EVEN FOR A NATION OF THIEVES, IT'S NEVER TOO LATE

OUTSIDE THE BOX

Last week, an Abac Poll of 1,228 households in 17 provinces across Thailand found that 84.5% of respondents regarded cheating as a normal business practice and 51.2% said corruption by government officials was acceptable as long as it improved their living conditions. Similar surveys conducted over the past few years reached essentially the same conclusions regardless of respondents' geographical regions. Such findings clearly point out that Thailand is a nation made up largely of thieves who will cheat at every opportunity.

With such a mindset, no further explanation should be needed as to why Thailand has not been able to attain the level of development achieved by other Asian countries such as Japan and South Korea despite having relatively more natural resources. If we raise this issue with fellow Thais, a lot of them would quickly point out that corruption also exists in those countries. They are right. Corruption does indeed exist in those countries and, for that matter, in all countries. But the difference lies in the degree; in more advanced countries corruption is not so high as to stifle development.

A few weeks ago, a former president of South Korea was driven by shame to commit suicide after rumours circulated that he was involved in corruption while in office. In the case of Thailand, a former prime minister apparently feels no shame even after being convicted of corruption. Moreover, a large number of Thais have joined a political movement to clear him, including the current drive to prepare a petition with at least one million signatures to obtain a royal pardon.

Bad as the readiness to cheat may be, it is but one of four Thai characteristics that have been labelled detrimental to development, according to a former prime minister who echoed opinions expressed by some foreigners who know Thais well. The others are laziness, ostentatiousness and jealousy. Many Thais who hear this for the first time may be offended. But they should not be, as evidence can be found everywhere. Government lottery tickets are sold out regularly at premium prices because a lot of Thais wish to attain a high income level without working for it. Young Thai women marry retired foreigners whose pensions provide a road to an easy life. These phenomena may not be laziness as commonly understood but are laziness nonetheless.

Expensive German cars, Swiss watches, and French handbags all sell well in Thailand. Thais buy more luxury German cars than the Japanese, even though the latter have far more upper-income professionals. Personal debt has become a critical problem mainly because most Thais feel a strong need to keep up with their peers. Large debt may be incurred to finance ostentatious ceremonies to marry off daughters or send sons into the monkhood for two weeks.

Jealousy may not be as apparent, yet the co-operative movement in Thailand has never been successful since it was introduced during the reign of Rama VI because Thais cannot work co-operatively for any length of time. Tens of thousands of Buddhist temples have been built, many practically next to each other, because the solution for disagreement among members of the congregation is to build another one. These phenomena indicate a lack of social capital, which is vital for development.

The survey findings and foreigners' opinions are mirrors reflecting the true picture of our society that we have ignored or denied for so long. Our mindset must be changed for Thailand to develop further and grim as the picture may be, it is never too late to do that. While responsibility lies with all of us, the ruling class should take the lead for it has had better opportunities. As for the government, a lot of suggestions can be made but I will make only three, beginning with the easiest: do not approve the current online lottery proposal or make gambling in whatever form more convenient in the future; start revamping the tax base with the ultimate aim of making a progressive consumption tax the main source of revenues; and make sure that its own ranks are not populated by corrupt politicians.

Sawai Boonma served for more than two decades as an economist with the World Bank in Washington DC. He can be reached at sboonma@msn.com