Corruption is defined as the abuse of public office for private gain. It is also considered by most analysts to constitute immoral behavior. Ethics incorporates the notion that an individual’s motivation is based on a correct perception of right and wrong. Therefore, ethics are particularly important for employees working in the public sector. Nevertheless, throughout the world, many governments are tempted to defend the immoral and unethical behavior of their officials.

Fortunately, in recent years, Thailand is one of many countries beginning to recognize its internal corruption problem. Thais have been attempting to eliminate corruption problems in the public sector, particularly in the last decade. Nevertheless, political corruption within the Thai government is still one of the major problems in Thailand. It would be accurate to say that this corruption problem stems from a lack of ethics among many levels of Thai politicians employed in government.

In this paper, I would like to discuss key details of certain emerging Thai corruption scandals. There have been three Thai governments in recent years: the Banhan government, the Chavalit government, and the Chuan government. Each has led Thailand into crisis between 1995 and 2000; and, of these three administrations has fostered many disturbing, but different, corruption problems.

The government of Banhan Silpa-archa came to power in 1995. This government was nicknamed the "fast food system" (Thompson, 1997). This meant that officials of the government merely wanted to skim funds, proceeds, and revenues from the Thai government. There were two major problems resulting in corruption scandals during the Banhan government. Firstly, in 1996, the Bangkok Bank of Commerce (BBC) collapsed because it did not have sufficient capital to support its own banking operations. Vast sums of BBC money were misappropriated by politicians who conspired with participating experts in the banking system and with the Manager of the BBC. Consequently, the BBC’s collapse created a domino effect resulting in many banks failing throughout Thailand.

Secondly, it is important to note that the collapse of the banking system instigated a colossal financial crisis in Thailand. As a result, many international companies changed their attitudes with respect to making investments in Thailand. In the primary stages of the Asian monetary crisis, foreigners preferred to withdraw their business from Thailand, preferring to invest their funds in other locations such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei and Taiwan. This problem also created massive import and export disruptions in Thailand. All of these problems were the identifiable result of the corruption of Thai government officials.

Unethical conduct in the Thai government has created several problems for the Thai people. In my opinion, if these politicians had realized the importance of ethical standards, Thailand would not have had such severe economic problems. For example, public officials lacked honesty, which is one of the most fundamental of ethical values. Honesty also requires good faith to communicate the truth and to avoid miscommunication; I firmly believe that honesty is the most important value in everyone’s life.

It is very important for all Thai political figures to comprehend what it means to be honest. Additionally, honesty could definitely have helped to prevent corruption problems such as those in the government of Banhan Silpa-archa. It is fair to state that honesty will help to re-establish trust between the Thai people and their government.

After the Banhan Silpa-archa government, Chavalit Yongchaiyudh came to power. The parliament and the people were in favor of his assuming the position of Prime Minister. Although his intentions were honorable, his government led to expansion of the Asian Financial crisis. In fact, because of his inability to lead the country out of its financial dilemma, the economic crisis in Thailand set off, throughout all of East Asia, a round of financial turmoil (The Economist, 1999). All of the banks were interrelated and had debt problems due to non-payment of their obligations by Thai bankers. As a result of these inter-bank loan scandals, corruption was at the highest levels experienced in recent memory under the Chavalit government. There were allegations of bribery among government officials in several ministries. As we know, bribery is the illegal acceptance of money or other valuable considerations in exchange for special favors from public servants having to do with their official duties (Cooper, 1998).

In response to these charges, Prime Minister Chavalit agreed to resign when the timing was correct. This seemed to the Thai people to be an honest offer on his part; but it was alleged by some observers that he wanted to remain in power much longer to continue his corrupt practices. His government was, in the eyes of many Thais, lacking in integrity, a key element in an ethical person’s life. Large segments of the banking system of Thailand were linked with that of South Korea, and several other countries throughout South East Asia. This lack of internal integrity and respect for the banking system in Thailand was ‘exported’ through defaulted loan agreements to other countries creating severe problems.

