Thai Government To Blame For Poor Graft Ranking

[whybother]

Yes, the Thai government is to blame, and the former governments and newspapers including the Nation who write down what the joker of their political liking is saying without ever questioning anyone, and the police and the army and the royalists, and all the judges including all those idiots that pass rulings while the entire world have seen them caught red handed on youtube and the crooked lawyers and so on and so on. In the end the only one who are screwed are the poor. Their voices are not heard because if they win an election and vote for change some old chap figures out that a coup is best for the country

Do you reckon their voices are heard when they do "win" an election?

[khunken]

Another obstacle to tackling this problem is the belief by some that it is entirely due to one party. Exhibit one for the other party would have to be their comrade in arms from Buri Ram.

Yes you are right but that party has been on both sides. I'm sure no one believes that there is any non-corrupt party in Thailand. But the scale of corruption of any of Thaksin's parties is way beyond any other. It's almost a recruitment requirement to be either corrupt or family - preferably both.

The scale of corruption in Thaksin's parties is probably not way beyond any other. Some of the smaller ones that have been involved in most governments for the last 10-15 years probably puts Thaksin's parties to shame.

Yes Banharn's & Newin's & Samak's were no angels. But I don't think they were (& are) in the same league as Thaksin's parties.

[khunken]

Yes, the Thai government is to blame, and the former governments and newspapers including the Nation who write down what the joker of their political liking is saying without ever questioning anyone, and the police and the army and the royalists, and all the judges including all those idiots that pass rulings while the entire world have seen them caught red handed on youtube and the crooked lawyers and so on and so on. In the end the only one who are screwed are the poor. Their voices are not heard because if they win an election and vote for change some old chap figures out that a coup is best for the country

Do you reckon their voices are heard when they do "win" an election?

There are no parties in Thailand that represent the 'poor'. The first poster here is just trolling.

[TheGhostWithin]

"We are not only competing with countries in Asean but should also look at the global level," he (Wicha Mahakun) said."

Before competing internationally, you might want to realise it is not a competition - it is an internal measurement of the success and efficiency of a government. And if it were a competition, it would appear Thailand is like a horse running out of steam - was going forward for a few years, and now going backwards. Try hard enough, and you will "beat" your competitor, the Philippines.. just 17 places to lose!

These results will not even take into account the graft surrounding the Rice Skimming Scheme, the alteration of laws to give the government more control over the army (which typically is not a bad thing, but the Army being a source of stability on the side of the King traditionally), or maybe even possibly not even taking into consideration the politicians of this country are now publicly discussing their role in taking orders from a fugitive, using laws designed to prevent public disorder to suppress protest in any shape or form against the government (it works in Singapore, but then again Singapore just doesn't have the road space for protesters), and the recent announcement that the former PM will be charged with the murder of a taxi driver by the Army (of which the government of the time did not have direct influence over).

Do the government realise that the lower they fall on ratings like this, the more likely that their credit rating will be downgraded due to potential for economic instability? Asean will not save them, it is a group of countries getting together for individual gain, just like 10 kids in a sand pit with 1 spade, and everyone wants to dig a tunnel.

[TheGhostWithin]

IF they all know about the poblems: When will they start to do someting?

My partner told me off last week, because I was set to discuss with my boss about having to work an hour extra paid each day, to keep up with the current work load (I get paid by the hour, for 8 hours only, but if the work is not done, its there the next day). Her thinking was that if I said nothing, eventually things would come right.

This is the Thai psyche, ignore a problem for long enough and it will go away. It has been this way since Thailands first interactions with the west, and definitely so accelerated during the Vietnam war. This attitude created places like Phuket, Pattaya and is the reason that the Outlaws MC have managed to buy up half of Nana Plaza - another thing which may not help the countries investment ratings, supporting and failing to halt international organised crime syndicates foreign enterprises.

[TheGhostWithin]

thats a bit of a change from 'corruption is ok so long as I benefit from it' to

'Asked for their feedback on Thailand’s 88th ranking worldwide, one-third -- 33 per cent -- say they feel ashamed and it tarnishes the country’s image, while nearly as many, 28 per cent, describe corruption as an urgent issue that must be addressed by the government now, 23 per cent say they feel sorry for the country having an increasing number of corrupt people, particularly politicians, and 16 per cent call for harsher punishment and serious enforcement of the law.'

Lets hope the people of Thailand will start to demand change with an ever increasing number of voices, but then there is always 'Mai pben rai' to deal with.

TomTao, lets look at it another way:

1: Nearly 7/10 people say corruption is not an issue in Thailand (67% for the books)

2: Of this 33%, 28% believe corruption is an urgent issue to be addressed: 78% of the country believe corruption is not an urgent issue to be addressed.

3: 77% of the country have no shame in the fall in the rating, and increased corruption in the country.

4: 84% of the country feel that there is no need to increase penalties and enforcement on corruption, as current laws and enforcement are sufficiently suppressing corruption to levels they feel comfortable at.

