Thai Govt Turns A Blind Eye To Rampant Corruption: Flood-Reconstruction Projects

[webfact]

Flood projects 'rife with corruption'

Kanittha Theppajorn

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- The government has turned a blind eye to rampant corruption in the flood-reconstruction projects, with the ruling Pheu Thai Party's supporters enriching themselves by Bt30 billion from the Bt120-billion spending plan, the Democrats alleged yesterday.

"Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has lapsed into condoning corruption involving her cronies and relatives," Democrat MP Nipit Intarasombat said during the censure debate.

For post-flooding road repair, contractors had to pay 30 per cent commissions in order to get the jobs, Nipit said. Several contracts in the Northeast were bogus and no repairs were done or even needed, he said.

Certain figures close to the government, whom Nipit identified as "the white-haired man" and "the woman with an initial D", had amassed ill-gotten gains amounting to 30 to 40 per cent of the reconstruction spending.

He said he was puzzled why Deputy Prime Minister Chalerm Yoobamrung insisted he had found no irregularities after the Office of the Auditor-General and the Public Sector Anti-Corruption Commission had confirmed the launch of graft probes.

Of the 171 reconstruction projects in the Northeast, a winning contractor suspiciously got 43 projects, Democrat MP Niphon Bunyamanee said. The company, Pitpibul Partnership Limited, located in Mukdahan, has registered capital of Bt1 million and was formed in January. One of its partners is Nilrat Sithipan, who is related to Transport Minister Chatchart Sithipan, Niphon said.

Democrat MP Wiruch Romyen said another winning contractor in Nakhon Nayok happened to have a managing director who was a former secretary to Chatchart when he was the deputy transport minister. Kriangkrai Kittitanesuan, managing director of the Visithichai Co, used to serve under Chatchart before getting the Bt47 million contract, Wiruch said.

Wiruch said he suspected foul play because the benchmark price for the repairs of a seven-kilometre road was set at Bt5.9 million per kilometre while the normal price at an e-auction would be Bt2.7 million per kilometre.

Furthermore, the road in question was not even located in the flooded area, he said.

-- The Nation 2012-11- 28

[Moruya]

What a bunch of crooks

[dave1212]

Pigs + Trough = PT

[laurentbkk]

Those people know they are in power for very short time , the most important is how fast they can fill up their pockets .... and they pretend to work for the sake of the country ? what a bunch of

[OzMick]

Of course, if you hold a rally to protest such rampant and blatant corruption, you are undemocratic. After all, PTP won the election and should be allowed to steal as much as possible in their (hopefully) very limited time in office.

There should be an official award for the MP to steal the most, awarded posthumously after the public execution.

Edited November 28, 2012 by OzMick

[clockman]

All good Buddhists, stealing the peoples money!

[h90]

"The government turned a blind eye"????

They are the stealing the money.....

[Soupdragon]

All good Buddhists, stealing the peoples money!

No doubt they are thanking Budda for providing for them so handsomely.

[ridkun]

This is not a news, this is history. Fairly speaking, has any government ever accepted that there are corruption except for putting blame on lower rank official? In current state of majority dictatorship, everything we said will be answered by "we won election. we are majority. you are minority. you are trying to overthrow the elected majority government, please rather respect majority and wait until next election". I would say anyway, that they raised the money very early and nobody knows where the figure comes from. It looks really like they just take the advantage from flood disaster to make it sounds right to make loan of that much money, without anybody knowing what they should do with that amount except taking some into their own pockets.

[MaxLee]

And you know where the money for all those so called flood mega projects went to????

-> Rice scheme

And by the way, the weather authorities of Thailand were obviously bribed under the table not to share any severe weather storm warnings ever since the end of the rainy season...

I noticed it was raining really, really hard last week and especially this weekend, but nothing has been reported and my area in Bangna and Samut Prakan got slightly flooded

Anyone experiencing heavy rain storm and floodings that haven't been reported for over a month now????

Edited November 28, 2012 by MaxLee

[smutcakes]

I dont think there is any doubt that this Government is massively corrupt. It just all seems a bit strange the Democrats standing there pointing out the corruption etc in a effort to get rid of the Government, and when they do get in power they to will do many of the corrupt things they are now pointing out.

Its really just like a full time soap opera. The PTP know nothing will come of this debate, the Democrats know nothing will come of it. They will all then go home, and start plotting how to stay in power/how to get into power, with getting their noses in the trough being the end game.

[culicine]

Plenty of road work in Nonthaburi too - lots of concrete flood barriers going up along roads and underpasses - nevermind they are incomplete or have gaping holes in them...what a waste of money.

[bigbamboo]

I dont think there is any doubt that this Government is massively corrupt. It just all seems a bit strange the Democrats standing there pointing out the corruption etc in a effort to get rid of the Government, and when they do get in power they to will do many of the corrupt things they are now pointing out.

