'No room for corruption'

[KhnomKhnom]

The really big headline from last Friday's speech is the General's statement that it may take two or three generations to rid Thailand of the culture of corruption.

WOW, that is some well informed and deep analysis to come from a man burdened with so many immediate problems.

[scorecard]

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When the fish begins to stink it begins at the head.

Wow, 1st post, and so reverant.

IS there any meaning in your post?

[Thai at Heart]

With all the bombastic proclamations, he's after all only one man and he's as good

as the people that are with him, no way in the world to stamp out corruptions,

it is here to stay and flourish, the question remains, can you minimize corruptions

to a mangagable level? if you have done that, your work is done....

Let's not hold our breath here. How many blokes does he work with every day who are apparently "unusually wealthy" ?

[Capt Rob]

Give the man a chance, so far very good, not a task many would want or be prepared to accept

The magnitude of the task is immense but " when good men do nothing . . . . . . . . . " I agree early days but an admirable start.

[Maestro]

Recognising that it takes two to tango, Prime Minister Gen Prayuth Chan-ocha yesterday August 29)said that laws must be amended so that private companies or individuals found to have bribed bureaucrats will also be subject to legal punishment.

What section of what law is he talking about? That would be a funny law if does not provide a penalty for a person offering a bribe.

[Mister Fixit]

chefs of police,

What have they been doing wrong - cooking the books?

[Jean Pierre Jacquot]

Well my dear general if you want to show a good example so first of all declare your assets and the one of your cabinet members. If not, we do not believe one word of the eradicating corruption blablabla you tell us. As a matter of fact, the army itself is extremely corrupt, so why should it be betterr now under his dictatorship? Any data showing that corruption decreased? I do not believe so though we were certainly at a peak under the Thaksin red shirts.

[zaZa9]

The first and admittedly most difficult and complicated target is the Thai police. If they can be reinvented from top to bottom with independent oversight agencies in place (Internal Affaires), then the job to curb systematic corruption by other officials and the private sector will be much easier, since the protection from prosecution bought from the police will have dwindled. In tandem with police overhaul should be the long overdue toughening of punishment and fines (no more inactive posts) together with the rectifying of certain laws holding the process back (defamation/libel, etc.).

Yes, but in order to achieve this the govt. is going to have to get real, and allocate perhaps a trillion baht, so that the police can be paid a real wage. I believe there has been a quid pro quo going on for decades between the govt. and the police. We will pay you comical wages and in exchange, we will never require you to be honest, and you will never have to answer for your revenue collection practices. So, it would be required that rank and files wages be doubled, to 16k baht per month. Higher ups would have to be doubled too. It would be the only way there might be a chance of hiring straight guys as cops. Otherwise, all talk is simple jawboning. Reform yes. But that includes reasonable compensation.

A couple of very good posts ...

Police wages need to rise , as does pension plans , so that Police have to really question whether a bribe is worth their jobs.

And 'the stick' needs to be strengthened as well ..... heavy fines and no more paid inactive posts !

The revenue gained from the latter two should go a long way to helping pay for wage rises.

[Brian Corrigan]

Corruption has not stopped in Phuket. This is a huge undertaking for him and it may be too big for him to tackle. Just sayin'.

A good place to start and a good method is from a quote, unknown author, "If you have them by the balls their hearts and minds will follow". I believe the General knows how to apply pressure and location needed !!

Sounds painful. I hope you are not advocating torture?

[Estrada]

"Both sides to be punished in cases of bribery". Crikey, and last week we took the General a bottle of whiskey!

[soalbundy]

This isn't protestant Finland, this is Buddhist,anything goes as long as it makes money Thailand.

[Greg Nixon]

Please start with the police the people are afraid of them. They take money for their back pockets, from the poorest people while ignoring serious infractions and taking large bribes from other corrupt individuals.

[BlackJack]

one minister with over 100 billion in family assets is certainly performing well

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

"Those with no performance will be out. Those who are corrupt will go to jail. That’s it. Nothing to fear.”

Just to hear a sitting Prime Minister of Thailand publicly voice that policy and expectation is a refreshing turnabout.

Now let's see if he will uphold that policy in the months and years ahead. If it does, it would be one of the best things that could happen to Thailand.

