Thailand is part of the international community. It is important to recognise this and understand how the English-speaking public sphere operates, regulates, forms a system of checks and balances, and acts as a source of ideas.
International NGOs commenting on aspects of Thailand's economy are not attempting to bring the government down and should not be denied or condemned. Investigative reporting can be welcomed and acted upon. Engagement is, in fact, what the international community expects, and the government permitting and acting on investigative reporting would be greeted positively.
Thailand needs to be open to ideas. Last month, Deborah Lucas, the director of the Centre for Finance and Policy of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Sloan School of Management, suggested Thailand should set up an independent parliamentary budget office along the lines of the US Congressional Budget Office. The CBO, together with the Joint Tax Committee, which estimates tax revenue, enjoy relatively high public confidence ratings in the US because they are seen as impartial and effective at estimating the effects of policies.
This is a successful, tried and tested system. The CBO includes budget analysis; financial analysis; health, retirement and long-term analysis; macro-economic analysis, and tax analysis. This comprehensive system could bring to politics the kind of impartiality that Thailand realised was essential to its banking system after the 1997 crash.
The UN has also been playing its part, with the International Labour Organisation (ILO) advising the Thai government on measures to address human trafficking. These moves have included training labour inspectors and working on complaint mechanisms in cooperation with the Labour Ministry. While it is yet to be seen if this partnership has yielded fruit, there is no doubt the ILO is a valid and valuable partner in securing development and protection for labour.
Moreover, UN Development Programme (UNDP) Thailand has been supporting and promoting Thai public procurement reform as an anti-corruption measure. Together, the UNDP along with the Office of Public Sector Development Commission, the Office of Public Procurement Management, the Comptroller General's Department, the Ministry of Finance, the Anti-Corruption Organisation of Thailand, the State Enterprise Policy Office and additional stakeholders, conducted an integrity risk management assessment as part of their joint Mitigating Risks to Integrity in Public Procurement project.
The assessment showed that the size of the public procurement sector, as well as significant gaps in legislation, are major contributing factors to the existence of corruption within the sector. Thailand is drafting a new public procurement law in response to the comprehensive review and its recommendations.
Thailand is also definitely beginning to tackle the symptoms of corruption in the bureaucracy. Apparently the Damrongtham Centre is working to open sub-branches and remedy thousands of complaints. The success rate being claimed for its thousands of interventions — over 85% — is high.
Moreover, together with the leading international NGO in fighting corruption, Transparency International, an "Integrity Pact" has been introduced, with the Bangkok Mass Rapid Transit Authority NGV bus procurement and the MRTA Blue Line serving as pilot studies. Three additional projects are presently being folded into this initiative.
Also last month, Thailand joined the Construction Sector Transparency Initiative (Cost), a UK-World Bank initiative, with the expansion of Suvarnabhumi airport by Airports of Thailand serving as a pilot project. The aim is to apply international standards for disclosure and publicise every stage of major construction projects in detail so that they can be publicly scrutinised.
However, Thailand's 25% corruption rate and Transparency International's ranking of 85 imply the country is facing a national emergency in this area. In this light, a single pilot project seems somewhat half-hearted — and given the fact the airport expansion could take years, multiple pilot projects started now would produce better data on effectiveness.
Both the Integrity Pact and the Cost Initiative stress the need for a streamlined bureaucracy, law enforcement via an unbiased judiciary, and civic education. In civic education, the government has decided to go with a top-down rather idiosyncratic charter: "The 12 Core Values of Thai People". Whether this can be translated into a new learning paradigm focused on enabling citizens to unearth graft, form civil society organisations and challenge wrongdoers in power remains to be seen.
There is no doubt Thailand needs more and better trained prosecutors, lawyers and judges who specialise in bureaucratic and corporate corruption. The UK 2010 Bribery Act and the Serious Fraud Office — which has a unique role to both investigate and prosecute through its dedicated forensic accountants, investigators, law clerks, and lawyers — may serve as a model.
Unfortunately, Thailand is not known for its investigative journalism, a by-product of previous intimidation, assassinations and disappearances. Nonetheless, the crucial role of investigative journalism in detecting and reporting on serious corruption in the bureaucracy and construction sector and in providing coverage of the legal system means that Thailand needs to step up to the challenge and provide investigative journalists with police protection. Also, foreign journalists need to be protected so that they can serve as a check if local journalists are obstructed.
Organisations like Transparency International provide full tool kits for both civil society and journalists to use in order to investigate potential corruption.
Using these, Thailand can go the full "sunlight" route and start its own version of Wikileaks. Then, the ultimate "social sanction" of civil society could be brought to bear against corrupt bureaucrats and politicians.
Dr Peerasit Kamnuansilpa is founding dean, College of Local Administration, Khon Kaen University. John Draper is project officer, Isan Culture Maintenance and Revitalisation Programme, College of Local Administration.