OPINION

Bribery is exactly where it all began
By Tulsathit Taptim
The Nation

 

BANGKOK: -- Many of us had been involved with bribery even before we were born. Our parents called them “gifts” to the doctors who delivered us, but in many cases those gifts were just bribes with their hair combed. After we die, the “name” changed again, this time to something like “merit money”, with the recipients being senior monks or temple staff who know the way around a tight funeral queue.

 

Bribery's greatest trick is that it can morph into a generally-accepted tradition over time. People paying extra money for the best childbirth service can feel completely innocent. Those “helping” a famous school build a library so their kids can be enrolled are content and not guilty. In certain cases, giving bribes can even feel holy. It's because of our “merits” that the grand pavilion is now standing in the temple's compound, isn't it?

 

We Thais live and breath bribery. Paying the doctors is a tradition. Paying the schools is burdensome but it's another tradition nonetheless. Our excuse for paying traffic cops on the spot is because we don't want to waste time settling the tickets at the police station. When facing legal trouble, a little gift to the prosecutor can change our fortune the way we think we deserve. And what's wrong with a journalist joining corporate bigwigs for a game of golf followed by a luxurious dinner, for free?

 

Full story: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/news/opinion/tulsathit/30305922

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2017-02-08

So what the Nation is trying to say is the whole country is bent  

3 hours ago, canopus1969 said:

So what the Nation is trying to say is the whole country is bent  

 

Most of the world, one way or another sport. Sad but one of humanities greatest weaknesses.

4 hours ago, canopus1969 said:

So what the Nation is trying to say is the whole country is bent  

Bribery and corruption is as old as prostitution...

Bribery or a tip? What might be way to distinguish? If pay before service is given, bribery? But afterwards, a tip?

What a crazy article.....but I guess that's exactly as it is here.....bribery and corruption from an early age....throw in a poor education system..........and that's Thailand...and of course Lao, Cambodia, the Phils, etc!

The sad thing about the article is that it makes corruption and bribery sound rather benign when it is the absolute opposite 

 

This cancer affects everything everywhere in Thailand not least the justice system. Other people suffer substantially because of it. It is truly evil. 

17 hours ago, timewilltell said:

The sad thing about the article is that it makes corruption and bribery sound rather benign when it is the absolute opposite

 

This cancer affects everything everywhere in Thailand not least the justice system. Other people suffer substantially because of it. It is truly evil.

 

Sad, but true.
 

You can't beat human nature, it was always the weak chain in the link of life.