From Massage Parlor King to Corruption Buster

Colorful Thai politician, Chuvit Kamolvisit, makes his point at the FCCT on October 16, 2012.

Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand. Bangkok. October 16, 2012. When I first came to Thailand many years ago, Chuvit Kamolvisit was an acknowledged massage parlor tycoon, but he decided to rid himself of the brothel business and to become a politician. Currently, he's a member of parliament from a small fringe party and his efforts have now turned to exposing official corruption, which was the subject of his October 16 talk at the FCCT.

Thailand is one of the most corrupt countries in the world, and the reaches of official corruption extend to every level of Thai society. The Thai police, with their hands ever out, head anyone's list of corrupt organizations. Kh. Chuvit pointed out that a policeman's basic salary is 8,000 baht a month (US$250) and, according to Chuvit, it takes 500,000 baht (US$15,650) to become a policeman, which includes bribes needed to pass the qualification examination, a subject which has been highlighted and exposed in the press recently. Thus, bribe-taking is an economic necessity for the police force. But, would raising salaries alleviate some of the corruption?

No, according to Chuvit, because corruption is an integral part of Thai society. In support of this view, with which I agree, polls show that Thais accept a certain amount of corruption as a part of daily life, a cost of living or a cost of doing business. Official corruption is not a burning issue in Thai politics, although politicians and political parties give routine lip service to ending corruption. In order to stamp out corruption there needs to be a change in culture, which takes a long time to achieve, but can be done. At the present time, Kh. Chuvit and most people I talk with, believe that the situation is hopeless. The best advice Kh. Chuvit can give, is that when an expat is faced with a police or official demand, just pay up and try to keep the "fine" as low as possible. Sounds like good advice to me.