Thai academics call for an end to shady deals

[webfact]

Academics call for an end to shady deals
By WICHIT CHAITRONG
THE NATION

 

Sasatra Sudsawasd

 

Government urged to follow S Korean model amid concerns over deals like purchase of subs from China.

 

BANGKOK: -- THE GENERAL public should have a direct role in state budget management to prevent murky spending programmes such as the recent multi-billion-baht deal to buy Chinese-made submarines, a group of academics said yesterday.

 

“Thailand should adopt a more participatory government model similar to South Korea to increase efficiency of public spending,” Sasatra Sudsawasd, associate professor in economics at National Institute of Development Administration, said.

 

Sasatra is part of a group of researchers who conducted a study on how to improve management of the government’s budget, which has often been the source of widespread corruption and wasteful spending of public money. 

 

“One of the foremost solutions is to give the public a role in formulating the annual budget and auditing it too,” said Sasatra. 

 

He said South Korea has set a new benchmark for best budget management practices in recent years.

 

It began when former president Moo-hyun Roh set up a “Participatory Government” as the national agenda when he took office in 2003. 

 

He introduced the National Fiscal Act that allowed public participation in the beginning, implementing and auditing stages of the budget procedure that resulted in close to Bt100-billion savings in annual government spending.

 

Korean fiscal management is a top-down budgeting and performance-based process, which is similar to Thailand’s approach.

 

South Korea, however, does better by allowing public hearings on mid-term where state officials gather public opinions and suggestions during budget preparation. 

 

When the government drafts its annual budget bill, representatives from the general public can have their say to determine priority projects or what projects are not viable. State officials also meet with local governments to discuss their needs and resources.

 

When the government presents the budget bill to the parliament, outside experts are invited to give opinions and recommendations. During budget implementation, the public can monitor project implementation via a budget waste report centre, which can influence project implementation. 

 

As well, the public can also participate in auditing the budget implementation to see whether it delivers desired results. Since the implementation of participatory government in 2004, the South Korean government has saved about Bt80 billion annually, said Sasatra.

 

Greater use of IT

 

The South Korea government also uses information technology to give access to every project in the country, so the budgeting is very transparent compared with Thailand’s obscure practice.

 

“In South Korea, there is no quiet discussion among Cabinet members when the government has to purchase a large item, as the Thai government did when it decided to purchase a submarine from China,” he added.

 

Meanwhile, Athiphat Muthita-charoen, economics lecturer at Chulalongkorn University, also raised concerns about Thai government directing state-owned banks to boost the economy by giving soft loans. 

 

He said the practice could hurt banks and the burden would be placed on taxpayers later.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/news/national/30316882

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2017-06-01

[ratcatcher]

Thailand & Shady deals.    Bread & Butter.    Horse & Carriage.     Fish & chips etc etc.

[kannot]

10 minutes ago, ratcatcher said:

Thailand & Shady deals.    Bread & Butter.    Horse & Carriage.     Fish & chips etc etc.

Ben and Dover 

[ezzra]

People  in Thailand has often been described shady people

living in a sunny country, Thailand without shady deals is an

oxymoron to everything we have come to know about this

country, Not going to happened....

 

[Cadbury]

 

2 hours ago, webfact said:

'....the government’s budget, which has often been the source of widespread corruption and wasteful spending of public money". 

Looks like Sasatra Sudsawasd and some of his colleagues might be new participants at the government's re-education programme.

In any case there is more than 19 years to go before the end of corruption in Thailand according one of the many rash promises made by the PM.

[owl sees all]

This actually could go ahead. It would be a feather in the cap for the Junta boss Ch-o-ch.

 

The only question mark I see is who will constitute "the public"?  And how will they be chosen?

 

Of course Ch-o-ch would have a veto (he might even pick them himself) and the public would be retired generals and other high ranking brown nosers.

Edited June 1, 2017 by owl sees all
spelling error

[Happyman58]

Never happen Thailand runs on shady deals from top to bottom

[hansnl]

3 hours ago, Cadbury said:

 

Looks like Sasatra Sudsawasd and some of his colleagues might be new participants at the government's re-education programme.

In any case there is more than 19 years to go before the end of corruption in Thailand according one of the many rash promises made by the PM.

HAS BEEN.

That means in the past.

So no problem, I presume?

[robblok]

It would be a good idea to have this done this way. I doubt that it will happen. But it would be a step ahead. 

[BangkokReady]

An analogy:

 

A young child sees an athlete wearing high performance running shoes. He thinks they look nice and figures that they must help him run faster. The child demands that his parents buy the shoes for him, because he thinks that if he has the shoes he will be able to run just like the athlete.

 

What the child doesn't realise is that the running shoes are only part of the overall make up of the runner. In order for him to use the running shoes to the same effect as the athlete, he first needs to train hard over many years. He needs the gradual changes and growth that come over time to become more like the athlete.

 

Once he has transitioned from being a child to being a healthy strong adult, the shoes will be of great benefit to him.

 

If he just buys the shoes and goes out running as though he is the athlete, he is likely to injure himself.

[owl sees all]

7 minutes ago, BangkokReady said:

A young child sees an athlete wearing high performance running shoes. He thinks they look nice and figures that they must help him run faster. The child demands that his parents buy the shoes for him, because he thinks that if he has the shoes he will be able to run just like the athlete.

 

What the child doesn't realise is that the running shoes are only part of the overall make up of the runner. In order for him to use the running shoes to the same effect as the athlete, he first needs to train hard over many years. He needs the gradual changes and growth that come over time to become more like the athlete.

 

Once he has transitioned from being a child to being a healthy strong adult, the shoes will be of great benefit to him.

 

If he just buys the shoes and goes out running as though he is the athlete, he is likely to injure himself.

Great!!

 

Where can I buy them coach BangkokReady?

 

I am running away as fast as I can but the wife keeps catching me and dragging me back.

Edited June 1, 2017 by owl sees all
inappropriate content

[Cadbury]

6 hours ago, hansnl said:

HAS BEEN.

That means in the past.

So no problem, I presume?

I was only quoting what Mr Academia said. " ....has often been...".  No doubt he was choosing his words carefully to try to ensure no one came a-knocking on his door in the middle of the night. 

Has been - still is - will continue to be.  Take your pick. I have no problems with any of those.

And presumably from your comments you believe what he says that Thailand's corruption is all in the past. As from yesterday, anyway when Customs officials were sprung for being complicit in allowing buyers of stolen vehicles to avoid custom duties.

You wouldn't be a government official by any chance would you. 

[Reigntax]

5 hours ago, owl sees all said:

Great!!

 

Where can I buy them coach BangkokReady?

 

I am running away as fast as I can but the wife keeps catching me and dragging me back.

 

Drop your wallet. It'll give you the chance to get some distance.