Many people are worried the government's megaprojects are open to corruption, according to an opinion survey conducted by the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce (UTCC).
The projects in question are the 2-trillion-baht infrastructure scheme, the 350-billion-baht water management scheme and the rice-pledging programme.
The survey of 1,200 people conducted on June 17-21 found 80% of respondents thought corruption is immoral and destroys the nation.
According to the UTCC survey, 30.8% blame corruption on politicians, 28.4% on businesspeople, 26.3% on government officials and 14.5% on the public.
Of people surveyed who knew little about the rice, water and infrastructure projects, 80% of them believed corruption would eat up 16-25% of the budget allocated to the schemes.
Of those with more knowledge of the schemes, the majority thought corruption would account for 11-20% of their budgets.
Thanavath Phonvichai, vice-president of the UTCC, said many people were concerned the projects would bloat public debt and cause repayment problems.
He said most respondents felt the government had failed to divulge enough information about the megaprojects, which raised questions about transparency.
Mr Thanavath said eradicating corruption required sincerity by people in authority.
Past surveys conducted by the university found corruption accounted for 25-30% of government budgets and was widespread among several local administration organisations.