The view, if changed at all (I did not see the previous figures), has not changed nearly enough. Experience has shown that it either takes more corruption, or more than a majority to affect change in any area of Thai society, especially in Politics.

[timewilltell]

Well I for one am heartened to see at least one Thai who seems to have the beginnings of the concept that corruption is a bad thing for the country. I was beginning to wonder if there were any at all. This government may or may not be more corrupt than the last one - the point is they are just more transparent about corruption and just do it almost openly. It is such a non-issue to the government that they pass laws and schemes to actively encourage it.

How any company considers investing in this place is strange except for the Embassies tripping over themselves to promote business and sell support of their citizens down the river. With a corrupt civil justice system how can a business hope to be profitable. If the tax man doesn't screw you for being foreign there are a queue of others who will. And when the shit hits the fan the legal system will be there - not to help - but to finish you off. All business is based on contract and a robust civil justice system is needed for that to work. Thailand is going backwards into Africa.

[TomTao]

thats a bit of a change from 'corruption is ok so long as I benefit from it' to

'Asked for their feedback on Thailand’s 88th ranking worldwide, one-third -- 33 per cent -- say they feel ashamed and it tarnishes the country’s image, while nearly as many, 28 per cent, describe corruption as an urgent issue that must be addressed by the government now, 23 per cent say they feel sorry for the country having an increasing number of corrupt people, particularly politicians, and 16 per cent call for harsher punishment and serious enforcement of the law.'

Lets hope the people of Thailand will start to demand change with an ever increasing number of voices, but then there is always 'Mai pben rai' to deal with.

TomTao, lets look at it another way:

1: Nearly 7/10 people say corruption is not an issue in Thailand (67% for the books)

2: Of this 33%, 28% believe corruption is an urgent issue to be addressed: 78% of the country believe corruption is not an urgent issue to be addressed.

3: 77% of the country have no shame in the fall in the rating, and increased corruption in the country.

4: 84% of the country feel that there is no need to increase penalties and enforcement on corruption, as current laws and enforcement are sufficiently suppressing corruption to levels they feel comfortable at.

The view, if changed at all (I did not see the previous figures), has not changed nearly enough. Experience has shown that it either takes more corruption, or more than a majority to affect change in any area of Thai society, especially in Politics.

Lets hope the number of people who want change lncreases and they find thier voice sooner rather than later, otherwise we may see Thailand mirroring what happened in Greece not too long after ASEAN is formalised.

Sent from my GT-I9003

[notime]

thats a bit of a change from 'corruption is ok so long as I benefit from it' to

'Asked for their feedback on Thailand’s 88th ranking worldwide, one-third -- 33 per cent -- say they feel ashamed and it tarnishes the country’s image, while nearly as many, 28 per cent, describe corruption as an urgent issue that must be addressed by the government now, 23 per cent say they feel sorry for the country having an increasing number of corrupt people, particularly politicians, and 16 per cent call for harsher punishment and serious enforcement of the law.'

Lets hope the people of Thailand will start to demand change with an ever increasing number of voices, but then there is always 'Mai pben rai' to deal with.

TomTao, lets look at it another way:

1: Nearly 7/10 people say corruption is not an issue in Thailand (67% for the books)

2: Of this 33%, 28% believe corruption is an urgent issue to be addressed: 78% of the country believe corruption is not an urgent issue to be addressed.

3: 77% of the country have no shame in the fall in the rating, and increased corruption in the country.

4: 84% of the country feel that there is no need to increase penalties and enforcement on corruption, as current laws and enforcement are sufficiently suppressing corruption to levels they feel comfortable at.

This is because most Thais have no clue what corruption actually is and what does it do to them and their country. They equal corruption with money, or money for next to nothing, and since they all want it it must be good. "I want to be a policeman .. corruption mak mak" :-)

[waza]

The Thai masses think that corruption is the occasional payment of tea money, however this group by in large dont pay tax. The tax income is generated from corporate tax, VAT and the taxes of the middle class Thais. The very group that the Reds label yellowshirts, Pro-monarchy, blue shirts, "Patik Siam" ect and are being disinfranchised by the Thaksin political machine. The reds would have you believe that this group have no right to protest against their tax money being corrupted into Thaksin and his lick spittles pockets.

[wolfmanjack]

If they ranked places like Samui as a separate country she would easily be at 175 place. In addition, when will the government start to be serious about preventing corruption and start paying the public servants salaries that they can actually survive on without the need for kick-backs? I'm talking about 15-20 000 THB per month instead of 5-6 000 THB.

A guy working at the land office told me he was getting 20,000 a month. My sister in law was making 8,000 a month as a teacher right after she graduated from university.

Does anyone have first hand knowledge of what the police are being paid?

May I suggest that you take a tour of the parking lot at some of the government offices to get an idea of what these people are making. Most of my dealings have been with the forest department and they are all driving some pretty nice vehicles with no motorcycles to be seen.

Edited December 17, 2012 by wolfmanjack