So we know which government is more corrupt....

Well, I suppose its no big secret that the Abhisit goverment is one of the most corrupt goverments we have had for quite a while.

[Crushdepth]

It's a relative index. You'd have to be on drugs to think that the current government is more corrupt than Thaksin's regime. Let's not forget which former leader:

* Has a criminal conviction for corruption :-)

* Had to pay billions of baht damages for multiple and massive abuse of office.

* Had his lawyer caught red handed (by a judge!) bribing court officials with a snack box of money.

* Had his party dissolved (twice!) for electoral fraud.

* Is currently a fugitive with an unserved sentence.

Yep, it's an impressive record all right.

[Miami Bob]

Yeah - this poll is accurate...

The better countries are at hiding their corruption.. the MORE corrupt they are.

Nothing Thailand has done has been felt around the world.

The United States and their bankers on the other hand....

Yes the USA and their bankers... but expand that prospective and think about who actually has much of the controlling interest of those banks like Goldman, Well Fargo, JP Morgan and think Rothchild and Barclay families. It's a global banking cartel responsible for this unprecedented corruption scam affecting the whole world. If the general public ever becomes aware of what has happened it will make the corruption in Thailand look like kindergarten.

[whybother]

Thailand was 59 in 2005 (when Thaksin was in power)

and not suprisingly drops by almost 20 points under Abhisit administration by 2010.

Actually, it didn't drop by 20 points under the Abhisit administration. Each report is compiled from surveys published in the previous 12-18 months.

The 2010 results are drawn from 13 surveys and assessments published between January 2009 and September 2010.

So from surveys taken during Abhisit's term, the CPI has dropped by 6 points.

Year	Rank	Score
2001	61		3.2
2002	64		3.2
2003	70		3.3
2004	64		3.6
2005	59		3.8
2006	63		3.6
2007	84		3.3
2008	80		3.5
2009	84		3.4
2010	78		3.5

Note that even Transparency International say that the figures are not suitable for year to year comparison:

Given its methodology, the CPI is not a tool that is suitable for trend analysis or for monitoring changes in the perceived levels of corruption over time for all countries. Year-to-year changes in a country/territory’s score can result from a change in the perceptions of a country’s performance, a change in the ranking provided by original sources or changes in the methodology resulting from TI’s efforts to improve the index.

http://www.transparency.org/policy_research/surveys_indices/cpi/2010/in_detail

Edited June 7, 2011 by whybother