Thailand's national corruption fighting agency has 10th anniversary: A retrospective
By Jon Fernquest
The
NACC
(originally
known as the National
Counter-Corruption Commission) turns ten years
old this week.Today's article is about the great task that remains ahead for the agency:
NACC (National Anti-Corruption
Commission), National
Counter-Corruption Commission -
an independent agency of the Thai government "responsible for the
ethical conduct, financially or otherwise of elected politicians and
civil servants. The commission have both powers of investigation and
prosecution." (From Wikipedia;
see website)
คณะกรรมการป้องกันและปราบปรามการทุจริตแห่งชา
a retrospective - a description of work done in the past
the great task that remains ahead - the important thing they must do in the future
a retrospective - a description of work done in the past
the great task that remains ahead - the important thing they must do in the future
Here is an extract of the article (For full article look here).
THAILAND: BOGGED DOWN IN CORRUPTION
Anti-graft body turns 10, and the cases are mounting18/11/2009
Greg Lowe
...Graft is commonplace here, from paying off police for bogus traffic offences and making "donations" to school teachers to get basic educational services for school kids, to high-level corruption allegedly involving senior state officials in the procurement of fire trucks and the building of airports.
corruption - (See Wikipedia
on bribery,
corporate corruption, and political
corruption)
bogged down - have bad problem that prevents you from operating, from moving forward and making progress
graft - using political power and authority to get money illegally (take bribes)
anti-graft body - a government agency that fights graft and corruption
cases are mounting - cases are increasing
commonplace - happens often, so not unusual
bogus traffic offences - fake traffic offences, not real, police created to collect money
allegedly... - claimed but not yet proven...
procurement - the official process of searching of buying supplies by a company or government
bogged down - have bad problem that prevents you from operating, from moving forward and making progress
graft - using political power and authority to get money illegally (take bribes)
anti-graft body - a government agency that fights graft and corruption
cases are mounting - cases are increasing
commonplace - happens often, so not unusual
bogus traffic offences - fake traffic offences, not real, police created to collect money
allegedly... - claimed but not yet proven...
procurement - the official process of searching of buying supplies by a company or government
Transparency International's Global Corruption Perceptions Index 2009 ranked Thailand as 84th out of 180 countries surveyed, with a score of 3.4 where 10 is the cleanest (New Zealand, 9.4) and 1 the most corrupt (Somalia, 1.1). This was down from 80th last year which had been an slight improvement on the previous three years of annual slides - the perception of corruption worsened after the military coup and the NACC (originally the National Counter-Corruption Commission) has said the practice has become more widespread over the past five years.
In its Global Corruption Barometer 2009, published in June, Transparency International found that 11% of Thais surveyed had paid a bribe in the past 12 months, some 54% saw political parties as the local institutions most affected by corruption, followed by state officials 22% and business 9%.
This gloomy perspective was reinforced by a July Abac poll of 1,582 people nationwide where 85% of respondents regarded corruption as normal, 68% said it was present in both national and local government, and 58% thought state officials were "too scared" to lodge complaints against high-ranking politicians.
Transparency International - an
international organisation that fights corruption and tries to raise
public awareness of corruption (See Wikipedia)
Transparency International's Global Corruption Perceptions Index - "Since 1995, Transparency International has published an annual Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) ordering the countries of the world according to 'the degree to which corruption is perceived to exist among public officials and politicians'. The organization defines corruption as 'the abuse of entrusted power for private gain'." (See Wikipedia)
a practice - way of doing things
practice has become more widespread - a way of doing things that more and more people are useing
Global Corruption Barometer 2009 - an annual study of global corruption by Transparency International (See document and also World Bank blog)
gloomy - negative, unhappy, without hope
perspective - a way of thinking about things influenced by personal experience and beliefs
gloomy perspective - a negative, unhappy way of thinking about things, without hope
Abac poll - one of Thailand's top public opinion polls, carried out by staff at Assumption University (ABAC) in Bangkok (See website)
public opinion poll - a survey of a representative sample of the population to find out opinions, attitudes, beliefs, behaviors, and other social information (See Wikipedia)
lodge complaints - officially report crimes or corruption and try to start a legal case against
Transparency International's Global Corruption Perceptions Index - "Since 1995, Transparency International has published an annual Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) ordering the countries of the world according to 'the degree to which corruption is perceived to exist among public officials and politicians'. The organization defines corruption as 'the abuse of entrusted power for private gain'." (See Wikipedia)
a practice - way of doing things
practice has become more widespread - a way of doing things that more and more people are useing
Global Corruption Barometer 2009 - an annual study of global corruption by Transparency International (See document and also World Bank blog)
gloomy - negative, unhappy, without hope
perspective - a way of thinking about things influenced by personal experience and beliefs
gloomy perspective - a negative, unhappy way of thinking about things, without hope
Abac poll - one of Thailand's top public opinion polls, carried out by staff at Assumption University (ABAC) in Bangkok (See website)
public opinion poll - a survey of a representative sample of the population to find out opinions, attitudes, beliefs, behaviors, and other social information (See Wikipedia)
lodge complaints - officially report crimes or corruption and try to start a legal case against
The sheer extent of the problem is demonstrated by the NACC's caseload. It currently has a backlog of about 5,000 cases, down from 10,000 when the current commission was formed a couple of years ago, with some 2,000 new cases added to the pile every year - an average of one new case every 4.5 hours...
