Thai editorial: We must depoliticise the fight against corruption

[webfact]

EDITORIAL
We must depoliticise the fight against corruption
The Nation

Laws to counter corruption need to be streamlined, with graft busters and whistleblowers protected

BANGKOK: -- Apart from how to "dissolve the colours" - the jargon for making both camps of the Thai political divide co-exist peacefully - a major question hanging in the air for everyone contemplating political reform has to do with the highly-politicised anti-corruption mechanism.

The current National Anti-Corruption Commission will be a part of Thailand's war on graft, most people agree, but without political will at the highest levels and a total change in Thai attitudes toward graft from the bottom up, the NACC will remain what it has been - a divisive political apparatus whose action is lauded by one side and condemned by the other. Unless our "reformists" come up with a magic formula regarding fights against corruption, Thailand's political polarity will have just been swept under the rug.

This doesn't mean the NACC has been an absolute failure. Among the first big-name politicians put away by the current anti-corruption mechanism was the late Sanan Kachornprasart. He was one of the country's most influential power-brokers when, while serving as secretary-general of the Democrat Party, was investigated for a relatively small amount of debt that wasn't supposed to be in his assets report. That he was subsequently banned from politics for five years did not feature much in claims that the country's graft-busters were biased against Thaksin Shinawatra and his political troops.

It's too late to support, defend or criticise the NACC. Of course, the past led to the present and the present paves the way for the future, but we know this much: If we combat corruption the same old ways, political crises similar to the ones that rocked Thailand over the past few years will be something waiting to happen. So, in addition to revamping the national conscience where graft is concerned and shoving ethics down our politicians' throats, what can be done to make the country's anti-corruption apparatus efficient, accountable and acceptable?

Firstly, we should start with the law. Thailand must be among the countries with the most complicated anti-graft laws and regulations. They do not make graft-busters' work easy the way it should be. There have been dilemmas, political considerations and pressure all around. Graft-busters must be armed with the simplest laws and the process of dealing with the suspects must be swift and simple regardless of their political status.

Secondly, the graft-busters must be well-protected and well-connected to the public, whose cooperation, tip-offs and scrutiny will be crucial for their work. To prevent political influences from dictating the graft-busters' performances, an atmosphere of total transparency must be initiated, turning "confidential information" into something highly accessible to the public. Whether or not there should be "confidential information" in executive affairs is debatable, but in anti-corruption fights, "confidential informa?tion" only gives rise to cover-ups, bribery or distortion. The transparency will also help reduce charges of prejudice, which have plagued the current Thai system.

Thirdly, a culture and legal means of protecting whistle-blowers must be cultivated. This is the only way for the future graft-busters to get useful help from the public. This measure, of course, must be carried out along

with the other methods to ensure neutrality, greater public awareness and swift responses to "red flags."

A lot of things have been wrong in Thailand. If not, the process of selecting or recruiting anti-graft officials would not have been widely-analysed or interpreted as one camp's benefit or a rival camp's disadvantage. We often say anti-corruption authorities need to be "independent", but the truth is politics, the hotbed of corruption, often had a say in the process of combating graft from start to finish.

Depoliticising anti-corruption fights is difficult, not least because politicians naturally still want to have a big say on the issue. But if "reformists" need a good reason to try, evidence of how much damage failures can cause is all around them.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/opinion/We-must-depoliticise-the-fight-against-corruption-30244807.html


-- The Nation 2014-10-06

[cloudhopper]

Is politics really the hotbed of corruption as this piece suggests or does political office (and other positions of power) merely facilitate what poll after poll indicates is a broadly approved cultural practice?

[Bluespunk]

Is politics really the hotbed of corruption as this piece suggests or does political office (and other positions of power) merely facilitate what poll after poll indicates is a broadly approved cultural practice?

Well polls are all BS as you generally get the result the person paying for the poll wants you to get [the yes vote being ahead in Scotland being one particularly good example of manipulating the truth......lying].

However accepting the polls could be right, I don't think corruption is approved of, in that it's seen as a good thing.

More like recognising it's there and being resigned to it.