Its really just like a full time soap opera. The PTP know nothing will come of this debate, the Democrats know nothing will come of it. They will all then go home, and start plotting how to stay in power/how to get into power, with getting their noses in the trough being the end game.

Of course most politicians are corrupt, that's why they get involved in politics in the first place but this government has taken corruption to a whole new level not seen before.

It's a worrying development for those who wish to see Thailand thrive and survive.

[smutcakes]

I dont think there is any doubt that this Government is massively corrupt. It just all seems a bit strange the Democrats standing there pointing out the corruption etc in a effort to get rid of the Government, and when they do get in power they to will do many of the corrupt things they are now pointing out.

Its really just like a full time soap opera. The PTP know nothing will come of this debate, the Democrats know nothing will come of it. They will all then go home, and start plotting how to stay in power/how to get into power, with getting their noses in the trough being the end game.

Of course most politicians are corrupt, that's why they get involved in politics in the first place but this government has taken corruption to a whole new level not seen before.

It's a worrying development for those who wish to see Thailand thrive and survive.

I am not refuting that. I am sure it is only in the past 10-15 years with huge developments in media/news reporting etc that this corruption issue has really come to the forefront at all. Prior to there being reliable news outlets, god knows how much money was heading out the back door over the past 50 years.

[McMagus]

'A certain white haired man'..... 'a lady whose name starts with D'........

Like a scene from the Goon show...

Seagoon: Now, which one of you two is Mr. Crun?

Minnie: I'm Miss Bannister.

Seagoon: Never mind who you are. Which one is Henry Crun?

Minnie: Don't tell him, Henry!

Henry: No! I'm not going to tell him, Min. In any case... in any case, why do you want to know my name?

Seagoon: Mr. Crun! You make cardboard models and scenery.

Henry: If I was Mr. Crun... which I'm not admitting... yes, I do.

[hellodolly]

Not sure I would call it turn blind eye to corruption.

That is giving them credit for having intelligence.

[Tatsujin]

As some of us said many, many months ago . . . there is no way they had spent that money in a correct or sensible manner.

[retarius]

I wondered about this....up here in Isaan there is tons of roadwork going on, and in areas where there is no flooding. Route 2 before Korat has been torn up mile after mile to put in flood drains....but this section of the road doesn't flood, and even the sections that flood very occasionally, like near Pak Chong the flooding only lasts for an hour or two....it floods at the Saraburi end.

Usually when you put a budget together you decide what needs doing, cost out each individual project, and then add it up. I remember when they were putting the budget together for this, they decided on the figure before they had a plan to cost it out. Thailand is doomed if it doesn't get a handle on this type and scale of corruption. Infrastructure is being built that costs 30 to 50% more than it should, and on top of that the contractors do a substandard job with substandard material. It's no way to run a country. Sadly, there is no-one to vote for who isn't as bent as a nine-bob note.

[MaxLee]

So what happened to those public weather reports ever since the end of your Bangkok water drainage and the so called terrible Gaemi storm depression???

I think for Yingluck and goons the Flood project is case closed, while Mother Nature starts to make a comeback early next year…

I mean such extreme night storms near December where it's supposed to be cold season, give me the feeling that something is really up in Global Warming season change air, really nasty for next year early on…

I KNEW this whole Mother Nature agenda with natural disaster is just getting started, prepare for next year, folks, because next year, Mother Nature is not gonna show any mercy anymore around the globe...

Edited November 28, 2012 by MaxLee

[Ragzilb]

I think we can all agree this has been knows for a long time, the question is who is going to do anything about it.

Even the biggest revolution starts with just one person

[Rancid]

I've been saying for ever that corruption can only exist in one place and one place only, government, as such the bigger the government and its arms then the bigger the fraud, corruption and theft. And that includes every sector of government, governmnet power is used to make money pure and simple, don't pay no result.

We in the West love our Nanny States, so we we don't have to take care of our children or look after aging parents, we can get freebies, we can get paid for not working. They are also magnets to useless parasitic immigrants. Western governments and attending bureaucracies are huge, does anyone really imagine corruption isn't as well? It isn't just Thailand, it is everywhere.

As a culture that loves big government and by assocation the attendent corruption, why bother complaining about the Thai version? Did you ever complain back home or you just got your share?

[Globeman]

Of course, if you hold a rally to protest such rampant and blatant corruption, you are undemocratic. After all, PTP won the election and should be allowed to steal as much as possible in their (hopefully) very limited time in office.

There should be an official award for the MP to steal the most, awarded posthumously after the public execution.

The rally to protest the corruption wasn't held up as undemocratic - the Pitak Siam leader was. The guy was actively (and treasonously, as it happens), calling for a military coup... it doesn't get less democratic than that.

Yes, the sitting government are thieves of the highest order, but a coup isn't the solution.