Anand: Govt's governance declining

Anand: Govt's governance declining

The administration's governance of the country has declined because certain things it does are serving only the interests of a few groups of people, former prime minister Anand Panyarachun said on Thursday.

Anand Panyarachun (Photo by Apichart Jinakul)

"Many people in this government do not admit that they have a conflict of interest and this causes inequality in Thai society and widens the gap between the rich and the poor.

"Differences between high-income and middle-income earners have also increased and this leads to more unrest in society," Mr Anand said at  seminar on "Thailand's Governance Challenge" on Thursday morning.

He said the government should be focusing on the needs of the general public, not just some groups or individuals, ensuring that each process is transparent, and ensuring a good governance assessment system.

The auditors should be prominent political and social figures who have credibility and are trusted by society, he added.

Vorapol Socatiyanurak (Photo by Pattanapong Hirunard)

His criticism came less than a day after the Thai Institute of Directors (IOD) said the country's top 50 listed firms had the best corporate governance in the region.

Vorapol Socatiyanurak, secretary-general of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), said the latest Asean Corporate Governance (CG) Scorecard puts Thailand's average CG score at 67.66%, followed by Malaysia at 62% and Singapore at 56%.

"The reason Thailand has the higher score is because the top 50 listed firms in Asean have a high level of governance and are compliant with international standards. Twenty of them are Thai firms," Mr Vorapol said.

He said the SEC hoped that Thai listed firms will continue to achieve high CG standards, as they would then attract more foreign investors and funds to the country.

Do you like the content of this article?
COMMENT (4)