NACC promotes corruption resistance at the provincial level

BANGKOK, 28 June 2014 (NNT) – The National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) has created Provincial National Anti-Corruption Commission offices to help the general public resist and prevent corruption in their communities.

Mr.Vicha Mahakun, Board of the NACC, said in the workshop ‘Broadcasting and Corporate Communications Strategy at the Provincial level’ held at the Dusit Princess Hotel, Nakhon Ratchasima Province that political conflicts and social context play important roles in complicating the corruption problem in Thailand.

At present, people are paying attention to corruption suppression, giving the NACC and Provincial NACC an opportunity to tell people that fighting corruption is a serious matter.

The NACC has set up its first provincial branches in 28 provinces all over the country.
Mr.Vicha added that Nakhon Ratchasima Province suffers from the most corruption of any regional area.

-- NNT 2014-06-29

good start , now lets change the laws to make the penalty fit the crime, INSTANT dismissal and removal of ALL pensions, claw back of DOUBLE the amount if required from family members etc (when proven guilty) and newspaper adds showing who has been caught this month and how much...then we can see it is being taken seriously ...

good start , now lets change the laws to make the penalty fit the crime, INSTANT dismissal and removal of ALL pensions, claw back of DOUBLE the amount if required from family members etc (when proven guilty) and newspaper adds showing who has been caught this month and how much...then we can see it is being taken seriously ...

Agreed. Actions speaks louder than words, and unfortunately, in the past, there has been more rhetoric and photo ops than there has been action against corruption. Not only should the individual nabbed for corruption be properly punished, but all his superiors too, all the way to the top. After all, if the head of the department cannot prevent the breaking of law from those who serve under him, how can he be expected to preserve law and order in the general population?

Then, when there is a photo of corrupt officials, the people around him should be made to point their fingers at themselves. A public display of loss of face will have infinitely more effect than anything previously tried. People will think twice before putting themselves and their families' reputations up to such ridicule and shame.

Of course, this needs to be strongly enforced which is something that has not been practiced in Thailand in the past.

Yes, good. But it will take more than this. The people, Citizen Joe and his wife, need to have it drummed home to them that long term benefits will come from not accepting corruption.

Yes, good. But it will take more than this. The people, Citizen Joe and his wife, need to have it drummed home to them that long term benefits will come from not accepting corruption.

You are right.

Like many I have a suspicious attitude to many opinion polls but let's not forget that in poll after poll Thais have said corruption isn't too bad providing it;s not excessive and everyone can benefit.

The attitude top to bottom needs a sea change and it will take a long time, if ever, to achieve.

I've been told that when corruption is accepted as a way of life it ceases to be wrong. The speaker, a Thai, wasn't excusing corruption simply explaining how easy it is to justify. That goes for so many other things too.

Keep going Prayuth!

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good start , now lets change the laws to make the penalty fit the crime, INSTANT dismissal and removal of ALL pensions, claw back of DOUBLE the amount if required from family members etc (when proven guilty) and newspaper adds showing who has been caught this month and how much...then we can see it is being taken seriously ...

It will never happen, the whole fabric of Thai society would need to be dismantled!

good start , now lets change the laws to make the penalty fit the crime, INSTANT dismissal and removal of ALL pensions, claw back of DOUBLE the amount if required from family members etc (when proven guilty) and newspaper adds showing who has been caught this month and how much...then we can see it is being taken seriously ...

Agree. ...and, for those who consider themselves to be "victims" of corrupt officials, channels for them to complain, have their complaint taken seriously, and swiftly investigated. This will require a lot of trust, and take a lot of courage for most of society - but without the wherewithall to deal legitimate complaints, how can miscreants be caught and punished?

what makes this hard is the fact that those that are forced to pay govt officials are afraid that they will be hit with payback. When certain govt officials make businesses pay them a percentage of their monthly proceeds(even though they have all the proper licences/paperwork to do it) or they will stall/stop their business from functioning it is a problem. The ones concerned can simply "lose" or "stall" the paperwork which then translates into late fees that run into huge amounts unless you pay them, I have accompanied my wife on these payment drops and watched hundreds of thousands changing hands, I would like nothing better than to report these corrupt mongrels but my wife and her company are scared that they will be hit even harder as there are some very high ranking officials involved in it.

They need to have confidence that if they report these people that the offenders will be removed immediately and the companies put under a protection order to stop any form of payback.People would be surprised at some names involved(not only ptp/govt lackies), corruption runs deep and really does need to be attacked with a serious attempt to remove it but the people need to know that it will not simply take forever for the guilty parties to be removed from the system.

Yes, good. But it will take more than this. The people, Citizen Joe and his wife, need to have it drummed home to them that long term benefits will come from not accepting corruption.

Ah yes but in the villages fear of retribution - seen so often in Lack of Sanctions - prevails. The village chiefs will "punish" individuals to keep a hold on their fiefdom and side money.

Yes, good. But it will take more than this. The people, Citizen Joe and his wife, need to have it drummed home to them that long term benefits will come from not accepting corruption.

Correct, but we all know it is not going to be taken seriously until they carry out the sentencing and seizures of assets of family members. Then you watch it all come to a grinding halt when they actually see this happening, and in some cases people who have taken, will seriously get frightened.

GOOD, another tick for the good General !!!

The average, honest, hard working Thai, would be absolutly terrified of " nameing and shaming " a suspected corrupt Official or " Business " person to the NACC for fear of severe reprisals against themselves or there families.

This fear has been the backbone of Thai culture for centurys, - fear and oppression are an everyday happening for these people.

To remove this fear and oppression from Thai culture will take decades, not 5 weeks.

A big part of the problem on the local level is structural. Local governing bodies have almost no taxation authority (tiny property tax on farmland, rarely even assessed). The salaries of mayors, township and county councils, and clerks serving the councils are paid by the national government. Similarly projects--roads, irrigation canals, agricultural programs etc. are paid by the central government. Since VAT is usually included in marked prices--and anyway, out here in the backwoods, it is neither collected nor paid, no one is aware of paying taxes. So, when the township council head hires 20 female relatives to sit at desks and do their faces and gossip for a good wage--nobody feels ripped off, it's all money from Bangkok anyway. When the Provincial, county and township officials each skim off the road paving funds nobody cares--or rather they expect to get a piece of it at the next round of "vote buying", donations to festivals and the like (and if the guy builds a nice new house for his mianoi (or her puanoi) the women just get in the mianoi queue. And when the new road looks like the surface of the moon after 6 months, well it was nice and pretty for a while.

I.e., there is no motive for accountability for how money is spent/stolen. Indeed the contrary.

As for the small bribes to get the county official to move more quickly to give your new house an address, that's just petty cash that circulates around in the form of gifts. (when your kid gets married, he'll make a gift to you). Businesses, of course are a different story, and the people need to be informed how they may be harming the quality of life.

--S