Prime Minister Chavalit was at the center of these financial crises, which led to the need for Thailand to borrow money from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The IMF imposed major restrictions and conditions on Thailand, such as insisting on a new rate of exchange for the "baht" decreasing its value from 25 baht to 52 baht per dollar. This occurred in 1997. The crisis meant that, for the first time, Thai money was worth significantly less then it had been. In addition to the devaluation of Thai currency, the IMF placed a budgetary ceiling on the entire country. All of the above resulted essentially from the corruption problem.

After the Chavalit administration could no longer manage the Thai government and was no longer acceptable to the Thai people, Chuan Leekpai came to power in 1998. His government has lasted until the present time. This new Prime Minister’s government is composed of a six-party coalition and is stronger than the previous two governments. In the opinion of many observers, the Chuan government has been better than the two past governments because Mr. Chuan has fully realized the importance of loyalty and honesty. His primary desire is that the business communities assist in combating corruption by adopting a code of ethics aimed at greater transparency and accountability (Bangkok Post, Oct 1998). Chuan, cited in the same Post article, pointed out that the political system is often abused for personal gain, which translates into "human rights violations, corruption and cronyism" to use his terms (p. 1). Also, Chuan firmly believes that a personal code of ethics can help eliminate corruption as well. However, the Chuan government still has a significant corruption problem affecting two ministers, in particular.

First,Transport and Communication Minister Suthep Thaugsuban corrupted the bidding process for a high-speed national digital telecom project. By doing so, he sought to unethically obtain a considerable sum of money and benefits through an illegal system of "kick-backs". He seems to have abused his responsibility to the Thai nation. Responsibility means being in charge and being accountable for what we do and who we are. More specifically, it means recognizing what we should do and what we should not do. Under the rules of responsibility, we are morally liable for the consequences of our actions (Josephen, 1995). Furthermore, responsibility makes demands on our lives and imposes an obligation to do what we can because it is our duty. If Mr. Suthep truly realized the significance of the responsibility of his power, Thailand would have saved massive sums money on this telephone project.

The Public Health Minister Rakkiat Sukthana created a second corruption problem over the alleged misuse of 1.4 billion baht ($34 million) appropriated for buying medicine for the rural poor (Vatikiotis, 1998). In fact, Mr. Rakkiat, and some of his partners, sent sub-standard medicines to poor people and many government hospitals throughout Thailand. They did this so that Rakkiat and his cronies could derive considerable benefit by manipulating the price of certain medicines. Minister Rakkiat lacked respect, integrity and loyalty as well as the moral responsibility to promote and protect the interests of certain people or organizations.

In summary, many countries, including Thailand, have serious corruption problems. Unfortunately, in spite of improvements, Thailand is one of the most politically corrupt of all the Southeast Asian nations. Generally, many politicians seem lacking in ethical values and do not recognize what true ethical behavior really is. I firmly believe that, if Thai politicians adopt genuine ethical values and recognize their responsibilities toward society, Thailand will have a more stable future. In my heart, I loathe corruption. If Thailand can resolve the problem of corruption, I am confident that my country will once again become a prominent nation on the world economic scene.

Recommendations and solutions might include creating a government agency to oversee the activities of high officials employed in the various ministries. It might also be useful to make these officials directly accountable to the people though the media, or accountable to newly developed economic institutions such as the Security and Exchange Commission, in the United States. By implementing such preliminary but crucial strategies, the problem of governmental corruption will be at least partially resolved. Over a longer period of time, with effort and education, the now serious problem of unethical conduct in Thai government may be completely eliminated.

Cooper, T.L. The responsible administrator (4^th ed), San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Inc., Publishers, 1998.

Josephson, M The ethics edge. Washington, DC: The International City/Country Management Association, 1998.

Vatikiotis, M. Politics as usual, Far Eastern Economics Review 161(39), 1998, 22-24.

………………….. "Politics and current affairs: Chuan on top", The Economist 353(8151), S23-S24(1999).