[mikemac]

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thairowe, on 30 Aug 2014 - 21:24, said:

Corruption has gottin worse under the Junta, not better. It is all threw the government.

As already said, what's your evidence?

There is no evidence scorecard, it is just plain old anti-junta trolling. Hopefully the mods will pick up on it.

[spidermike007]

Perhaps the solution is very severe penalties. How about fines of a million baht, or more? Unpardonable, and not negotiable, even by a corrupt prosecutor or judge. The fine stays with the family for three generations, and has accrued interest. No property deals can be transacted until the fine is paid off. Just a thought. There are a hundred ways to address this monstrous issue. Got to start somewhere, that is if you are serious about a solution, rather than window dressing. Nobody can fault Prayuth for his noble and far reaching ambitions. But, you have to make these reforms stick, or else they are just exercises.

[Poppy Dave]

When is the General going to force the police to do their job and clamp down on unlicenced drivers and motorcyclists. Or would that be considered unfair ?

When is the General going to do this, when is the General going to do that, bla bla bla. Is tomorrow ok for you ??? what is it with you people ?? Yingluck had 3 years and did NOWT. Save your comments and see what happens, or are you just the pushy pushy type.

Well said!! For Christ's sake give the man a chance! He's only been in a position to make a difference since breakfast time and you seem to want everything sorted by yesterday. He's got to start somewhere and because he didn't start with you pet-hate is no reason to to put him down.

By taking the attitude that 'Thailand's always been like this.' is just sticking your heads in the sand and letting it continue. If the general public stood as one and said, 'No, Thailand WILL change.' and people reported attempts to give or procure corruption, by ANYONE, then things WILL change.

I agree, he has to show that he means business. To my mind, corruption that is executed at the expense of your country's wellbeing, is verging on treason and very severe gaol sentences (20 years +) need to be imposed, along with seizure of all family property and monies.

OK, I've put my soapbox back in the cupboard.

Take care everyone and lets all work towards a better and happier Thailand.

[Halion]

Excellent ideology, lets hope it is not diluted in application as happens to so many things here.

[Maestro_2]

Please start with the police the people are afraid of them. They take money for their back pockets, from the poorest people while ignoring serious infractions and taking large bribes from other corrupt individuals.

I get stopped by a policeman for a traffic violation, imaginary or real. I give him 200 Baht to let me off. What will the penalty be for me if the policeman reports this bribery attempt on my part?

[KevinB]

So some of the posters really love him and believe in him and other hate the Shins so much that they are prepared to see basic freedoms flushed down the toilet in the hope that the new Boss is not going to be as bad as previous elected Governments (and previous military Juntas - read some history guys). So having agreed that most peoples have made their mind up on Corruption how about discussing something else the Broadcast to the nation contained. How about:

"He also insisted that he would serve the country for the benefit of the country and the people, adding that he did not side with any particular political party."'

Do you all believe this? Not the impression I've got over this year in the run up to what was meant to be an un-expected and definitely un-planned military coup. It's important because if we accept that Corruption might be intractable we can hope that he is going to try and solve the political conflict between the haves in Bangkok (some would argue have-miles-too-much- greedy buggers) and the have-nots in the Provinces. And please remember (despite the fact that so few actually believe it) a large number of this country's people voted for Yingluk knowing full well that she was the sister (and proxy representative) of someone many of your hate with a passion. Not every vote in Thailand is bought - a growing number of citizens (as in Thais with a vote not farang visitors and retirees) are well informed about the political choices here because they are in touch with their families and friends via their cell phones.

So to solve this problem our Generals are going to have to be fair and balanced - Can they do that?

[fab4]

Well said!! For Christ's sake give the man a chance! He's only been in a position to make a difference since breakfast time and you seem to want everything sorted by yesterday. He's got to start somewhere and because he didn't start with you pet-hate is no reason to to put him down.

By taking the attitude that 'Thailand's always been like this.' is just sticking your heads in the sand and letting it continue. If the general public stood as one and said, 'No, Thailand WILL change.' and people reported attempts to give or procure corruption, by ANYONE, then things WILL change.

I agree, he has to show that he means business. To my mind, corruption that is executed at the expense of your country's wellbeing, is verging on treason and very severe gaol sentences (20 years +) need to be imposed, along with seizure of all family property and monies.

OK, I've put my soapbox back in the cupboard.

