Corruption is spreading like cancer in Thailand, Democrats warn
The Democrat Party on Wednesday called for a unified national effort to combat corruption, warning that it has reached a critical level in Thailand and is endangering the country’s reputation, economy and democratic development.
“Thailand's corruption is spreading like cancer and is at a critical level,” Alongkorn Ponlaboot, the party’s deputy leader and chair of its strategic steering committee, told the seminar "Listen-Think-Do Against Corruption”.
“To truly and immediately solve this issue, all sectors must work together,” Alongkorn said.
The Democratic Party wants to make corruption an urgent national agenda, he said, citing Transparency International’s 2022 Corruption Perception Index, which ranks Thailand 101 out of 180 countries globally, and fourth among Asean nations. The higher the number, the higher the level of perceived corruption.
The Democrats also released 10 steps to fight corruption at the forum:
1. Make the fight against corruption an urgent national priority.
2. Promote good governance and avoid conflicts of interest.
3. Encourage citizens and the media to participate in oversight of the public and private sectors.
4. Promote education about corruption, instill the value of "growing up without cheating", and increase public knowledge of the dangers of corruption.
5. Encourage the use of digital technology to combat corruption and promote the sharing of data in the private and public sectors to combat corruption.
6. Disclose official information, particularly about government auctions and procurement at the national, provincial, and municipal levels.
7. Reform the bureaucracy, politics and justice system to make them more transparent, develop an approval system to ensure transparency in government spending, and cut red tape.
8. Repeal laws that encourage corruption.
9. Increase the severity of criminal penalties for government officials who commit fraud and seize their property in serious cases.
10. Call for international cooperation to combat all forms of transnational corruption under the United Nations Convention Against Corruption.
Alongkorn, a former chair of the Democrat Party's Anti-Corruption Commission, received the “Congressional Star of the Year Award” from Thai media in 2003 for combatting corruption.
Last December, Democrat leader Jurin Laksanawisit called for a united effort to tackle corruption.
“Corruption jeopardises the nation's finances, damages its reputation, and is an obstacle to the country's democratic development. As a result, all parties must cooperate to find a solution because one individual cannot do it,” he said at International Anti-Corruption Day last December.