[ChrisY1]

Whistle blowers certainly need good protection.......this is the only way that the police can work with any type of efficiency!

[clockman]

Get rid of the slander, libel laws.

[reiltin]

Corruption or basic greed, as recent widely circulated polls in Thailand have discovered is welcomed not shunned,It seems most Thais agree with Gordon and here at least "greed is good" yes,They may have to pay 25-35% more for goods and services as a result of it but hey "greed is good" their elderly parents struggle to survive on farming because co-ops are banned but their not losing any sleep because" greed is good"The bridge connecting their village wasn't made to German standards but German prices were paid.. collapsed killing 5 villagers including children-no matter "greed is good" the surgeon performing that eye operation on their child he's from a rich family but a very poor doctor...but hey "greed is good" And as far as whistlblowers go you can be libeled in Thailand for telling the truth...what the hell,-"whistling is good"

[NongKhaiKid]

Is politics really the hotbed of corruption as this piece suggests or does political office (and other positions of power) merely facilitate what poll after poll indicates is a broadly approved cultural practice?

Well polls are all BS as you generally get the result the person paying for the poll wants you to get [the yes vote being ahead in Scotland being one particularly good example of manipulating the truth......lying].

However accepting the polls could be right, I don't think corruption is approved of, in that it's seen as a good thing.

More like recognising it's there and being resigned to it.

Around 12 years ago in a discussion session with one of my classes at a rural university they voted corruption as being the country's biggest problem and all were against it because of the potential effect on their future.

I wonder what their views are now ?

[Strangebrew]

Simple to get rid of corruption your need to tighten banking regulations period. All holding a position of power or authority must submit banking information. Any deposits over an certain amount must be reported to a department to be checked That's not control by the government. Private safes must be checked and cash in then recorded. The Royal Thai police must be purged from top to bottom and those that are corrupt sent to prison For 30 years hard labor and all assets seized.

[Strangebrew]

Oh also a civilian review board setup to keep them on the right path.

[jayjayjayjay]

Is politics really the hotbed of corruption as this piece suggests or does political office (and other positions of power) merely facilitate what poll after poll indicates is a broadly approved cultural practice?

Summed it up in a nut shell!

[jayjayjayjay]

Is politics really the hotbed of corruption as this piece suggests or does political office (and other positions of power) merely facilitate what poll after poll indicates is a broadly approved cultural practice?

Well polls are all BS as you generally get the result the person paying for the poll wants you to get [the yes vote being ahead in Scotland being one particularly good example of manipulating the truth......lying].

However accepting the polls could be right, I don't think corruption is approved of, in that it's seen as a good thing.

More like recognising it's there and being resigned to it.

That is your opinion, but I believe you have little to do with Thai ppl!

[englishoak]

There is no fight against corruption, only a fight about whos face is in the trough next

[spidermike007]

No battle against corruption will ever have any chance of success, unless the prosecutors office, and the judiciary is completely reformed. As it stands now, an arrest is made, and then it goes before a prosecutor. If the perp has cash, he buys him off. If he happens to have the bad fortune of being in front of one of the 4 or 5 honest prosecutors in the country, it then goes before a judge. Same thing. Equally compromised. So, how is the fight against corruption possible, when the corruption itself allows the perp to have enough cash to buy his way out of any pickle he gets himself into?

[tim armstrong]

Corruption is accepted rather than approved of in Thailand. It is the cultural norm for so many business dealings and personal matters. Apart from legal and political changes, there also needs to be a shift in education and the role of monks in local monasteries. The latter seem to pay lip service to Buddhist principles and don't provide a great deal of moral guidance. The other institution that we can't talk about has also become too remote from having any real influence at a personal level.

No-one will change unless they can see some benefit for themselves. That is going to take a generation, a shift in wealth, and some strong leaders to inspire change.

[bino]

Get rid of the slander, libel laws.

As well as censorship and media control, allowing unbiased and accurate reporting / invesigative journalism.

Imagine if the dirty bggers were losing face on the six o'clock news every night. A lot of corruption would stop immediately.