Fixing corruption in our govt system must be a top priority: Thai opinion

webfact · February 10, 2014

PART 2
Fixing corruption in our govt system must be a top priority
Special to The Nation

BANGKOK: -- If Thailand is to compete with China and its rivals in Asia and elsewhere, fixing the corruption within our government system must be the priority.

For political reform in Thailand, we offer the following suggestions:

6 Consequences for election fraud and vote buying

Any politician found to be involved in election fraud and vote-buying (including giving "gift" money to community leaders to hold meetings, or as wedding/birthday gifts, etc) will be handed a mandatory jail term and fine and be banned for life from politics (retroactive effect, and no statute of limitations).

Political debates and/or public hearings must be a requirement prior to the election of the PM or other high-level politicians in government.

7 Minimum qualifications for ministerial appointees

Ministers, deputy ministers and ministerial advisers must be selected (and vetted) on the principle of the "best-qualified person for the job" and not by political quota. Nominated candidates and their advisers must be the best-qualified choices, possessing the best technical background and professional experience in the relevant field.

Such positions play critical roles in advancing the national interest and are thus not to be handed to unskilled and inexperienced individuals or unqualified publicly elected representatives.

Thus, all such senior appointees must be vetted and approved by an independent panel of experts from the relevant professional societies or associations.

For example, the nominated candidate for Justice Minister must receive confirmation from a panel formed by the Bar Association. Likewise, the candidate for Commerce Minister must receive the green light from a panel formed by the Federation of Thai Industries and the Thai Chamber of Commerce.

8 MPs are not eligible for any ministerial post

At present politicians fight for ministerial posts, eager to get their hands on the large budgets and their attendant kickbacks. Ministries with smaller budgets are generally considered "second-rate" and less desirable among senior politicians.

To minimise the chance of corruption, all future elected MPs are ineligible for ministerial positions.

Instead, their role is to set the national agenda and serve as watchdogs, ensuring that government officials and ministries perform as stated in their policy, ending the practice of buying votes, which inevitably leads to corruption in office.

9 Check and balance

At present we have no effective means to prosecute corrupt law-enforcement officers, district attorneys, judicial staff and ministers. Existing ones are often lengthy, clumsy and next to useless.

These corrupt individuals can lie in public or behave in unethical ways to support corrupt officials without fear of legal consequences. This is because there are few checks and balances in our judicial system. So how can we bring such individuals to book?

One suggestion is via a special prosecuting unit attached to the high court, with the authority and resources to expedite arrests without requiring approval for warrants from officials who could be corrupt. Recall that the Chinese government has prosecuted more than 209,000 national and civic officials in the past five years.

10 Public authority to remove elected MPs and senior government officials

Thailand has 500 elected MPs and a handful of senior government officials in key critical positions that are vital to our national interests. With the population at 67 million, each MP represents 134,000 Thais.

At present, elected MPs with a record of corruption can only be impeached by their peers - a process that will never be initiated, since these MPs are well protected by their political parties.

Reforms must give citizens the authority to remove any elected or appointed government official or senior official via a mass petition. For example:

Removing an MP would require 500,000 signatures of eligible voters;

Removing a minister or senior government official (such as the chief of police), 1 million signatures;

Removing the prime minister, 1.5 million signatures.

11 Education on election and fraud

This should start as early as possible (in elementary school) to a cultivate strong sense of civic duty from an early age.

The Election Commission should routinely run courses at all levels of education on individuals' electoral rights and responsibilities.

All candidates for Parliament must sign a public oath against all forms of corruption and election fraud, as well as publicly denouncing election fraud and vote buying.

All ballot booths and polling stations must post lists of all forms of election fraud, corrupt acts, and the legal consequences of such violations.

Each voter must read, sign and take home a one-page contract stating that he/she has not engaged in any form of electoral fraud - taking bribes or any form of compensation from any candidates - with the penalties for doing so clearly stated.

12 Disclosure of all forms of gifts

Since corruption has plagued Thai politics and government system for so long, one way to begin the clean-up process is to require that all public officials publicly disclose all forms of gifts and monetary contributions received while in office.

