Chadchart’s commitment to purging the metropolis of corruption

Newly elected governor Chadchart Sittipunt revealed he plans to stamp out corruption as part of his flagship “Bangkok’s Nine Good” policy.

Corruption in Thailand has been a national issue for decades. The kingdom is ranked 110th out of 180 countries evaluated in Transparency International‘s 2021 Corruption Perceptions Index. The index examines public sector corruption, countries whose public sectors are perceived to be more corrupt receive a higher ranking.

Global Corruption Barometer 2020 reported that 24% of the respondents in Thailand paid a bribe for public services, 27% used personal connections for public services, and 28% were offered bribe for their votes in the past 12 months. But to stamp out corruption on a national level, governments need to start on a local level. This is part of Chadchart’s plan.

The 56 year old insists the capital city’s biggest problem is corruption and it is weaved into the way the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration governs. Chadchart is even considering joining forces with the National Anti-Corruption Commission to solve these issues at the BMA.

Bangkok’s former Minister of Transport dismissed questions about whether this tough line on corruption would bring him into conflict with other politicians.

“I was elected by the people, so I work to serve the people with benefit for the public as the priority.”

He said the BMA and the government must work together to help people, adding differences must be set aside and officials should cooperate in a rational manner.

“Local communities and the BMA must work together to ensure sustainable development of the city. However, due to a lack of trust between both sides, we still do not have a firm partnership between local communities and the BMA.

“So, we must stop seeing local communities as a burden and start acknowledging that by building trust and providing empowerment, they have the potential to help the BMA develop the city.”

“Bangkok’s Nine Good” policy focuses on improving the city in nine different sectors: environment, public safety, public health, infrastructure, city governance, economy, education and creativity.

“The first thing I’ll do as governor is implementing these policies, so I would like to ask officials to familiarise themselves with the details, as we are going work together to implement them.”

Chadchart is urging every BMA official, especially the heads of Bangkok’s 50 districts, to be more dedicated in their duties to help tackle problems in their areas.

“As we are going to push forward the huge task of building the city together, all sides must adjust and compromise. I’ll also have to adjust my working style to adapt to BMA officials as well.”

Source Bangkok Post