Like It Or Not, Corruption Is The Name Of The Game In Thailand

[givenall]

I guess this is the kind of attitude keep the rich rich and make them richer and the poor poor and continue to get poorer

I guess you get what you wish for

[Noistar]

They claimed that every government is corrupt and politically intervene in public administration. (MCOT online news)

This gets trotted out every time corruption in Thailand is mentioned.

I don't believe the attitude exhibited in Thailand would last 5 minutes in the developed world.

Rule of law perhaps. Accountability. Being made to justify decisions, apparent nepotism, etc, etc.

Yes, there will be corruption anywhere you can get away with it. It's frightening the Thais have this attitude condoning it.

How many countries speak Thai? How many countries have such a blatantly corrupt society? Presumably those that want to remain insular and forever live in the past.

Seems the PTP have landed on their feet, and as has been said, the electorate are quite happy to be played for suckers.

[Bpuumike]

It takes one to know one and at least start making an end to it.

Come on Chuwit!!!

[thaiedward]

They claimed that every government is corrupt and politically intervene in public administration. (MCOT online news)

This gets trotted out every time corruption in Thailand is mentioned.

I don't believe the attitude exhibited in Thailand would last 5 minutes in the developed world.

Rule of law perhaps. Accountability. Being made to justify decisions, apparent nepotism, etc, etc.

Yes, there will be corruption anywhere you can get away with it. It's frightening the Thais have this attitude condoning it.

How many countries speak Thai? How many countries have such a blatantly corrupt society? Presumably those that want to remain insular and forever live in the past.

Seems the PTP have landed on their feet, and as has been said, the electorate are quite happy to be played for suckers.

Is there a government more corrupt than that. of the US? Actually, the US no longer has a government of the people. Bankers and Plutocratic financiers run the show. The people of the US hardly know a thing since all the mainstream media are are run by the self-same criminals. The US soon will be a fully-fledged police state.

[thrilled]

It's all about the baht.Money talks.If ya have the right amount of money I believe ya can possibly

get away with any crime.But i'm not going to test it.

[Gone]

I moved here knowing about the corruption and 12 years later I'm still here and except it. Doesn't bother me in the least. If it ever becomes like a said "developed country" then I will move again to a more underdeveloped country with corruption.

I love Thailand the way it is NOW and wouldn't change it. I love living on the edge, never knowing what will happen next and being able to get what I want with the almighty baht pay-off.

Having said that, the reason I left Canada is because there is only one type of corruption there and it is called "The Government" and not 1 Canadian does a dam_n thing to change it, we just accept it the same way the Thais accept it here.

[jbrain]

eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeer, hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, .

I think time has come to spend some money on a new keyboard mate.

Edited September 7, 2012 by jbrain

[David Barker]

Last night Soi 80 in Hua Hin sat at the front of a bar BIB pulls up on motorbike 3 bars away obviously wondered what was going on he goes in 30 secs later back out and into bar next to us 30secs later out and into bar where we where goes to bar collects 300bht then into next bar same thing 4 bars 2/3 mins and collects 1200bht then his radio goes so onto bike and away when I asked one of the bar girls she said Oh it every thursday he will be back to the others shortly, half hr later sure enough starts where he left off.

When you see it happening it hits home what the state of things are.

[jbrain]

Last night Soi 80 in Hua Hin sat at the front of a bar BIB pulls up on motorbike 3 bars away obviously wondered what was going on he goes in 30 secs later back out and into bar next to us 30secs later out and into bar where we where goes to bar collects 300bht then into next bar same thing 4 bars 2/3 mins and collects 1200bht then his radio goes so onto bike and away when I asked one of the bar girls she said Oh it every thursday he will be back to the others shortly, half hr later sure enough starts where he left off.

When you see it happening it hits home what the state of things are.

Would you have preferred that he came in and said, come on boys time to go sleep?

[h90]

As it is said, in a Democracy the people get the government they deserve, not the government they need.

Are you suggesting thailand needs a coup?

Absolutely not, what Thailand needs is to mature as a society.

Some times I think it's still stuck in the same vices as Victorian Era England.

actually in Thailand I do see a lot of people who want to improve the system, while I never saw and British who want to improve the British system which goes down as well.

so there is some hope (for Thailand)

[jbrain]

As it is said, in a Democracy the people get the government they deserve, not the government they need.

Are you suggesting thailand needs a coup?

Absolutely not, what Thailand needs is to mature as a society.

Some times I think it's still stuck in the same vices as Victorian Era England.

actually in Thailand I do see a lot of people who want to improve the system, while I never saw and British who want to improve the British system which goes down as well.

so there is some hope (for Thailand)

Most probably the British have realised that there is no hope.