In the State of New Jersey, a major corruption case at a university led to just such a requirement of state employees. Failure to report, or giving false information, is considered professional misconduct and thus risks dismissal.

Each New Jersey state university has set up an ethics office to force staff, annually, to turn in any presents they receive from students and others. The collected presents are then donated to charities and hospitals.

13 Nepotism laws

Major corporations in the US rarely allow family members to work in the same place due to conflict of interests. Likewise, in Thailand we need better regulations against politicians appointing relatives to key positions in the government.

14 Reforms for sustainable growth and long-term prosperity

Educational system: True democracy is not just about rights, but also about responsibilities and good citizenship. The majority of the Thai populace only understand and demands the first half of the definition - their rights. No one, especially not the government, cares about individual responsibilities and good citizenship. In addition to poverty (and wealth inequality), failures in our education system are deemed the major culprit for this ignorance. One key to the success of mature democracies is the level of education of their citizens.

Their populations are educated well enough to know what true democracy is and what their individual responsibilities are to make it work. If Thailand is serious about having true democracy underpin its social order, then major education reforms, particularly at pre-college level, must be carefully planned, developed and implemented.

The two-sides of the coin of true democracy must be instilled in our children from the earliest possible age. The same goes for campaigns against corruption and materialism. Subjects related to civic and religious duties, social ethics and morals, and history must be brought back with strong commitment and support to ensure their effective delivery.

This is the second instalment of a three-part article to be concluded tomorrow.

-- The Nation 2014-02-11

NeverSure · February 10, 2014

Put me in charge for a month and I'll get rid of all those corrupt politicians.

I'll be worth a billion baht by the end of that month, too.

jaltsc · February 11, 2014

"Any politician found to be involved in election fraud and vote-buying (including giving "gift" money to community leaders to hold meetings, or as wedding/birthday gifts, etc) will be handed a mandatory jail term and fine and be banned for life from politics (retroactive effect, and no statute of limitations)."

Then you will have anarchy since there won't be any politicians left to run for office

JRSoul · February 11, 2014

Sounds like a plan.

selftaopath · February 11, 2014

MARVELOUS plan, and if ever implemented Thailand would surely be a genuine "leading" nation; especially in Asia.

NongKhaiKid · February 11, 2014

Fixing Corruption in Thailand ?

This is Mutiny Mr. Christian, how can anyone suggest changing generations of culture, tradition and Thainess ?

rametindallas · February 11, 2014

This being Thailand, my question is: who is going to watch the watchers? I think laws written by men can also be subverted by men. Has any corrupt country in history become uncorrupt? I think the Chinese method of a bullet to the back of the head will deter about 10% of the corruption but Buddhist Thais think that either they will get caught or they will not get caught and will do what they want as their Kharma is already set from their last life. At least the bullet to the back of the head will stop repeat offenders.

EricBerg · February 11, 2014

Well there's a start. Now see after elections how it is implemented. The whole thing is a long process. But when the people are ready for it there is a strong basis to actually start catching corruption criminals.

mightyatom · February 11, 2014

I largely agree with these and I am hoping they will include something to capture populist policies.

A scrutiny committee should have to look through the top points of a political party's pre-election agenda and rubber stamp it before it can be put to the voter.

I suspect this article pinpoints what most of reforms will consist of.

I have only read this middle part, I will look for the first part, I must have missed that.

People need to start doing their jail sentences also, and if they try to BS the courts, it should be doubled just like the judicial system for normal people.

mightyatom · February 11, 2014

This is only for politicians and high up officials such as police.

They are not ordinary Thais, that Buddhism thing is more of a show thing for those in politics which can be proven by the way they break just about every rule of a good buddhist.

The watchers if caught should get double the punishment than those they are watching.... That clears up that little problem.

sam sen · February 11, 2014

that's all well and good but first you need to fix the police and judiciary. with bent coppers and a dodgy legal system (my GF is a lawyer and the stuff that goes on in the courts is shocking) you dont stand a chance of policing and enforcing the corrupt behaviour in the rest of society.

noitom · February 11, 2014

This "special to The Nation" discriminates against poor Thai farmers, laborers, and other ordinary Thais without formal education or "relevant" experience. It is highly discriminatory and exclusionary.

