Bangkok: The Prime Minister declared that there must be no corruption in government agencies, following a poll by the Joint Standing Committee on Commerce, Industry and Banking (JSCCIB) revealing the top 10 agencies that demanded the most bribes. He viewed the issue as a long-standing stigma and plans to discuss it in the Cabinet meeting, instructing each ministry to follow up on the matter.
According to Thai News Agency, Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Anutin Charnvirakul, in an interview regarding the survey results revealed by the Joint Committee of the Three Private Sector Institutions (JCC) which found that 10 agencies had the highest rates of accepting bribes, stated: "There must be no agency that would do such a thing. We have listened to the information from the private sector. Just now, I spoke with the Director-General of the Department of Public Works and Town Planning, which was one of the agencies on that list. I asked how that could be possible, because the Department of Public Works is under the Ministry of Interior, and currently, there are no permit-related matters; most are inspections. Public works include provincial offices and public works from various agencies, not just the Department of Public Works and Town Planning. But that's not the important part. What's important is to prevent these things from happening in the first place."
"Since the private sector has voiced these concerns, it needs to be investigated by the relevant agencies, right?" The Prime Minister said that this matter will be brought to the Cabinet meeting for their information, and each ministry and government agency will follow up on the situation.
Mr. Anutin continued, saying that a previous study showed Thailand ranked among the lowest in terms of corruption and credibility. He asked how that study was analyzed and was told it was based on a subjective index. He believes this is insufficient, arguing that for many years, Thailand has relied on good governance and oversight from independent organizations that monitor corruption, which the government cannot interfere with. Therefore, in practice, it's a different matter. While many offenders have been prosecuted, the underlying issue might be a long-standing perception. This is something we must cleanse. From now on, we must avoid any wrongdoing. Previously, the term "stigma" was used, but now it's "digital footprint." We must not allow these things to happen and become ingrained in people's minds, where people keep saying "they're corrupt" because we've created a flawed system. This needs to be addressed.