The survey showed that 78 percent of the businessmen polled admitted that they had to pay "fees", which they said appeared to have been increasing in recent years.
Authorities arrested police officers and convicted them of corruption, drug trafficking, smuggling, and intellectual property rights violations.
[19] In September 2019, a representative of the United Nations Development Programme observed that the Thai state could have lost 100 billion baht to corruption related to public procurement.
[20] On 2 June 2014, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha declared "war on corruption" after seizing power in the 2014 coup d'état and setting up a military junta, the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) to govern Thailand.
The first time he spoke on his weekly TV program "Returning Happiness to the People" in August 2014, he described corruption as "deeply-rooted in Thai society,..." and made promises to fight it.
[22] However, the NCPO has engaged in high-profile corruption practices itself,[3] including a nepotism scandal involving Prayut's brother[23][24] and a questionable submarine deal with China that was widely criticized.
While there have been a handful of high-profile arrests of those accused of corruption or human trafficking, officials have focused largely on small-scale public-order issues, such as banning sunbed rentals on public beaches or clearing vendors from some Bangkok sidewalks.
Mr. Sanyapong Limprasert, a law professor from Rangsit University, said the handbook is expected to set the same standards for all corruption cases and reduce the time involved in investigations.
At the behest of Prime Minister Prayut, the police, intelligence agencies, and the Interior Ministry have compiled a list of persons to be targeted.
"[28] Ahuja's views were borne out in November 2015, when a media storm erupted over alleged corruption in the Rajabhakti Park project in Hua Hin.
[26] The most notable case was an alleged corruption charge for the mishandling of a rice subsidy policy brought up against former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, whose democratically elected government was overthrown by the Junta in 2014.
The UTCC claimed that corruption began to ease in the latter half of 2014 after the military seized power and set up a junta-controlled government.
[34][35] Other corruption agencies also noted a decline in transparency since the 2014 coup d'état, especially in the judicial system and in civil society where the media is restricted and influenced by the military government and criticism of the current regime is heavily suppressed.
Bribes were paid in three tranches:[40] The government rejected calls for Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha to use his Section 44[41] powers to cut through red tape in the investigation of the Rolls-Royce bribery scandal.
[40] Response from the Thai government's National Anti-Corruption Commission to information provided by the SFO, is said to be "tepid" and "...could be more embarrassing than the scandal itself.
[17] In 2012, Vorayudh Yoovidhya, a grandson of Red Bull co-founder Chaleo Yoovidhya, was driving a Ferrari in the early morning of 3 September when he hit and killed Police Senior Sgt Maj Wichean Glanprasert, the patrol unit chief of the police station in the Thong Lo area of Bangkok.
[55] Just two weeks after Sanit's denial that he was on ThaiBev's payroll, Thailand's Office of the Ombudsman said that it had obtained his original financial disclosure document and found it certified with his signature.
[63] A former head of the National Office of Buddhism (NOB), Panom Sornsilp, was sentenced to 20 years in prison on 27 December 2019 after being found guilty by the Criminal Court of corruption in connection with temple funds.
The temple fund scam dates from 2017, when the abbot of Wat Takaela in Phetchaburi Province filed a complaint with the Anti-Corruption Police Command seeking an investigation.
His temple was allocated 10 million baht by the NOB for renovation, but he was told to return the bulk of the money to the officials who helped to secure the funding.
[64] In August 2019, the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) voted 9–0 to indict three Palang Pracharath Party (PPRP) MPs and 21 accomplices to divert 4.4bn baht from a project to construct futsal fields at schools in 19 northeast provinces.
[68] In 2024 it has been revealed that in Phuket, Thailand, several mayors are facing charges in a major corruption scandal, including Aroon Solos of Rawai, Panya Samphaorat of Pa Khlok, and Juta Dumlak from Kamala Tambon Administrative Organization.
[69][70] The former Mayor of Kathu Subdistrict Municipality in Phuket, Thailand, has been indicted on corruption charges by the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) Region 8.
This case is part of a broader expose of widespread corruption across southern Thailand, revealed at a press conference in Krabi on September 25, 2024.
The NACC has indicted the former mayor and his associates, with total damages exceeding 7 million baht across several southern provinces.
Notably, Nakhon Si Thammarat had the highest number of complaints, including a case where the mayor of Krungyan subdistrict and five others allegedly embezzled over 3.4 million baht through 39 cheques.
Several former mayors and officials were implicated in various corrupt practices, such as awarding contracts to friends and skimming housing fees.
The NACC is currently handling 734 cases, including 376 preliminary investigations, with complaints spanning public utilities, construction, natural resources, and procurement issues.
This corruption scandal follows the dismissal of former Kathu Mayor Chai-anan Suthikul, who was removed last year due to a separate investigation involving a lagoon at the Tin Mine Museum.
Additionally, Thailand’s Anti-Money Laundering Office (AMLO) has seized over 5 billion baht in assets this year, targeting fraud, online gambling, and corruption.