...The overstretched agency currently has about 800 staff and receives just 750 million baht funding each year. Hong Kong's Independent Commission Against Corruption, by comparison, has four times the commission's funds and deals with a population six times smaller...
...As about half of the complaints the commission deals with involve the embezzlement of state funds by local government officials, the NACC will be expanding its network of offices across the country starting with seven or eight offices next year. But it does not expect an increase in funds to do so.
sheer extent of the problem
- the huge size of the problem
a case - one incident, problem, or situation that a skilled worker (doctor, police, social worker) is dealing with
caseload - all the cases that a skilled worker is dealing with currently
backlog - all the cases that have not been solved yet
overstretched agency - a government agency or department that has too much work to do
embezzlement - stealing company or government money that you have to care for or have access to as part of your job (See Wikipedia)
embezzlement of state funds - stealing government money that you have access to as an employee
a case - one incident, problem, or situation that a skilled worker (doctor, police, social worker) is dealing with
caseload - all the cases that a skilled worker is dealing with currently
backlog - all the cases that have not been solved yet
overstretched agency - a government agency or department that has too much work to do
embezzlement - stealing company or government money that you have to care for or have access to as part of your job (See Wikipedia)
embezzlement of state funds - stealing government money that you have access to as an employee
It is also worth mentioning that Transparency International monitors the "perception of corruption". While perception and reality can differ greatly, the former plays a fundamental role in how deep-rooted corruption can become. If the public believes corruption to be widespread people that things can change, they are more likely to pay bribes or lower their expectationssuccumb to graft themselves, and foreign firms are more likely to do business in a country with a cleaner reputation...
...the commission was described as "weak" in 2007 by Global Integrity, which provides international information on corruption and governance, and it needs to do more to be seen as independent and effective, otherwise public cynicism will take hold and undermine its ability to reduce graft...
...Judicial activism over the past few years has shown the courts are willing to prosecute the rich and powerful - that commitment needs now to encompass the full spectrum of politics covering the government, military, police, civil service and corporate spheres....
perception - the way
that people think about or feel about an issue
perception of corruption - the way that people think about or feel about corruption
deep-rooted - very difficult to change or remove (like a plant with roots going deep into the ground so difficult to pull out)
lower their expectations - people got a lot less than they thought, so now they think they will get less in the future
succumb - finally, after resistance, doing something that you did not want to do
succumb to graft - finally asking for bribes yourself (after resisting the temptation)
reputation of Y - the way that people think about person or organisation Y (positive or negative)
a cleaner reputation - people believe there is less corruption
Global Integrity - a Washington, D.C. based organisation that provides global corruption information (See website and Wikipedia)
governance - the way that a country, political unit, or company is managed and run
cynicism - negative belief that people always act in a selfish way
take hold - start to exist (and dominate thought)
undermine - make weak
activism - acting or campaigning to bring about social change
judicial activism - when judges decide court cases in a way to bring about social change
prosecute - bring a criminal legal case against a person (that may result in fine or jail)
encompass - include
spectrum - a wide variety, many different types
encompass the full spectrum - include all the possible types
civil service - government workers
civil service and corporate spheres - the fields of work in corporations and in the government
perception of corruption - the way that people think about or feel about corruption
deep-rooted - very difficult to change or remove (like a plant with roots going deep into the ground so difficult to pull out)
lower their expectations - people got a lot less than they thought, so now they think they will get less in the future
succumb - finally, after resistance, doing something that you did not want to do
succumb to graft - finally asking for bribes yourself (after resisting the temptation)
reputation of Y - the way that people think about person or organisation Y (positive or negative)
a cleaner reputation - people believe there is less corruption
Global Integrity - a Washington, D.C. based organisation that provides global corruption information (See website and Wikipedia)
governance - the way that a country, political unit, or company is managed and run
cynicism - negative belief that people always act in a selfish way
take hold - start to exist (and dominate thought)
undermine - make weak
activism - acting or campaigning to bring about social change
judicial activism - when judges decide court cases in a way to bring about social change
prosecute - bring a criminal legal case against a person (that may result in fine or jail)
encompass - include
spectrum - a wide variety, many different types
encompass the full spectrum - include all the possible types
civil service - government workers
civil service and corporate spheres - the fields of work in corporations and in the government
(Source: Bangkok Post, THAILAND: BOGGED DOWN IN CORRUPTION, Anti-graft body turns 10, and the cases are mounting, Greg Lowe, 18/11/2009, link)
