The inception of Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin's administration has been marked as a beacon of hope for people across Thailand. Over the past 8-9 months, several policies aimed at stimulating the economy have been introduced. These include:
The most talked-about policy has been the distribution of 10,000 Baht stipend through digital wallets, and the Prime Minister has candidly admitted to being a novice at governance.
As corruption poses serious challenges to the nation, the anti-corruption coalition voices concern, particularly as the government introduces innovative public policies that involve lending, payments, and giveaways that could expose the nation to corruption. Consequently, there are calls for Prime Minister Srettha's government to earnestly focus on prevention and crackdowns on corruption. In the recent National Anti-Corruption Day event held on September 6th, several demands were made to push the government to take action on five key points:
Prime Minister Srettha stated in the event that Thailand has been ranked in the Corruption Perception Index (CPI) by Transparency International at 101st globally and 4th in ASEAN, falling behind Singapore, Malaysia, and Vietnam. This means Thailand had a lot to improve, especially since these 3-4 countries are Thailand’s trade competitors. The Kingdom needs to elevate its competitiveness.
Corruption not only directly harms the state sector but also erodes investor confidence. It is a major issue causing the Thai economy to decline and consequently affecting the country's GDP. To tackle corruption, the government led by Prime Minister Srettha has strong Rule of Law policies and incorporates technology to enhance transparency and accountability, thereby transitioning into a digital government that improves both transparency and the efficiency of public services.
Future policies will include:
The Prime Minister's serious commitment to tackling corruption is commendable. Although it can't be guaranteed that issues like bribery and corruption won't occur within the government and steps are taken to reduce such problems, it does create hope that the government places importance on combating corruption.
Many people are concerned about anti-corruption efforts. Over the past 10 years, the budget for organizations responsible for combating corruption has been the fastest-growing segment, yet corruption has not decreased. For example, the budget allocated for anti-corruption efforts in fiscal year 2023 across 40 agencies amounts to 3.8 billion baht, a 15% increase from the previous fiscal year 2022.
The top five agencies with the highest budgets are the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC), responsible for dealing with corruption among politicians and high-level civil servants, with a budget of 2.8 billion baht (74%). Next is the Office of Public Sector Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC), responsible for managing corruption among mid-to-lower-level civil servants, with a budget of 512 million baht (13%). The third-highest budget allocation is for the NACC fund at 150 million baht, followed by the Office of the Attorney General at 74 million baht, and the Office of Basic Education Commission (OBEC) at 67 million baht. It is evident that the budget allocation significantly prioritizes combating large-scale corruption over smaller, yet widespread and urgent, issues of corruption.
Therefore, it is not surprising that there have been questions about how serious Prime Minister Srettha's cabinet is in addressing corruption. What measures will be put in place? This is a public concern, as they are the ones who bear the responsibility through their taxes, as seen in various cases.
Suthichai Yoon once criticized that without an anti-corruption policy, both in prevention and suppression, and without any visible action from the Prime Minister on this issue, Srettha, who has never been in the government sector, might not be aware of the subtle tactics that government officials could use to be corrupt. Moreover, since Srettha has to depend on ten other political parties, including the Pheu Thai Party, for the coalition government to survive, and must cater to their interest groups, how strong could Srettha be in protecting the country's and public's interest?
Wichien Pongsathorn, the president of the Anti-Corruption Organization of Thailand (ACT), commented, "There should be a joint operation center for tackling corruption, or what can be called a War Room for Anti-Corruption. This is a major crisis affecting every Thai citizen, causing damage both socially and economically. The state must take this seriously and have clear policies to solve corruption."
Dr. Mana Nimitmongkol, the secretary-general of the Anti-Corruption Organization of Thailand, offered his perspective that even though the elections are over, the public's duty to counter corruption and scrutinize the new government's performance is not finished. He hopes that the Prime Minister will work for the benefit of the people in the country wholeheartedly.
Currently, many Thais are excited to collaborate in preventing and suppressing corruption. Through campaigning for understanding and collective resistance against dishonesty, the Prime Minister's statement that 'the administration will be run with honesty, transparency, good governance, and high ideals' serves like a promise to the people that we can trust this government in handling corruption issues. All of us have to be vigilant to see if this will turn out to be a reality or just empty promises.