What is Thailand? An export economy, a cheap labor economy, the house of ill repute to the world, the ultimate destination for counterfeit property, a tourist economy? Just what exactly is the profile of Thailand of the future? How do its leaders plan to articulate unification of all the corrupt agendas that are at work? Does Thailand have leaders? Or just unnamed guest editors anonymously pontificating about reform and putting the cart before the horse?

englishoak · February 11, 2014

Some sensible ideals but just a thought, put it in Thai language and in some Thai papers, its about as useful as tits on a boar in the Nation and feed here.

Thai at Heart · February 11, 2014

MPs are not eligible for any ministerial post

At present politicians fight for ministerial posts, eager to get their hands on the large budgets and their attendant kickbacks. Ministries with smaller budgets are generally considered "second-rate" and less desirable among senior politicians.

To minimise the chance of corruption, all future elected MPs are ineligible for ministerial positions.

Instead, their role is to set the national agenda and serve as watchdogs, ensuring that government officials and ministries perform as stated in their policy, ending the practice of buying votes, which inevitably leads to corruption in office.

Appointed ministers?

Where on earth are they meant to find these selfless individuals who are going to do this job?

JRSoul · February 11, 2014

Why would Thailand, or any other country for that matter, want people "without formal education or "relevant" experience" as government ministers?

We've just had a government full of nepotism and cronies given MP seats and ministries as paybacks, and it has been a disaster.

Thai at Heart · February 11, 2014

Half the MPs on all sides have honorary degrees anyway.

I think that other than a few choice ministries, no parties would have enough qualified candidates.

englishoak · February 11, 2014

There is plenty of examples of people "without formal education" or "relevant experience" in many other countries what are you talking about ? its called variety and equal opportunity. Just like there are many successful business people without the afore mentioned, politics is not special and needs no special criteria just good morals and dedication ( yea I know its lacking here but )

jalansanitwong · February 11, 2014

Corruption is so ingrained in Thai society its impossible to see how things could ever change for the better.

You could try by appointing overseas Thai university graduates ( none from hi-so families) in their early twenties to have sweeping powers over all institutions.

They may not have much worldly experience but at least they havent been tainted with the filthy brush of corruption that has ruined this country.

expat888 · February 11, 2014

Thailand has always been great about their rhetoric whether it be law enforcement, education, or politics, but the reality is they have no intention to carry out any of their rhetoric.

Just a show.

wolfmanjack · February 11, 2014

I don't think a person with only a p6 education would be a very good finance minister.

chainarong · February 11, 2014

How many times a year do I read articles of this nature, it would benefit all , if less talk and more action was done to eradicate corruption, there always seems to be a list of remedies which appear to answer the problems , so why not act on these items instead of talking , very similar to the PTP, all talk no action party.

Publicus · February 11, 2014

First things first, which means to complete the Feb 2nd election, have an elected government, then organize a constitutional convention to write a new constitution.The constitutional convention needs to be organized by an elected government, so that's the starting point.

Because the DP has voluntarily forfeit its standing to be in government and will have no MPs, the new elected government should include some unelected DP members in the cabinet as a gesture of unity. DP members would also be included in the constitutional convention to show their loyalty to democracy and democratic principles.

A newly installed elected government needs to arrest all insurrectionist leaders, try them, then pardon all who may be convicted. No Thais are to be expelled from Thailand.

The constitutional convention should also decide what to do with everyone charged in the 2010 civil disorders and riots, on all sides of it.

