Comments on My Thai Friend: Corrupt Government OK in Thailand

I think the way Thai society is, it would be diffi...

2009-07-08T09:27:53.366+07:00

I think the way Thai society is, it would be difficult to change. You have the 'top man' mentality that Thai's live by. 'Top men' will always meet and do business together, whether in Thailand or abroad. Trying to exert some form of regulation over this kind of thing won't be easy. Plus, we've just seen in UK politics how pretty much every one of them is on the take .... I don't think our politicians are any different, in many cases I think they are far worse.

Yes, I think it's worrying, and personally I feel ...

2009-07-08T02:00:56.801+07:00

Yes, I think it's worrying, and personally I feel that part of the problem with the laborious transition to democracy stems from certain interested parties being reluctant to give up the perks of the job, in business and politics. Being accountable doesn't exactly appeal, to those involved.

What does corruption mean to me personally? It means that you might enter an apartment building or a restaurant and not know whether the a bribe was paid to avoid certain expenses involved in building security, for example. Just look at what happened, and why, at that disco in Bangkok at the end of last year.

It means you might be falsely accused of a crime, and irrespective of the rights or wrongs of the matter, find yourself in prison if you don't come up with the cash. Look at the hullabaloo over the airport con, where tourists were being falsely accused of shoplifting and threatened with imprisonment unless they came up with a massive 'fine'.

So to that extent I differ slightly with Martyn, in that I do think - no matter how low a profile we keep - we are more vulnerable as foreigners in a country such as Thailand, where bribery, corruption and cronyism are endemic. I think that there is a considerable difference in risk to back home in Europe. I saw a global league table on corruption somewhere. Thailand wasn't right down in the relegation zone, but it wasn't that far away.

Mike ,Having lived here almost 5 years ,I have see...

2009-07-07T20:43:08.426+07:00

Mike ,Having lived here almost 5 years ,I have seen a lot of corruption in and around Thailand and for the most part like most small village like Whang Pho ,we hardly ever feel the effects of it , it's the local corruption in the business that bothers me most , as we try to spend all the money we can on a local level , I hate it when someone trys to charge me more than the Thai person standing next to me , I have learned a little Thai and for the most part know the going prices for most goods , and if I feel I am being set up for corruption on a business level I simply hand them to the person taking the money and quoting the price give them a BIG THAILAND SMILE and walk away never to darken the door of their business again , their loss for allowing corruption to be a part of their lives and business. And as a side note I find that it is the OLDER Thai folks that try to double price us frangs and not as much the younger generation , they (the younger) have come to realize that we are not as dumb as we look , while the older folks still look at us as one who picks money off trees. Malcolm

Corrupt business practices does not affect my view...

2009-07-07T15:10:29.515+07:00

Corrupt business practices does not affect my view of Thailand.

All countries have corruption but the important thing to me is whether it directly affects or can physically endanger me and the answer with myself and Thailand is no.

No it would not affect my decision to live there.

Correct me if I'm wrong but I would have no voting rights in Thailand but retain them in the UK. My only worries on corruption would be UK based and whether they affected any property, savings or pension I had there and I doubt it would have any effect at all.

It is probably worse than some places in the world but also a hell of a lot better than others.

Asia is renown for doing a little backhand business, it has been around for hundreds of years. In the western world who perhaps hasn't given a carton of cigarettes to help secure those two sold out theatre tickets or bought the foreman an extra pint to get that shift of Saturday morning overtime. They say that in Thailand corruption starts from the taxi driver and goes upwards perhaps in the western world it starts in the school playground. Corruption has a lot more tools than just money.