Corruption Index: world’s improvements flat, Thailand’s slight

In the Corruption Perceptions Index, Thailand is improving, having jumped nine places to the 101st position in 2022. The previous year, the kingdom was 110th according to Transparency International (TI), a German-based nonprofit that measures and fights corruption worldwide.

The index works on a scale of 100, with 100 being completely free of corruption and zero being the most corrupt possible. Thailand sat at 35 points on that index in 2020 but has now inched up to 36 points.

By contrast, out of all 189 countries analysed, Denmark earned the lowest corruption score of 90 points. New Zealand and Finland followed at 87, and Singapore held fourth place with 83 points.

TI’s list hints at the incredible amount of corruption found in countries around the world. The average score sits at just 43 and over two-thirds of the countries received lower than 50 points on the global average index.

Transparency International uses at least three data sources from 13 different assessments and surveys. These are mixed to create a country’s TI score. Some of the data sources come from the World Bank and World Economic Forum.

Transparency International announced that the Corruption Perceptions Index for 2022 did not see any significant improvement in the world. The announcement stated that 95% of the world’s countries still haven’t done anything successful to fight corruption since 2017.

Delia Ferreira Rubio, chair of Transparency International, condemned the governments of the world for having failed to make any progress in fighting corruption.

“Corruption has made our world a more dangerous place. As governments have collectively failed to make progress against it, they fuel the current rise in violence and conflict – and endanger people everywhere. The only way out is for states to do the hard work, rooting out corruption at all levels to ensure governments work for all people, not just an elite few.”

Thailand has jumped wildly on the list over the years, falling as low as a 102nd in 2013. When Prayut Chan-o-cha overthrew the government in 2014, promising to fight corruption, the ranking jumped to 85. Things in Thailand were looking up in 2015, and the country was ranked 76th that year.

But in 2016, Thailand nosedived down to 101st. The country recovered a bit In 2017, achieving a ranking of 96. The kingdom spent every year since 2017 steadily falling down the ranking, from 99th in 2018, to 101st in 2019, to 104th in 2020, and finally 110th in 2021.