Information disclosure to the public on the earnings and expenditure of government agencies and independent entities is a crucial approach to tackle corruption and enhance transparency, says the Thailand Development Research Institute (TDRI).
"Disclosing information is the most important means to combat corruption and there is no need to establish any new organisation," said Deunden Nikomborirak, the TDRI's research director for economic governance.
State organisations lack the motivation to comply with the Official Information Act that has been in effect since 1997 because there is no evaluation of this issue in the key performance index, she said.
Deunden: Difficult to penalise agencies
Ms Deunden said there should be mandatory enforcement of the disclosure of earnings and spending among public organisations and independent entities.
Independent organisations, for instance, include the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC), Energy Regulatory Commission, National Anti-Corruption Commission, Securities and Exchange Commission and the Bank of Thailand.
"Details should be revealed of how much each committee member spends on a daily basis and of the sources where revenues are generated from," Ms Deunden said.
Despite having the Office of the Auditor-General to scrutinise accountability among state executives, the information should be unveiled to the general public to ensure thorough disclosure and transparency, she said.
She cited the Telecommunications Regulatory Governance Index published in 2011 to showcase Thailand's poor ranking for telecommunications governance. The country was 128th among 134 countries, far behind neighbours Singapore (10th) and Malaysia (45th).
Although the State Enterprises Policy Commission or superboard is tasked with overseeing policies of state enterprises, it still attains revenue from these entities, preventing it from becoming fully independent and self-reliant, said Ms Deunden.
She said Thailand's inefficient political system made it difficult to penalise state enterprises.
For example, the Senate could receive a superboard report accusing the NBTC of not being effective in its operations but senators might decide not to penalise the agency through budget cuts, she said.
Politicians lack a code of ethics on conflicts of interest and do not feel guilty about installing relatives into official positions in the entrenched patronage system, said Ms Deunden.
Protocols should be established to disclose when higher-ranking officials contact their subordinates or individuals from other organisations, she said.
Public hearings on draft laws to ensure ethical conduct among state officials should be conducted before a law is made, she said.