Help! Thailand Needs More Whistleblowers

[Jai Dee]

Help! Thailand needs more whistleblowers

More than ever before, Thailand needs heroes and heroines working in government, state enterprises and private corporations to step forward and voluntarily give information that will expose corruption and stop mismanagement of the public interests.

These will be honest people working in both public and private establishments.

From time to time in their daily work, most people witness corruption and malfeasance committed by superiors and colleagues. They do not report such wrongdoings to anyone. They all keep the secret. They think it is not their job to "blow the whistle" because it could backfire and cost them their job. Worse, they might be portrayed as a traitor who does not love their organisation or who is not part of the team. Little do they know they contribute to this collective mentality that is shaping Thailand into one of the most corrupt and wasteful countries in the world.

The pledge to pursue "sufficiency economy" will be in vain if the Thai people continue to live with the same mindset that has given rise to political strongmen such as Thaksin Shinawatra and many other mindless leaders.

When General Sonthi Boonyaratglin told The Nation recently that the ongoing investigation into Thaksin's corruption might not reach the bottom with sufficient evidence, it was a defining moment. After only five weeks in power, he spoke as if he had raised the white flag.

That was not the case. In private conservation, he hoped the ongoing investigation could be accelerated and those who had useful information would come forward. This is a tall order for Thais, who normally do not want to poke their nose into other people's business.

Apparently, the Thaksin investigation is running into difficulty as paper trails can only lead so far. It now needs help from those who acted willingly or unwillingly to assist the deposed leader and his cronies.

The elected officials responsible for the investigations are decent people. They are there to gather evidence from available sources to build up cases to be filed in court. But their hands are tied. Auditor-General Khunying Jaruvan Maintaka knows full well how tough it is to get information and thereafter digest all the input. She said quite frankly that the devil is in the details. In order to pinpoint these evildoers, potential whistleblowers must be encouraged to disclose what they know.

There must be a nationwide public campaign to educate the Thai people that providing information to prevent corruption, waste and to avert economic and political calamities is not an act of betrayal, but of honesty.

These are the people who can save Thailand billions of baht that is being siphoned into private pockets. Ways must be found for Thai society to show appreciation for whistleblowers' courage and sacrifice.

In past decades, there have been cases of witnesses involved in drug trafficking willing to testify under police protection. Some were mistreated. That much was clear. But there are no schemes to encourage whistleblowers to come forward.

Most reports of corruption are deliberately leaked to the press by politicians or officials to undermine rivals. These are often knee-jerk reactions with no possibility for full investigation. This kind of whistleblower does not protect the public good but only serves a political objective or a career. Therefore, a distinction must be made: whistleblowing is not a political act but a moral act.

Without such an understanding, it will be impossible for Thais to change their view of whistleblowers as headline-makers or traitors. Ironically, Thailand was the first Southeast Asian country to have a freedom of information law. Enacted in 1997 to much fanfare, it was supposed to make the country more transparent and accountable.

Before Thaksin came to power, the law did have effect as it promoted the public right to know. Disclosure of information was supposed to become the norm, not the exception. It should have helped to expose corruption and make Thailand more efficient. Somehow, under Thaksin's leadership, the information law has been twisted. It has even been used to block disclosure, making media and public access to information extremely difficult.

Changes must be made now to turn the Office of the Freedom of Information Act into a genuinely independent organisation for public disclosure of official information.

Together with the freedom of information law, whistleblowers can uproot the code of silence and the culture of impunity long embedded in this country.

The biggest problem in Thailand is that we put too much loyalty and faith in individuals without enough attention to principles. We are more willing to keep secrets to protect vestedinterests or reputations than to reveal wrongdoing to serve the broader public interest and to prevent the proliferation of unethical conduct.

Editorial Opinion by Kavi Chongkittavorn - The Nation - 13 November 2006

[Rumourz]

I think not many people would like to be a whistle blower in this country. Everyone could've murdered for telling too much truth...

(Speaking from an auditor POV)

[Gary A]

Sorry, it can't happen. After I first came over I had a boss who was totally a loss and knew nothing about the business. His father had built the business and the family had inherited the whole thing when the father passed away. I made the comment to one of the Thai engineers I worked with, that it's a good thing the boss was born rich because otherwise he would surely starve to death. I was given a quick crash course on Buddhism. He told me that the boss was a VERY good person in his previous life and that he deserved to be rich now. Whatever the boss does is fine with all his employees. If you are looking at politicians, they have their own circles and it is the deal that if you don't tell on me, I won't tell on you.

[Laulen]

The Nation's editorial by Kavi Chongkittavorn is a brave and thoughtful assertion of what should happen. It is good to see this sort of reporting being allowed in Thailand.

Unfortunately, it is in English. The circulation of The Nation newspaper is a fraction of those such as Matichon, Daily News or The Thai Rath.

What would be useful is if any of those editors felt brave enough to reprint this editorial in Thai. Perhaps then the message might just begin to get through!

Here's hoping, but not holding my breath!

[alexth]

Too many cowards in this country for that

[Berty]

Too many cowards in this country for that

Exactly!