[David Barker]

Last night Soi 80 in Hua Hin sat at the front of a bar BIB pulls up on motorbike 3 bars away obviously wondered what was going on he goes in 30 secs later back out and into bar next to us 30secs later out and into bar where we where goes to bar collects 300bht then into next bar same thing 4 bars 2/3 mins and collects 1200bht then his radio goes so onto bike and away when I asked one of the bar girls she said Oh it every thursday he will be back to the others shortly, half hr later sure enough starts where he left off.

When you see it happening it hits home what the state of things are.

Would you have preferred that he came in and said, come on boys time to go sleep?

As it was only 10pm that would have been cruel

[jbrain]

Last night Soi 80 in Hua Hin sat at the front of a bar BIB pulls up on motorbike 3 bars away obviously wondered what was going on he goes in 30 secs later back out and into bar next to us 30secs later out and into bar where we where goes to bar collects 300bht then into next bar same thing 4 bars 2/3 mins and collects 1200bht then his radio goes so onto bike and away when I asked one of the bar girls she said Oh it every thursday he will be back to the others shortly, half hr later sure enough starts where he left off.

When you see it happening it hits home what the state of things are.

Would you have preferred that he came in and said, come on boys time to go sleep?

As it was only 10pm that would have been cruel

You think so?

[noitom]

Thailand is the master of the universe when it comes to the sex trade. The sex trade sets the bar for social thought and behavior. As long as society tolerates rampant pervasive participation in the sex trade by all levels of society whether declared professional or free lancer, then it's open season on a corrupted philosophy with limited values. The sex trade was really the first "international" scale enterprise of Thailand. Where foreigners would actually plan to travel here for sex. Long before that, Thailand specialized in sex trade for its domestic customers which geometrically dwarfs foreign sex trade today. Secondly, Thailand's history of cash real estate investment, sex trade and other black economy money sourced through the drug trade hub in Bangkok clearly links links the "corruption" factor.

The Thai "culture" of corruption and its escalation are its prescription for becoming an official "failed state" with endless refills. No other country takes Thailand seriously as a "legitimate" business partner and camps in here because they can freely play the corruption, payoff, bribery scheme with cheap labor and limited benefits or negative ramifications and bought off politicians and government organizations. Because everything can be bought out for a lower cost than the cost of making it right. Thailand's "Mr. 20%s" start out right away slicing in to a new business venture's margins right after a BOI intro or even before. Then comes the squeezing of profits at the expense of safety, benefits, and fair play with employees.

As this philosophy of corruption continues to eat away at government, police and military organizations, they become less and less able or willing to enforce law. The less that they enforce law, the more complacent about it all the regular folks get. The state then escalates to a Fascist type regime, and shortly thereafter becomes an "official" failed state. Thailand already meets many of the prerequisites for defining a failed state.

[Nisa]

No other country takes Thailand seriously as a "legitimate" business partner and camps in here because they can freely play the corruption, payoff, bribery scheme with cheap labor and limited benefits or negative ramifications and bought off politicians and government organizations.

You might want to check your facts on this from the views of Thailand's trading partners to the numerous trade organizations Thailand belongs to the foriegn investment in Thailand to the fact Thailand GDP is largely based on export and it being the 2nd largest economy in SE Asia.

[hellodolly]

Money flows uphill here so the best people for the job rarely find themselves in the job they deserve. You have to look no farther than the PM.

The net result of that process is that ministries and policies are geared for skimming rather than benefitting either the people or the country.

If that's what the Thai people want, then I hope they will be happy lodged in one generation of progress behind much of the world. If they aspire to be better than Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam then they will need to up their game to stay in the race. If they hope to compete with Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia in Asean then a major overhaul is needed.

That is not what the Thai people want.

The poll was a idiotic one. They asked them if it benefited them.

Go back and ask the same people if it takes money out of their pocket.

Guaranteed you will see a different result. Idiots the lot of them.

Thailand becoming the hub of idiotic poll's

[Notstupid30]

Money flows uphill here so the best people for the job rarely find themselves in the job they deserve. You have to look no farther than the PM.

The net result of that process is that ministries and policies are geared for skimming rather than benefitting either the people or the country.

If that's what the Thai people want, then I hope they will be happy lodged in one generation of progress behind much of the world. If they aspire to be better than Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam then they will need to up their game to stay in the race. If they hope to compete with Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia in Asean then a major overhaul is needed.

That is not what the Thai people want.

The poll was a idiotic one. They asked them if it benefited them.

Go back and ask the same people if it takes money out of their pocket.

Guaranteed you will see a different result. Idiots the lot of them.

Thailand becoming the hub of idiotic poll's

absolutely yes

[hellodolly]

They claimed that every government is corrupt and politically intervene in public administration. (MCOT online news)

This gets trotted out every time corruption in Thailand is mentioned.

