The National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) and the Election Commission (EC) have come up with a set of assessment criteria to help determine if the policy platforms of political parties can lead to corruption.
Uthit Buasri, deputy secretary-general of the NACC, said the criteria were drawn up by the NACC to promote transparency and prevent policy-oriented graft.
Mr Uthit said as political parties are legally required to submit their policies to the EC for public release, voters can use these criteria to examine the parties' policy platforms and determine for themselves if they are worth their support at the polls.
Phakdee Photisiri, a former NACC member, the criteria can help voters screen candidates and find out if a political party's election policies can be exploited by politicians for personal gains.
According to Mr Phakdee, political parties should be able to explain how they intend to fund their policies, what merits they hold, the impact the policies will have on society as well as how to prevent corruption when the policies are implemented.
"Rather than simply listening to political parties selling their policies, like raising wages or salaries, people should know if these proposals have been thoroughly considered.
"Some of them may not be feasible. And we hope these tools can help [people make an informed choice at the polls]," he said.
As such, political parties should only present "core" policies, the ones they really intend to implement when they are elected, said Mr Phakdee.
He said many policies proposed by political parties in the past were not assessed for corruption risks and, therefore, no risk reduction plans are made. He added the criteria will also be submitted to the Budget Bureau for use in budget planning.
Pol Maj Gen Nattawat Sangiamsak, deputy secretary for the Office of the EC, said political parties are required to provide details about the source of their election funds, benefits and risks associated with their fiscal-related policies.
They will be given a warning if they fail to do so and will be fined 500,000 baht and a daily fine of 10,000 baht if they refuse to comply after the warning, he added.
"It's required by the law," he said.
