Thread: Is Thailand really that corrupt vs...

Is Thailand really that corrupt vs...America let's say.

I think Thailand tends to be more up in the face about the issue (sorta) while the states tend to be more sneaky (lobbyist type of thing).

I am talking about the big people; not the police on the street.

Agree 100% Hilly, but then that's the annoying part of it here in Thailand....how blatant it is...which kind of makes you more angry as it's an insult to the people's here....oh shit I've just remembered

Originally Posted by ChiangMai noon

^
i'm sure you have a very valid point, though in terms of investment and confidence in a country, the perception of corruption is probably more important than the actuality.

by the way the most recent corruption figure have Thailand as the 49th most corrupt nation with the USA in 14th place and the Finns as the least corrupt.

Where is that survey from CMN?

Here we go....AO

http://www.worldaudit.org/democracy.htm

I think this says it all really:

Apparently, the Telecommunications Act of 2001 was amended to raise the statutory limit of foreign shareholding in Thai telecom companies from 25 per cent to 49 per cent.

Given that the amendment was signed last Friday, three days before the transaction took place, may one assume that the Thai Rak Thai government had amended the law to facilitate the deal?"

(discussion on the Shin deal) - source: The Nation 25/01/2006

Thanks CMN, and congrats Toxin you just took fiscal frugality to a new level you criminal you.

You should remember that it is generally easier to go into another country and see with open eyes those things that we have come to ignore in our own.

Who remembers Kevin Taylor who was bankrupted by a malicious police prosecution simply to enable the discrediting of his friend John Stalker who was going to embarass the government through his findings in the Ulster 'Shoot to Kill' enquiry?

Hardly an isolated incident.

^ true; but one is left feeling that, possibly, Thai Rak Thai is a piss-take - given the sale was to a S'pore company

A good point William. The Thais that I have spoken with (well...my wife) think that this the stupidist thing in a long time.

^

I'm definitely not saying that corruption is less in LOS just the way we view it.

Another example, perhaps less obvious, is the way traffic cops in LOS take cash off of motorists for minor infringements. I don't see the difference between that and the police in the UK siting traffic cameras deliberately to catch speeding - I'm not referring to cameras sited near schools but those placed 20 metres before a deristriction sign. The only difference is that in LOS the money is a direct donation and not an indirect one.

Or the Chancellor of the Exchequer changing the accounting rule so that he can raid company pension schemes and then telling the employees that they need to save more.

I get the impression that when Thais complain about corruption it is less from a desire to stamp it out than from the point that they don't get sufficient opportunity to join in.

^ actually Dougal, since [Thai] cops now get a comission on every ticket they issue, they are far less willing to accept your contribution to their Friday night piss-up

^
That's something. I have only been caught once (in Phuket for not having my licence with me), I did get an official ticket and receipt at that time. It taught me to carry my documents in future.

thaiand is utterly corrupt

police have to bid on certain posts (via a bribe to his boss). the better the chances for illegal gain, the more it costs.

Obsidian,

I don't know where you are form but I suspsect that if you open your eyes to yoru own country you will see that corruption exists there too - OK in different forms maybe.

Compare traffic police in Thailand to the UK for example. In Thailand I may get stopped and pay 200B direct to the copper. In the UK the authorities site speed cameras in places to deliberately catch people speeding - that's 3000B every time and no argument.

And I'm not talking about cameras next to schools and hospitals - we have cameras here 100 metres before a deristricted sign or where you exit a motorway.

In my view that is a corrupt practice - it's just a state sanctioned rateh than a personal one.

You want another example - I've worked for companies in the UK where management turned a blind eye to pilfering. They used it as a means to keep wages low.

Yes Thailand has corruption but so does everywhere else.

Originally Posted by Dougal

I get the impression that when Thais complain about corruption it is less from a desire to stamp it out than from the point that they don't get sufficient opportunity to join in.

That's the point. I really think corruption is a great thing for those who can afford to pay. In not corrupt countires you are stuck in bureaucracy, in corrupt countries you can speed it up as long as you have got the cash.

Originally Posted by friscofrankie

The Op wasn't abut smal time corruption, but corruption on the scale fo 100's of millions or billions of dollars... Shit like this goes completely unoticed inthe states, Or it make headlines, the press gets in an frenzy for a week or two, congress holds an "investigation' and it eventually get's swept under the rug.

Very true! In the states we have so many committees investigating shit, that nothing gets done. Unfornatuely (sp?), in this regard Thailand seems to be copying the US.

For example the NCC, decided to vote themselves a pay raise awhile back. Now, what do they do? Nothing, much like the states committees.

Originally Posted by hillbilly

Now, what do they do? Nothing, much like the states committees.

What do you expect Hilly?

The definition of a commitee is:-

'A group who individually can do nothing and collectively agree that nothing can be done.'

I thought the U.S. would of made it into the top 10.

I agree with most above.
It's much easier to see as an outsiderin a different country.
We often don't want to see, or even silently agree, when its popular figures in our home-countries.

In more developed countries the corruption goes on
at a much higher level and can be very complex.

Therefore the opportunity to join in is only open to
a low percentage of the population at a higher social
level. Because the rewards of such actions are only
available to a minority of people of higher standing,
the general perception is that it does not occur.

But just because you do not see it on a day by day
basis, does not mean that it does not occur.

Which country is more corrupt, the one that saves
the rewards for the corporate elite, or the one that
lets everyone join in from the lowest traffic cop upwards.