Tough penalties for bribing govt officials
The National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) has urged the private sector not to offer bribes to government officers and advised them to impose internal measures to curb the illegal practice.
NACC Secretary-General Niwatchai Kasemmongkol said bribery was a national problem, and there were cases in which bribes were offered in exchange for business benefits across borders.
Mr Niwatchai said bribery is affecting the country’s credibility and efficiency of budgetary spending.
The NACC, therefore, is promoting good governance in the public sector to create a “No Gift” culture, he said.
A so-called Anti-Bribery Advisory Service (Abas) Centre has begun providing knowledge and guidelines to the private sector concerning the laws on offering bribes to government officials.
Abas will introduce measures aimed at preventing bribery.
In addition, Mr Niwatchai said, the NACC has issued new rules that allow it to prosecute private sector firms involved in bribing government officials and those working in international agencies.
Mr Niwatchai stated that bribery should be prevented at both ends — the private sector, the bribe giver, government officers, or the bribe taker.
The secretary-general said those who offer bribes to government officers are subject to penalty under Section 176 of the Anti-Corruption Act B.E. 2561.
The NACC has advised juristic persons susceptible to public bribery to clearly identify their expenses for government agencies and impose measures to inspect these expenses.
Mr Niwatchai said that according to the Act, the value of the gift given to government officers must not exceed 3,000 baht.
The secretary-general warned that juristic persons or businesses should also not pay commissions to government officers for whatever reason to avoid risking breaking anti-bribery laws.
The NACC is an independent organisation supervised by nine commissioners selected from various professions.
It is authorised to undertake work on the prevention and suppression of malfeasance, particularly in government agencies, on assets investigations, as well as on the monitoring of ethics and virtues of political position holders.
It has the authority to file charges in court and support and build awareness of the penalties for committing corruption.
Since 1997, Thai courts have ruled against and punished politicians, former ministers, high-ranking government officials, as well as executives of the private sector in the thousands of cases submitted by the NACC.