Corruption: Thai police a “national scandal”

BANGKOK (AFP/The Nation): In a survey on corruption and political interference in justice systems in Asia, the Hong Kong-based Political and Economic Risk Consultancy (PERC) found Indonesia at the bottom of the heap, and noted that Thailand had descended to second worst in the region. The survey, concluded last week, sought the views of expatriate business people in each of the 12 Asian countries under review. Reporting on the results, PERC noted that the Thai police have fleets of expensive European cars but almost no forensic experts. “The failure of successive governments to raise the performance and ethics of the police force has become a national scandal,” PERC said. “The police are under-educated and underpaid. They are still a major engine of corruption [in Thailand].” Rated on a scale of one to 10, Singapore was seen to have the best legal and police system, with a score of 1.7, followed by Hong Kong (2.9), Japan (3.7) and South Korea (4.8). Of the countries that failed to reach the pass mark, Malaysia and Taiwan were rated at 6.3, Vietnam (7.1), India (7.3), China and Philippines (7.8), Thailand (8.0) and Indonesia (9.8). In a strong criticism of China, which fared better in the survey than Thailand, PERC noted that the judicial system was seen as “unreliable, vulnerable to corruption and difficult to deal with,” and that the ultimate authority in the country was the Communist Party – not the law.