Thailand Politics

Corruption Soars Under the Watchful Eye of Gen. Prayut Chan-o-cha

Corruption Highest Under the Watchful Eye of Gen. Prayut Chan-o-cha

Government corruption in Thailand hit a record high under the post-coup National Council for Peace (NCPO) junta, lead by Prayut Chan-o-cha. Thailand’s National Anti-Corruption Commission released a report on Thursday.

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, who led the NCPO junta after staging the 2014 coup, was quick to playdown the report. Saying the report’s findings mostly drew mostly on complaints of corruption rather than proven cases.

He said that people would always try to cheat the system, but said he did not want to reveal the names of the culprits.

Instead, he ordered the his Office to publicize the achievements of his government. Above all to show how “well it had served the people”.

When asked by Asia One if each ministry would now be inspected for corruption, he said monitoring for government graft was the media’s job. He also added that government officials preferred working behind closed doors. Because they were afraid of being attacked by the media if they were too transparent.

One of the claims used by Thai military leaders to justify their coup in 2014 was that the administration of then-Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra was corruption.

Corruption charges were seen as a useful weapon to be deployed against pro-Shinawatra political figures, as a pretext to drive them into exile or imprison them.

In the years immediately after the 2014 coup, corruption in Thailand was widely held to have worsened under the NCPO. In part because the Thai courts lost their constitutional independence following the coup and became politicized.

Not surprisingly, Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index (CPI) painted a very mixed picture of the generals’ efforts since 2014 to fight against corruption.

Corruption ranking

In February of this year, Gen Prayut admitted that his government’s “perceived undemocratic status” also had a bearing on Thailand’s latest fall in an annual global corruption index.

“That’s how they perceived the government,” Gen Prayut said. “But the result must be accepted.”

When asked by reporters if the drop had anything to do with the luxury watch case involving Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon, Gen Prayut said, “It was only a trivial matter.”

“Some major cases involving some fugitives were already closed. Why not look at those cases?” he said, without elaborating.

On Dec 27, the National Anti-Corruption Commission voted 5 to 3 to not pursue a case against Gen Prawit for failing to include 22 luxury watches and 12 rings. A list of assets and debts he submitted to the anti-graft agency upon assuming his cabinet post in 2014.

The commission found there was not enough evidence to rule the deputy premier deliberately concealed his wealth.

Thailand scored 36 points, a drop of one point from the previous year, on Transparency International’s 2018 Corruption Perceptions Index, which was released.

The score ranges from 100 (very clean) to 0 (very corrupt).

Among the kingdom’s Southeast Asian neighbours, Singapore was rated as the least corrupt with 85 points — down one point from its 2017 score — followed by Malaysia, whose score remains unchanged at 47 points.

Indonesia’s score went down by one point to 38, while the Philippines’ score went up by two points to 36 points. Vietnam’s score went down by two points to 33, while both Myanmar and Cambodia lost one point each to score 29 and 20, respectively.

Thailand Politics

Thai Prime Minister’s Popularity Declines as Move Forward Party dominates

(CTN News) – Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin continues to make local and international visits to try to solve problems and promote Thailand, but he has failed to impress most voters, according to a Nida poll. The poll also revealed the declining popularity of Pheu Thai Party leader Paetongtarn Shinawatra and the rise of the Move Forward Party.

According to a poll released on Sunday, only 12.85% of people supported the prime minister, down from 17.75% in the previous survey. The daughter of convicted former Prime Minister Thaksin, currently on parole, saw her popularity drop from 6% to 4.85%.

The National Institute of Development Administration conducts a quarterly survey of the public’s preferred political leaders. The last survey was released at the end of March.

According to the survey, supporters of the prime minister described Mr Srettha as a resolute decision-maker determined to address their problems. Ms Paetongtarn was complimented for her vision, leadership, knowledge, and grasp of the country’s difficulties.

This weekend, the prime minister will be in the northeast region listening to citizens’ concerns. The journey occurred only a few days after he had visited northern provinces earlier in the week.

Despite criticism, he has reduced his abroad trips, citing the need to showcase Thailand to investors and traders.

Pita Limjaroenrat, the chief advisor of the Move Forward Party, remained the top candidate for prime minister with 45.50% of the vote, up slightly from 42.75% in the previous quarter’s poll.