Take care everyone and lets all work towards a better and happier Thailand.

You can give all the 20 years + sentences you like but if nobody serves them because of who or what they know, it's all a bit pointless. Google Sondhi Limthongkul for a classic example of this concept at work.

[sanuk711]

thairowe, on 30 Aug 2014 - 21:24, said:

Corruption has gottin worse under the Junta, not better. It is all threw the government.

As already said, what's your evidence?--scorecard

​Please don't embarrass thairowe with actually asking for facts scorecard, This how it works, you come on and basically dam everything about the country that you worked so hard to live in--then you make statements that have no basics in fact....& do a big avatar of someone clapping hands ...like you have exposed them, then just ignore anyone that asks , Oh yer where did those stats come from ---there just trying to spoil the party.

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​you really shouldn't let facts get in the way of a good slander............. .

[KevinB]

mikemac posted earlier "it is just plain old anti-junta trolling. Hopefully the mods will pick up on it."

If you don't believe that corruption continues unabated and that the foci has shifted to Regimental HQs then I can only assume 1) you have long retired and aren't involved in business in this country 2) don't know many middle class Thais struggling to make it in an increasingly tough business environment 3) don't ask questions - like how come those peoples houses / small businesses / livelihoods have been smashed by a front-end loader after being there for so long? and why didn't it happen to those guys across the road?

or maybe I'm being rude to a senior member of TV whose actually joking - it which case I must admit you are at times a very "amusing onlooker" who actually is only trying to pull the socks up on the moderators.

[KevinB]

Ditto my above comments to Sanuk 711 who posted:

Please don't embarrass thairowe with actually asking for facts scorecard, This how it works, you come on and basically dam everything about the country that you worked so hard to live in--then you make statements that have no basics in fact....& do a big avatar of someone clapping hands ...like you have exposed them, then just ignore anyone that asks , Oh yer where did those stats come from ---there just trying to spoil the party.

.

​you really shouldn't let facts get in the way of a good slander............. .

You are asking people to post evidence of corruption involving our new and unexpected rulers and all their minions - you must be joking!!!! And anyway making comments about a well known and accepted problem - that you can't safely put new wine in old and unwashed pre-Taksin bottles without getting a few rotten bottles wine - is certainly not slander it is discussing the subject posted. Others have asked in this stream and appropriately pointed out - who is watching and being allowed to report openly on the military - certainly not our "free and unfettered press".

[mike324]

we are off to a good start so far, of course it can't be 100% and the general will have to let his guard down a little, but nonetheless this is the first time I ever saw so much change in the past 20 years against corruption and law enforcement.

What has actually been achieved so far?

to answer your question - "welcome to thailand"

[visionchaser45]

Primeminister?

Of course Dictstors don't need to be voted in. I wonder who will be in his cabinet.

jb1

too much Jim beam out of the bottle I think...

At least he's not too drunk to recognize a dictator when he sees one.

[visionchaser45]

I think you are a bad husband. Your wife complains that you're never home and you don't give her enough "attention." Your kids don't do well in school and your whole family argues constantly. You like to drink and gamble. In spite of all this, your family loves you.

I think your family must be "confused" because they love you and your wife won't seek a divorce. I decide, therefore, to take over your family by force. Using force and intimidation, I soon have your family in line. You are in exile, I'm giving your wife a good rogering every night, and the kids' grades in school have improved tremendously. We never argue anymore because arguing is not tolerated and results in severe punishment. I have also insisted that your family be "happy" with the new order and I regularly schedule "happiness" events to instill happiness in the family.

Sound familiar? Does the end justify the means? What of the family's wishes? Will the family ever be truly happy while their wishes are ignored?

Edited September 1, 2014 by visionchaser45

[Old Man River]

one minister with over 100 billion in family assets is certainly performing well

That was a mis-print.

Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand

[peecee]

Can you say, GT-200? That was either corruption or gross stupidity. It was an army deal, wasn't it?

The army has probably got the same amount of corruption as anywhere in LOS, same same in the priesthood on the beach or driving a taxi. You just have to look at the presenters on army tv and who's who in the big house or what happened to all the missing weapons/ordnance. That's how Thailand works and no matter who has the big stick there simply isn't enough goal space.

[desmondspencer]

Somebody should point him to the sadao checkpoint....