The government is on the cusp of reforming anti-corruption laws. This is a welcome step, and long overdue. For many years, battling corruption has been difficult at best, ineffective too often. A combination of unclear regulations, competing police and investigative agencies and a clear reluctance to act against those with rank or influence has stymied many cases.
The military regime is taking the same steps with planned new anti-corruption legislation that it has with almost all issues. That is, it is releasing little information and no specific details to the public. The military mindset to tell citizens what is good for them is particularly lamentable in this case. That is because Thai people expect effective reform, unsparing enforcement and equal treatment for everyone.
It is certain the government has made at least one error in drafting the proposed legislation it will submit to cabinet and then to the National Legislative Assembly. Ministers, especially Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam, should have invited and welcomed public input, which could have prevented serious problems down the road.
Mr Wissanu wants one new but controversial section: prosecution of those suspected of graft will not be limited to the public official who is accused. In Mr Wissanu's words, the new law "will additionally impose penalties on children, parents and siblings of government officials convicted of corruption".
This is a populist proposal, often discussed and debated in the past. It is an error to write this into law. In fact, it changes the moral and cultural fabric of the legal system. To make a person legally responsible for the law-breaking of another adult is an extremely poor precedent. That is because writing such responsibility and punishment into the law pre-judges every case it will ever touch.
Mr Wissanu and the military regime should take a moment to think about this. A case of suspected serial corruption has been prominent in the news lately. A well-connected, high-ranking person has allegedly been involved in misuse of state assets and influence-peddling involving millions of baht. Under the proposal championed by Mr Wissanu last week, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha would be automatically responsible and punished should his brother, Gen Preecha, ever face legal action.
The mandatory family-connection clause aside, the fight for anti-corruption reform deserves wide support. There is no need to change decades of legal precedent, however. Those suspected of corruption must be diligently investigated and, where warranted, quickly prosecuted. Prison sentences should reflect both the revulsion people feel against corrupt state officials, and serve as a warning if not a deterrent.
Everyone involved in a case of corruption deserves the same. If family members aid or abet the corrupt person, they too must be pursued, prosecuted and imprisoned. But if there are -- Mr Wissanu's words again -- children, parents and siblings who are not involved, they must be treated as all other innocent citizens.
All this makes clear another part of current anti-corruption law that is missing, as it is in other parts of the legal code. No criminal can be allowed to profit from his crime. And anyone who profits from corruption is part of the graft. The law must mandate the swift and complete seizure or even destruction of all proceeds of corruption, with an emphasis on "all".
A tough anti-corruption law, with lines of enforcement that show no fear or favour for the influential, will easily win public approval. The government should ask citizens to give further ideas.