A giant hand advertises the Democrat Party’s campaign for “Politics with Clean Hands.”
The
obligation to disclose financial assets has already caused a few heads to roll |
New
watchdogs now have the teeth to fight corruption but old-style politics aren’t going
to disappear overnight. Some say this will take no less than a revolution in political
culture
Not a day goes by in
Thailand without some new tale of corruption being aired in the press. Some see a
revolution underway while others question the use of attacking such a long-accepted
disease. So what chances do the anti-corruption crusaders have?
If events this year are anything to go by, they might well be gaining the upper hand.
The first senatorial elections by popular vote held in March turned into a veritable
soap opera with the newly established Election Commission ordering more than half
the races to be run again because of irregularities or vote-buying. In the end, it
took five rounds of voting to fill all the seats.
Later in the month, Sanan Kachornprasart, the all-powerful interior minister and
secretary-general of the ruling Democrat Party, was forced to resign after the National
Counter-Corruption Commission (NCCC) accused him of falsifying documents concerning
a $1.2 million loan. Another key event was the rioting in the southern province of
Nakhon Si Thammarat set off in early September by police corruption.
The
crash that killed tolerance for bribes
The
list of scandals gets longer each day in a country where corruption drains away 10
to 20 percent of the national budget–about 2.25 to 4.5 billion dollars.
“There’s clearly a knock-on effect,” says Pasuk Phongpaichit, an economics professor
at Bangkok’s Chulalongkorn University and author of several books on corruption.
According to the drafters of the NCCC programme, “there is broad consensus in favour
of a national crusade against corruption aimed at reforming the whole society.” A
recent poll showed that Thais saw government corruption as the country’s third most
serious problem, behind the economic crisis and the rising cost of living, and just
ahead of drugs.
This great urge for change is the culmination of a long process that began in the
late 1970s when the army agreed to a power-sharing deal. Since then, Thailand has
seen civil society grow and become a player on the political scene, notably by taking
a strong stand against an attempted military coup in May 1992. What was tolerated
30 years ago is no longer acceptable.
Several political leaders have stood out in this period of transformation. In November
1985, Chamlong Srimuang, an austere former army commander, became the most popular
mayor Bangkok has ever had. A few years later, police lieutenant Prathin Santiprapop,
known as “Mr Clean,” ran an efficient operation to stamp out a profitable nationwide
timber-smuggling scheme.
Then, in 1997, came two events that hastened the course of Thai history: the Asian
financial crash and the enactment of a new constitution. “People tolerated the waste
of money in bribes when things were going well, but much less at a time of economic
crisis,” says Phongpaichit.
In July 1997, a 40 percent devaluation of the national currency led to a slump that
immediately threw millions of people out of work. But the crash also opened the way
to reform and restructuring, especially in the financial sector, where secrecy encouraged
corruption.
People knew economic recovery could only come through political reforms. The drafting
of a new constitution, the 16th in the country’s history, switched into higher gear.
It introduced new checks and balances, such as a constitutional court, the NCCC,
a national election commission and a human rights commission.
Parliament followed up with a law giving everyone access to administrative documents.
“The new constitution provides the legal means to investigate government officials
after complaints from citizens and organizations,” says Phongpaichit. The NCCC can
prosecute and punish deputies, senators and cabinet ministers and has various legal
weapons. The most feared is the obligation to disclose financial assets, which has
already caused a few heads to roll, and the so-called “50,000 signatures law,” which
can force authorities to investigate someone suspected of corruption.
But these weapons can be difficult to handle. “Someone who wants to start a petition
first has to appear before the Senate and then prove that the minimum 50,000 signatures
collected are genuine,” says Deunden Nikomborirak, of the Thai Research and Development
Foundation.
Beyond these practical considerations is a sense that corruption is profoundly rooted
and all-pervasive–even among doctors, teachers and monks. The latter have been involved
in many recent scandals, even though the law still forbids looking into the assets
of their temples.
“It’s very hard to make people realize that what they’ve done all their lives is
in fact illegal and can land them in court,” says Abhisit Vejjajiva, head of the
prime minister’s office. “You really have to change the political culture and that’s
not going to be easy.”
A
daunting task awaits corruption investigators
Many
aspects of Thai culture and social values–such as respect for hierarchies, a distaste
for confrontation and the belief that wealth and a powerful job go hand in hand–tend
to encourage corruption.
The task ahead might seem daunting: “We haven’t done very much so far,” admits Krirkiat
Phipatseritham, a former rector of Thammasat University and a member of the NCCC,
who reels off figures to prove his point. Seventy percent of cabinet ministers, 60
percent of parliamentary deputies and 30 to 40 percent of senators are involved in
corruption, he asserts. “We have to keep an eye on about 5,000 people,” he says.
“We’ve inherited 3,300 case files, of which only 700 have been dealt with so far.”
Clearly, the anti-corruption crusaders are not about to claim victory but the big
clean-up has well and truly begun. |
