Corruption in Thailand: Real democracies Act First to Combat Threat by Phairath Khampha 20 November 2002 Thailand's government must take action to combat corruption without asking for evidence first, as failure to do so swiftly would be tantamount to digging its own grave, said the country's respected former prime minister Anand Panyarachun. Speaking about the compost scandal where senior government politicians passed fake fertiliser to flood victims while enriching themselves, Mr Anand said corruption in Thailand was "heavy, prevalent and at one of its highest points" in recent times and destroying the country socially and economically. People were fed up with finding graft in all circles and even government insiders were now trading corruption accusations, Mr Anand told a seminar on political reform held at the King Prajadhipok Institute on November 10, 2002. "What hasn't changed is that we continue to demand a `receipt' as proof of wrongdoing. What has changed, however, is that the irregularity has become more discreet and harder to catch," the former premier said. Politicians had made empty promises to bust graft, he said. They talked a lot about how to suppress it but did little to back it up. "The argument seems to be that prosecution would be impossible without receipt [of proof]," he said, apparently referring to the corrupt current prime minister's remarks that evidence was needed to prosecute corrupt officials in court. Most democracies did not bother to wait for proof before taking action, he said. Politicians must feel shame for doing wrong, in their own conscience and to society at large. "There should be no more talk of being unable to find receipts. Politicians who do wrong must be made to take responsibility. But now cheats who get caught are just branded stupid because they were too stupid to not get caught. This attitude is creating a new low social value," Mr Anand said. "If the government doesn't lift its finger to weed out corruption, it will only dig its own grave and the grave of the Thai people and country." Mr Anand, who chaired the former constitution drafting committee, said some 20 organic laws under the five-year-old charter had yet to be enacted fully. He was not keen on moves to change article 107 requiring candidates to be affiliated to a political party for at least 90 days before contesting an election. Mr Anand said the article was there to prevent parties buying and trading candidates, which undermined political stability and the concept of democracy. But the article was also viewed as a tool helping the current prime minister consolidate and retain his power in parliament so that he, his family and crony could further enrich themselves. Mr Anand said that whenever a prime minister hogs power, democracy and the public suffered. The wording in the charter and its principles were sound and did not need changing. Politicians wanted to meddle with the charter to serve their own interests. He questioned why Thailand had to change its constitution with almost every new government and yet countries like Canada had yet to make major changes to their constitutions