If the Thais can't write a viable new constitution to facilitate order, peace, prosperity under the new scheme of things, they will deserve what they otherwise would bring upon themselves.

spidermike007 · February 11, 2014

There is little will here to wage any sort of battle against corruption. And that even assumes the authorities have authority. They do not. The law prevents them from having authority. Even if they wanted to use their "authority" to prevent crime and clean up this corruption infested land, they could not. Why? Because the police are compromised. Because the judiciary is compromised. Even when the blue moon arises, and someone is arrested, they are let off by the impotent judges, who give them a 1,000 baht fine, or a suspended sentence, or in the rare case of a conviction, a suspended sentence. So, the Thai authorities have no teeth. The system ensures that. Nobody is afraid of them. The punk thug crime bosses all know they are immune, especially if they have cash. So, what is the solution? Dismantle the present structure, from the bottom up. Will that ever happen? One can only be hopeful. How much courage does it take to stand up and say "this is not working, and I need to do something"? Where is the Anne Hazare of Thailand? In other countries in the region officials are getting arrested, tried, convicted, and sentenced to long prison terms. And here? Zero convictions of high ranking officials. Why? No interest in upsetting the apple cart.

JRSoul · February 11, 2014

Yeah right. Take Yingluk (please god).

Emptyset · February 11, 2014

Ministers in the UK are often appointed with no directly relevant experience. And as a rule, they're all MPs. Thailand actually has a far more technocratic tradition of 'experts' being appointed than the UK does. I guess it comes from the idea that ministers should be responsible to the electorate and subjecting to vetting in parliament rather than merely chosen by the PM because he/she believes they have relevant skills. It's clearly a limit to democracy, having ministers choosen by special committees and the like. There's an assumption they'd be better at their jobs, but often being skilled in your area of expertise doesn't equate to being a great minister. There's a certain amount of political nous required to be able to get things done. You can imagine there being far more fighting and squabbling about these positions that there is now. I can see situations where it takes months to get someone appointed as it goes back and fourth between different committees and the PM.

Some of the other ideas sound good and maybe some are workable. But a lot of them are uneforcable. Like I said yesterday, harsher laws against corruption are simply less likely to be enforced. And more likely to be used against political opponents to put them out of the game for good. It could be disastrous. To deal with corruption, perhaps it's best not to attack it directly with more laws (there are perfectly good laws in place), reforming libel laws in order to ensure the press is free to criticize and investigate corrupt politicians (plus military, police and bureaucracy etc) and creating a high energy democracy, which involves more public participation, not less.

LevelHead · February 11, 2014

A complete and utter nonsense the lot of it.

Looks how stupid they are when they say this :

Removing an MP would require 500,000 signatures of eligible voters;

Removing a minister or senior government official (such as the chief of police), 1 million signatures;

Removing the prime minister, 1.5 million signatures.

It is easy to get 1.5 million signatures for the Democrat Party or PTP.

So every week there would be a new petition and every week the PM would be removed and the whole country would be ungovernable. Utter stupidity is rampant throughout the whole article.

In my opinion of course.

LevelHead · February 11, 2014

Reform number 1

Every Thai ID card holder must declare contents of all bank accounts in every country in the world for themselves and their children. Failure to do so will result in a 10 year jail terms and confiscation by the state of all monies in undeclared accounts. No person is excluded from this.

Every Thai ID card holder or their children who has over 100 million baht in total assets worldwide (land and property and cash and investments) must be subject to a full and thorough investigation by forensic accountants to go over how they got their money/land/properties - going back a minimum of 30 years. No person is excluded from this. There will be a 6 month "no questions asked" period prior to implementation and people can sign over land, property and donate monies to a state fund without questions. Once the 6 month period is over then any person found to be in possession of monies, investments, land or properties that they cannot account for from non-corrupt practices then the assets will be seized by the state and mandatory 10 year jail term with no parole.

That would be the first step to National Reform.

sweatalot · February 11, 2014

May be anarchý would be the preferable option?

nong38 · February 11, 2014

Its going to be very difficult to stamp out, its part of the culture, part of the income for the vast majority, low wages supplemented by a "bit on the side". The "odd" gift or envelope under the table are difficult to resist especially if that might offend. I wish anyone well who can make an impact on this part of the make up of the country but I fear it will be doomed as the people who are hired to sort it out might get some extra post to help them make sure they see things right. I would hope that at some time there will be some fine upstanding citizens who can come to grips with one of the biggest problems the country faces.

Thailand · February 11, 2014

In any country of the world!

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