Thailand’s law of graft and govt longevity
After a surprisingly successful referendum on its preferred draft constitution, the military government of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha appears on course for relatively smooth sailing for the next 15 months or so in the run-up to the next poll. The only two potential show stoppers on the government’s path are the royal transition and self-inflicted abuse of power. The former is a process that is difficult for Thais to fathom after a 70-year reign that has turned Thailand from a backwater village to a modern nation. The latter, however, is all too familiar.
Abuse of power has brought down many a Thai government. Gen Prayut’s regime is now facing a scandal involving the prime minister’s brother and his family that will end up either as another storm in a teacup or as creeping corruption that will get worse at the expense of government longevity.
On the face of it, this run-of-the-mill scandal is straightforward. Gen Prayut’s brother, Gen Preecha Chan-o-cha was the commander of the 3rd Army in 2013-14, covering mostly the northern provinces. He then became assistant commanderin-chief of the army in line for the top job. But to Gen Prayut’s credit, Gen Preecha was promoted laterally as permanent secretary of the Defence Ministry. Had he been appointed as army chief, it would have reeked of nepotism. But while Gen Prayut has tried to steer a clear path, his brother has been embroiled in one controversy after another.
Earlier this year, he blatantly appointed one of his two sons, Patipat, to a 3rd Army junior officer position without the due process of applications. Last week, his wife Phongpan landed herself in controversy for allowing army personnel and their wives to treat her with excessive pomp and grandeur during routine public works activities. At issue now is his other son, Pathompol, who owns Contemporary Construction, a small firm that has been awarded concessions for seven building projects with the 3rd Army to the tune of 97 million baht between December 2014 and last April. This was a period after Gen Preecha had moved on from the 3d Army to the high command but he is seen as still wielding influence over his former post.
By Thailand’s corruption standards, 97 million is chicken feed. Elected politicians in the past were involved with many swindled billions, and military generals a few. What is striking about Mr Pathompol’s manoeuvres is that the Prayut government’s claim to legitimacy and power was to clean up corruption, not to line its own pockets or those of its relatives and classmates. Having to cope with junta rule, the Thai public is also more watchful of government corruption because there is not supposed to be much of it under the current regime. Public scrutiny of government-related graft is more intense now than under previous regimes because anti-corruption expectations have been ramped up.
As he rationalised his son Patipat’s officer appointment, Gen Preecha now insists that his other son Pathompol won the construction bids in question without undue influence. Gen Prawit Wongsuwon, the deputy prime minister and defence minister, has duly defended Gen Preecha’s son. That these generals would cover for each other is par for the course. In an earlier scandal involving former army chief and current deputy defence minister Gen Udomdej Sitabutr and his Rajabhakti public park in Hua Hin, Gen Prawit came to the rescue in the same fashion. The matter eventually closed with Gen Udomdej being completely cleared of illegal wrongdoing.
The controversy centring on Mr Pathompol and Gen Preecha revolves around a web of conflicts of interest, nepotism and cronyism, all leaning in the direction of abuse of power and corruption. That it has taken place is not surprising. There will be more of such controversy whereby influential generals will be embroiled in corruption allegations. At issue is what happens going forward.
As Gen Preecha reaches mandatory retirement in a week’s time, his career prospects merit scrutiny. If he goes away quietly and is not heard of much again by being given some ceremonial, inactive position without political influence, it will be seen as Gen Prayut’s way of addressing his nephew’s questionable construction projects. But if Gen Preecha stays in the limelight after retirement, more controversies emanating from him and his immediate family might be in store. This is a test case for Gen Prayut and his entire government.
So far, Gen Prayut himself has stayed on the high road, except for one blip when a plot of his land was sold to a local big business through an offshore transaction at the outset of his administration. His immediate family has also stayed clean. As the top boss maintains his integrity, the lower chains of command have a harder time going on the take. Nevertheless, we are likely to see more alleged government-related graft and abuse, not less.
The spectre of conflicts of interest and outright corruption is the most serious challenge to the Prayut government and the military junta behind it because civilian opposition parties have been weakened and fragmented, while civil society organisations and independent media groups have been harassed and repressed.
Whether the government is able to oversee the interim period towards the next election will therefore depend on whether it can keep corruption and abuse of power to a minimum and be seen publicly as doing so.