I don't believe the attitude exhibited in Thailand would last 5 minutes in the developed world.

Rule of law perhaps. Accountability. Being made to justify decisions, apparent nepotism, etc, etc.

Yes, there will be corruption anywhere you can get away with it. It's frightening the Thais have this attitude condoning it.

How many countries speak Thai? How many countries have such a blatantly corrupt society? Presumably those that want to remain insular and forever live in the past.

Seems the PTP have landed on their feet, and as has been said, the electorate are quite happy to be played for suckers.

Well according to Transparency International

There is about 97 more corrupt countries.

[badsign]

sadly it's so true.....even all my Thai friends believe it's hopeless to fight the system...

I just wish I could put into words how corrupton destroys the countries soul and any

hope for the future......

[Nisa]

sadly it's so true.....even all my Thai friends believe it's hopeless to fight the system...

I just wish I could put into words how corrupton destroys the countries soul and any

hope for the future......

I think you may be being a little dramatic here in terms of hope and soul of the country being lost. There is no country without accepted corruption. Do you really think in the west the rich and big business don't control the politicians and get away with harming the public for their profit or that if you are rich you get the same treatment (sentence) in court as a poor person. Every country has various degrees of corruption but in less developed ones the corruption is often more blatant and on a scale where less well off people can benefit from it too. As societies modernize the corruption is largely limited to the powerful at the expense of its citizens.

But not to worry, the wishes of many posters here, are not that far off in terms of Thailand becoming much more like the west where rules and regulations will strictly be enforced when it comes to the common folks.

You want to talk about soulless countries ... take a look at Singapore, one of the least corrupt countries in the world. A country that lacks any real character and filled with expressionless people moving from point A to point B.

Give me the 42nd Street of old and there is a place that had a soul and not some corporate over policed tourist magnet.

Edited September 7, 2012 by Nisa

[noitom]

Try picking up a copy of The Jungle Book, Chang Noi (Chris Baker) for a little background. You can find it in Asia Books.

[stefb1964]

I came to read the article thinking I was going to read something I didn't know already. I gues they ran out of shootings, accidents, suicides to write about...

[redroo]

Edited September 7, 2012 by redroo

[David006]

It's not the corruption that I find unacceptable it is the ever increasing level of greed that goes along with it.

+1 mate ....the way of the world .... selfish avarice

[noitom]

Last night Soi 80 in Hua Hin sat at the front of a bar BIB pulls up on motorbike 3 bars away obviously wondered what was going on he goes in 30 secs later back out and into bar next to us 30secs later out and into bar where we where goes to bar collects 300bht then into next bar same thing 4 bars 2/3 mins and collects 1200bht then his radio goes so onto bike and away when I asked one of the bar girls she said Oh it every thursday he will be back to the others shortly, half hr later sure enough starts where he left off.

When you see it happening it hits home what the state of things are.

They view this as "tax" that the bars and the girls and all involved don't pay.

[TechnikaIII]

I don't know why we should make such a big deal of this. Corruption is what drives US conservative politics, drags the rest of the world into horrific conflicts, and rapes the 3rd World of it's resources. Relatively speaking, Thai corruption is for the most part localised. US corruption global.

[ttelise]

Is it really corruption if it is accepted and common? Corruption is like rules and laws in that the majority only have problems with either if they hurt or hinder them but tend to enjoy them when they benefit them.

Is it really shit if it smells like shit, looks like shit and came out if a dog's butt? Perhaps it's just a pretty flower looking to plant roots, grow and end up on someone's dinner table. One mans flower is another man's shit.

That's pretty much all I got to say about your view on corruption.

[berg1666]

Reducing the "hassle factor" when paying fines would go a long way to reducing bribery. I mean, when caught speeding, would you rather traipse all the way down to the police station, fill out endless forms, waste at least a couple of hours of your life, and then pay a 250 baht fine, or pay 500 baht cash direct to the police officer? I know which one I would rather do.

If I just got a ticket and had to pay it at the post office/bank/7 Eleven or via online within the next 7 days I would go the legit way.

[Dararasmi]

I don't know why we should make such a big deal of this. Corruption is what drives US conservative politics, drags the rest of the world into horrific conflicts, and rapes the 3rd World of it's resources. Relatively speaking, Thai corruption is for the most part localised. US corruption global.

Umm...how about we stay on topic? It's amusing how many of these forum discussions regarding Thailand turn into "America bashing".

(Yes, globally beneficial.)

[noob7]

As much as I've experienced and unhappy with the corruption problem in Thailand, it becomes a normal way of life when more than 2/3 of people don't take it as a problem. Pathetic, though.

I would say 9/10 don't take it as problem.

As long it isn't working against them, because someone has better/more 'arguments'!