The chairman of the Anti-Corruption Organisation of Thailand (ACT) has called for a special court to be set up to handle corruption cases.
Pramon Sutivong made the proposal during a seminar on measures to prevent corruption in the state sector, held Monday by the Justice Ministry at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Centre on Ratchadaphisek Road.
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Mr Pramon said the International Monetary Fund has estimated that Thailand loses about 1 trillion baht as a result of corruption each year, adding this massive amount of money could be spent on major development projects for the country instead.
He said corruption has been found in major state projects, particularly in state enterprises.
Mr Pramon said that although the Information Act was put in place in 2002, the public has been granted little access to information about projects initiated by government agencies and state enterprises.
Pramon Suthivong, chairman of the Anti-Corruption Organisation of Thailand, talks to the media about alleged corruption plaguing the government's rice-pledging programme and gives suggestions on how to ensure transparency in the scheme.
He said corruption involves politicians, government officials, businessmen and ordinary members of the public.
But government officials play a central role in helping politicians get away with graft, he added.
Over the past decade, capable civil servants have been hindered in progressing in their careers because politicians appoint their cronies to important jobs, Mr Pramon said.
This is the case with state enterprises, which are dominated by politicians' close associates who are appointed to protect vested interests, the ACT chairman said.
He also criticised the justice system for being too slow in punishing graft perpetrators, saying the process fails to deter offenders.
In some cases, only low-level players are arrested and prosecuted, he added.
Mr Pramon also said the National Legislative Assembly is deliberating more legislation designed to revamp the justice system and deal with graft, such as a bill to combat and prevent collusion in bidding for state projects.
Justice Minister Paiboon Koomchaya Monday threw his support behind the proposal for a special court to handle corruption cases.
He also said special courts should be established to consider cases involving drugs, and other issues that require special attention.
However, Gen Paiboon said the courts and other independent organisations should be asked what they think about the proposals.
Speaking at the Monday seminar earlier, Gen Paiboon said the Justice Ministry has been trying to amend legislation to reduce social disparity and restore public confidence in the justice system.
He said that over the past four months, he has found that several laws have similar content, which does not benefit the public.
In light of this, he has proposed amendments to a total of 321 laws to better protect the people's rights and to curb social injustices.
So far, the cabinet has approved 151 amendments to the laws, Gen Paiboon said.
Public Sector Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC) secretary-general Prayong Preeyajit also told the seminar that corruption is a serious problem that affects state agencies and private businesses.
He said that about 8,000 local administrative organisations nationwide are prone to graft.
Mr Prayong cited the corruption in the controversial 600-million-baht school futsal pitch scheme.
Authorities are now investigating substandard and overpriced futsal pitches at hundreds of schools in the Northeast.
One province had been allocated a futsal construction budget of more than 180 million baht, but an investigation found the actual construction prices were estimated at only 50 million baht, he said.
Mr Prayong said local administrative organisations in some provinces had sought bank loans for their local development projects.
Corruption has turned into such a problem that existing anti-corruption mechanisms are no longer able to stop it.
He agreed that anti-corruption efforts have not yielded results as offenders are rarely punished.
Chairat Khanittabuth, deputy secretary-general of the National Anti-Corruption Commission, said anti-graft operations are expected to change for the better over the next few years because the government has vowed to tackle corruption as a national priority.
He said the NACC will speed up its handling of cases, and will work with other agencies such as the PACC, the Office of the Auditor-General, and the Anti-Money Laundering Office to boost efficiency in solving cases.