Pirapan Salirathavibhaga was the huge winner. The leader of the United Thai National Party saw his popularity nearly quadruple from 3.55% to 6.85%.

The sampled voters stated they appreciated Mr Pita’s political beliefs and thought he had broad knowledge. They praised Mr Pirapan’s credibility, claiming he was clean and honest.

Two other probable prime minister candidates were Khunying Sudarat Keyuraphan of the Thai Sang Thai Party and Anutin Chanvirakul, leader of Bhumjaithai. However, they were less popular than others.

About 20% of voters still did not believe any candidate was qualified to lead the country, which is the same percentage as in the last survey.

Move Forward Party was the most popular party with 49.20%, up slightly from three months ago, while Pheu Thai fell around five percentage points to 16.85% from 22.10%.

The poll, issued on Sunday, surveyed 2,000 ineligible voters between June 14 and June 18.

Thailand Politics

Move Forward Party MP Jirat Thongsuwan Appeals Suspended Jail Sentence for Defamation

(CTN News) – Jirat Thongsuwan, a Move Forward Party MP, says he would appeal his one-year suspended jail sentence for defaming a former senior defense ministry official concerning the state’s procurement of bogus bomb detectors.

The Criminal Court also fined Mr Jirat 100,000 baht for falsely accusing ACM Tharet Punsri, a former Air Force chief-of-staff who later became the ministry’s deputy permanent secretary, of being the chairman and shareholder of a company that supplied the military with the infamous GT200 bomb detectors.

The Chachoengsao MP claimed a July 20, 2022, no-confidence vote against cabinet ministers in Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha’s government. ACM Tharet was not a cabinet member.

Jirat Thongsuwan also identified ACM Tharet as a key figure in the 2006 coup headed by then-army chief Gen Sonthi Boonyaratkalin, which overthrew Thaksin Shinawatra.

ACM Tharet told the court that Jirat Thongsuwan’s charges were false and harmed his reputation. He denied involvement with the bomb detection company and said he was not the company’s senior chairman or shareholder.

In addition to the suspended jail term and fine, the court ordered Jirat Thongsuwan to pay $ 500,000 baht in damages to ACM Tharet and publish an apology in three newspapers for five days.

Jirat Thongsuwan later announced on his X account that he had challenged the verdict with the hashtag “An injustice is infuriating”.

The MP has also been accused of dodging required military conscription. He admitted to the accusation on May 8.

A British business promoted the GT200 as a “remote substance detector” and sold it in several countries. Between 2004 and 2009, fourteen Thai government organizations, most of which were military, were projected to spend 1.4 billion baht on the units.

Concerns about the GT200 and related gadgets arose after the National Science and Technology Development Agency discovered they lacked electronic components.

The devices were later revealed to be “divining rods”.

Thailand Politics

Thaksin Shinawatra Files 100 Million Baht Defamation Lawsuit Against Warong Dechgitvigrom

(CTN News) – Thaksin Shinawatra, the former prime minister, has launched a defamation action against Warong Dechgitvigrom, the head of the Thai Pakdee Party, accusing him of paying a bribe to be released on bail in a lese majeste case.

Thaksin’s attorney, Winyat Chartmontree, filed a lawsuit against Warong, seeking 100 million baht in damages.

Warong, a long-time Thaksin Shinawatra critic, gave a public statement and posted on social media, saying that 2 billion baht was paid to judicial officials in exchange for release on bail in the lese majeste case.

Thaksin Shinawatra Granted Release on 500,000 Baht Bond

Thaksin was granted release on a 500,000 baht bond last week and told not to leave the country without court authorization after pleading innocent to charges of defaming King Rama IX in a 2015 interview with South Korean media.

Winyat stated that, while Warong did not identify Thaksin Shinawatra by name in his speech or post, he did include a hashtag with Thaksin’s name as well as the date Thaksin must appear in court, allowing readers to connect Thaksin to the allegations.

Winyat further stated that he was investigating the fact that Warong mentioned the specific aircraft and automobiles utilized by Thaksin Shinawatra to violate the Personal Data Protection Act.

“I have requested Mr Warong to provide proof as to where he received the data. “If it turns out that it came from state officials, there will be legal consequences,” he warned.

The Criminal Court has scheduled the case’s preliminary hearing for September 30.