The Collective Action Coalition against Corruption (CAC) is urging private companies to join forces to battle graft in the government sector.
A seminar held yesterday by 440 CAC members found they were planning to extend anti-corruption practices to more members and their business partners and suppliers.
Bandid: Clear graft guidelines needed
Members proposed numerous ideas for the private sector to help tackle corruption, mostly involving transactions with government offices.
One proposal is to encourage trading partners to have clear anti-corruption policies and guidelines, possibly making it a condition of doing business with them, CAC secretary-general Bandid Nijathaworn said.
He said the move would enlarge the ecosystem of clean business to cover a wider range of industries and become another mechanism to eradicate systemic corruption in Thailand.
The CAC is also developing a channel for members and private companies to provide information about bribery in the bureaucratic system.
It will coordinate with relevant parties including government agencies to inform them and track their responses.
The CAC has also launched a website, Thai-CAC.com, to be used as an information and communication channel for members to exchange knowledge and experiences in the hope it will lead to effective anti-corruption policies and practices.
"The corruption problem cannot be fixed by only one or a few companies, but companies affected by corruption must join forces to tackle it together," CAC chairman Panas Simasathien said.
The private sector must start by changing the false mindset that corruption cannot be solved and show a clear stance that all Thai citizens and firms are against all forms of corruption, he said in the keynote address.
“The private sector is the hope and solution to the corruption problem,” Mr Panas said.
He said systemic corruption had created three conditions that led Thailand on a path of decline.
The first is an unlevel playing field through a monopoly or collusion that allows a particular group to enjoy inappropriate benefits at a cost to the public.
Second, an innovative environment is discouraged, as some operators prefer to pay bribes to ensure safe and speedy government services instead of using the money to boost their competitiveness via research and development.
Third, systemic corruption also leads to social disparities and unsustainable business operations through poor management of infrastructure projects and utilities.
The CAC has 449 members including 250 listed firms, while 96 have been certified for policy and compliance standards.