Graftmasters at work
In response to news reports about the government's failure to end graft, I think it is worth suggesting that first, they really haven't tried and second, it's mainly the government that is involved in graft.
Much was made of the corruption involved by previous members of parliament but two cases come to mind that shed much light on this problem.
Several years ago a permanent secretary for transport was robbed of a huge amount of money and the thieves reported more cash than they could possibly carry. After investigation he was judged "unusually wealthy" to the tune of 63 million baht and found guilty of not declaring his assets. He was jailed for 10 months.
Then recently we had the case of Kasem Nimmonrat and his wife from the Chiang Mai Provincial Administration Office, who were also found to be unusually wealthy to the tune of almost 200 million baht, were found guilty of filing false information and served 12 months in jail. On behalf of ordinary, hardworking, tax-paying Thais, we should be out shouting "Is that the best you can do?" A euphemism is used instead of "corruption", no mention is made of just whose money they have got their hands on, they are not charged with theft, they do less jail time than a street protester and just get the money that has been found confiscated, but no doubt hold on to what the investigators never discovered.
Bearing in mind the huge sums involved, this is pathetic. Until some serious action is taken then the citizens are right to believe the problem is intractable. If the temple theft, school scams and low-income embezzlers are treated likewise then the die will already have been cast: corruption is a minor accounting offence. Nothing serious.
Lungstib
Tax terror
Re: "No easy cure for corruption woes", (BP, 18 June).
Was it a coincidence that this story came the exact day that for the first time in 20 years I was directly affected by government corruption. Every government over these years has come into power on the platform of curbing corruption. Alas it has only got worse as is seen currently on a daily basis. It is ingrained in Thai society and no one has the political will to stop it.
Money rules over all ethics and morality.
My own story: Every year for many years I have received a gift parcel from my family in Australia. It always consists of foods I'm homesick for that are unavailable here. These also include dog food, which my dog goes crazy for. Then three years ago the parcel turned up with a tax bill. Knowing that these goods were non taxable, even apart from the fact that Australia now has a free trade agreement with Thailand, I filled in the forms requesting a review and a week later it returned tax free. Same thing happened in 2017.
This year it took only five days for the parcel to arrive. Again with a tax bill, so again I filled in the form and it was returned to Bangkok to be appealed. Five days from a small town in Australia to rural Thailand. To Bangkok and back over two months and the appeal denied. I must pay the tax this year. So I coughed up even though by now the expiry date on some of the products had passed. By the way, one of the items is a Thai product (for export).
Nik
Spectre of Beijing
Re: "Me and mini me", (PostBag, June 17).
Khun Prasarn may be right in stating that the US has attacked and ransacked many nations in gaining their power, but this still does not change the fact that there should be cause for concern that China's autocratic government seems to be gaining more power in the world. This does not bode well for world peace, as it has been proven that democratic governments are the best recipe for success.
PaulKhon Kaen
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