The Possible Risks of Corruption in Thailand

There are high risks of corruption in most sectors in Thailand. Even though Thailand has a legal framework and a range of institutions to counter corruption, companies may regularly encounter bribery or other corrupt practices. The military junta that overthrew the government in 2014 has further entrenched its power and corruption is said to have worsened under the military regime.

The Organic Law on Counter Corruption criminalizes corrupt practices of public officials and corporations, including active and passive bribery of public officials. The Penal Code also criminalizes embezzlement and trading in influence. Anti-corruption legislation is inadequately enforced, and facilitation payments and gifts are common in practice. This is clearly seen in their public procurement sector. Businesses indicate that bribes and irregular payments in the process of awarding government contracts are especially common. GCR statistics proves that at the very least, two out of five Thai businesses plan to give gifts in order to properly secure a government contract. Keep in mind that this statistic is based on all of the government bribes that business officials admitted to. Companies also report that "the diversion of public funds and favoritism in decisions of government officials are very common. Procurement fraud most frequently occurred during quote and bid solicitations, vendor selection, vendor contracting, and maintenance process (pwc 2016). Reported fraud during the payment process doubled between 2015 and 2016 (pwc 2016). Respondents report of bid rigging, where employees provide inside information or confidential pricing knowledge leading to unfair competition (pwc 2016)" (Thailand Corruption Report. (2017, September 2).

The high numbers if governmental corruption is due to the poor regulatory framework for public procurement. It is weak, fragmented and does not reflect international legislative practices, for collision is strictly forbidden. An example of a more recent high-profile corruption case; the "former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, ousted in the military coup of 2014, was indicted a year later on charges of negligence in failing to prevent large losses and corruption in a rice-buying scheme in which the government would buy rice from farmers above market rates. The military junta alleges the losses to the state amounted to at least USD 8 billion"(Thailand Corruption Report. (2017, September 2). Due to the uprise in governmental involvement with businesses, companies are recommended to implement special due diligence procedures to counter the likelihood of encountering corruption in the procurement process. There are many reports of slavery and human trafficking, especially in the Thai fishing industry.

According to the 2016 Global Slavery Index, there are around 425,500 Thais living as modern slaves; that is a whopping 0.063% of their current total population. "A 2017 report by the United Nations severely criticized Thailand for failing to stamp its slavery and human rights abuses in its fishing sector (UNILO 2017). The practice is facilitated by widespread corruption among government officials; in one case, local officials protected and assisted a gang accused of torturing and executing migrant workers who attempted to flee (UNILO 2017)" (Thailand Corruption Report. (2017, September 2). The government doesn't put much effort into investigating and mitigating these abhorrent living conditions because it is one of their prime industries with a net worth of around $ 7 billion USD. Despite their financial progression and expansion into international business, human rights are still underdeveloped in Thailand. The many cases of government bribery and forced labor in Thailand are in stark contrast to Canadian standards which, for the most part, prioritize the living conditions of the people. We have virtually no reported government interference, according to the Global Corruption Index we have a recent score of around 82%. I would argue that Canada has less corruption and better living conditions due to the fact that we live in a more financially stable country, we have less military involvement, a more open democratic system and our infrastructure is more developed.