Flood-rehabilitation corruption | Bangkok Post: learning

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Bribes to politicans & civil servants 25-30% of govt budget (200 billion baht a year, 2% of GDP). Big worry over flood-rehab project corruption opportunity.

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ANTI-CORRUPTION DRIVE: Scepticism persists over official honesty by Phusadee Arunmas

Perceptions regarding corruption in Thailand showed a slight improvement as gauged by the most recent Corruption Situation Index, but the severity of the problem remains the same, costing 25-30% of the government's budget.

The government plans to invest as much as 3 trillion baht over the next decade, but if corruption cannot be limited it could cost from 800 billion to 1 trillion baht, said Thanavath Phonvichai, an economist at the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce.

The calculation was based on the framework investment of 2.27 trillion baht plus 350 billion baht worth of flood-rehabilitation projects and other investments by state enterprises.

UTCC president Sauwanee Thairungroj said the university survey in December and January showed an index score of 3.6 on a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the least corrupt, up from 3.5 in December 2010. The biannual survey had 2,400 respondents.

Some 82% of respondents with business operations related to the government said they had to pay extra money to civil servants and politicians at the amount of more than 25% of the budget - related mostly to durable goods, land, buildings and other investment projects. Ms Sauwanee said the additional payment was 25-30% of the government's fiscal budget, which translates to 170-200 billion baht of corrupt money a year or 1.5% to 2% of GDP. 

The survey also covered the corruption opportunity of flood-rehab projects, in which 25% of respondents believed corruption would occur. Just 0.3% of respondents said no corruption would happen. 

Pramon Sutivong, chairman of the Anti-Corruption Network, said the private sector and the public are increasingly aware of the corruption problem, but no subjective results will be seen in the short term.

He predicts an improved situation in the long term, especially after Thailand legislated one law on disclosure of income and expenses and another on disclosure of reference prices for government procurement projects

"If the law on disclosure of reference prices takes effect, the ACN will form an organisation to examine the appropriateness of those prices," he said

(Source: Bangkok Post, ANTI-CORRUPTION DRIVE, Scepticism persists over official honesty, 18/01/2012, Phusadee Arunmas, link) 

Corruption Vocabulary

drive - a project or effort to achieve some goal within a period of time (example: a fundraising drive)
corruption - (See Wikipedia on bribery and political corruption)
anti-corruption drive - a project to end (or at least reduce) corruption

scepticism - not believing in things easily or quickly, questioning them
persist - continue, not end or disappear
scepticism persists - people continue to not believe that something is true or possible (here: they do not believe that government officials are honest; they believe government officials are corrupt)

honesty - when a person always tells the truth and does not deceive people and break the law ความซื่อสัตย์
official - a high level government employee (who has the authority and power to make decisions and spend money)
official honesty

scepticism persists over official honesty

perceptions - the way that people see something, what they know or believe to be true about something การสังเกตเห็น, การรับรู้

improvement - when something gets better or when you make it better การปรับปรุง, การทำให้ดีขึ้น
slight improvement - a very small change, making something better

perceptions regarding corruption in Thailand showed a slight improvement

gauged by - measured by
a slight improvement as gauged by the most recent Corruption Situation Index

severity - how "bad" something is
the severity of the problem - how bad a problem is

remains the same - no change, same as before

budget - the amounts of money that an organisation has available to spend on different things during a period งบประมาณ(See Wikipedia)
government's budget
the severity of the problem remains the same, costing 25-30% of the government's budget

decade - a period of ten years ทศวรรษ, ระยะเวลา 10 ปี
the government plans to invest as much as 3 trillion baht over the next decade

the calculation was based on

framework - a system of rules, ideas or beliefs that is used to plan or decide something ขอบข่ายงาน, โครงร่าง
investment - taking your money and putting it into projects to make a profit or earn interest (buying stock shares, bonds, real estate)
framework investment

flood-rehabilitation projects - projects to repair the damage caused by the floods (and to protect against future floods)
rehabilitation - the process of making normal again after suffering injury or harm; improve condition so that it can operate again การทำให้กลับสู่สภาพเดิม, การทำให้กลับมาดีเหมือนเดิม making a system, building, etc., suitable for use again, i.e., bringing it back to a good condition การฟื้นฟูสภาพกิจการ

opportunity - a situation when it is possible to do something that you want to do (See glossary)
corruption opportunity of flood-rehab projects

state - government รัฐ
enterprises - companies
state enterprises - companies owned and operated by the government

survey - gathering information about what people think about different subjects (public opinion) by asking large numbers of people questions and counting their answers, and then using statistics, graphs, and tables to present results (See Wikipedia) การสำรวจความเห็น
respondent - a person who is asked questions and is included in a survey
2,400 respondents  

index - an amount calculated to measure something over time
scale of 1-10 - the numbers or measurements used are between 1 and 10 

biannual - happening two times every year
biannual survey - a survey that happens two times every year

civil servants - government workers (who usually are protected from being fired thus having a job for life)

durable goods - goods such as cars, televisions, computers, furniture that last for a long time after you have bought them, also called "consumer durables" (See Wikipedia)
durable - able to stay in good condition for a long time ทนทาน

fiscal - related to government spending; connected with the government budget, i.e., public money เกี่ยวกับงบประมาณ
government's fiscal budget

X translates to Y - X means Y, if X then Y

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) - the total value of all the goods and services produced by a country in one year (See Wikipedia)
1.5% to 2% of GDP

sector - a part of the economy ภาคเศรษฐกิจของประเทศ (public sector = government, private sector = all businesses, household sector = families and consumers, banking sector,...) (See Wikipedia)
private sector - all the companies in a country (privately owned companies, not state owned)
public sector - the government

aware - knowing that something exists, or having knowledge or experience of a particular thing ทราบ
increasingly aware of the corruption problem

subjective - depends on the opinions of different people (cannot be measured and proven to exist)
objective - can be seen and measured and proved to exist

results - what is produced in the end by an activity or task

term - a period of time
in the short term - over a short period of time (starting from now)
in the long term - over a long period of time (starting from now)

legislate - when parliament creates a new law
legislated one law

income - money that people receive from work or some other source, used for household consumption and savings

procurement - process of buying large numbers of supplies for an organisation or company (equipment, raw materials) การจัดซื้อ
reference price - a standard price for comparison to make sure that the price of a good is correct (not over-priced and including corruption money, for example)
reference prices for government procurement projects

disclosure - making facts known to the public (following a legal requirement)
disclosure of income and expenses  
disclosure of reference prices for government procurement projects

law takes effect - when a law begins to be used (from this time, if people break the law they could be caught and punished)

appropriateness - whether something is suitable or right for a particular situation or occasion ความเหมาะสม, ความสมควร
examine the appropriateness of  prices - look at whether the prices are right for the situation (or do they show that there was corruption)

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