Managing Conflict of Interest - Organisation for Economic Co ...

Private gain from public loss:How Thailand copes with corruption fromconflict of interestMedhi KrongkaewCommissioner, National Counter Corruption Commission, ThailandIntroductionThailand is lagging behind in the fight against corruption,according to various indices of corruption and in comparison withother countries’ anti-corruption efforts. Transparency International(TI 2006) ranked Thailand 63rd among 163 countries around theworld in its Corruption Perception Index. This ranking represents adecline in status from 59th among 159 countries in 2005. The WorldBank Governance Indicators survey (World Bank 2006) supports thisfinding, observing that control of corruption has weakened in Thailand.Moreover, the Political and Economic Risk Consultancy (2006)ranked Thailand 7.64 on a scale of 0 to 10 measuring increasingincidence of corruption among 13 countries and economies in EastAsia. In comparison, Singapore scored 1.3 and Japan scored 3.01.Only the Philippines, Vietnam, and Indonesia were ranked slightlybehind Thailand.The Government of Thailand takes the problem of corruptionseriously and recognizes that, in many cases, corrupt practices haveoriginated from conflicts of interest. In response to growing concerns,the Government has passed several laws and regulationsaddressing conflict of interest and has established a National CounterCorruption Commission (NCCC). As the primary anti-corruptionagency in Thailand, the NCCC has outlined targeted initiatives toaccommodate the heightened interest in conflict of interest as acause or form of corruption.Defining Conflict of Interest as a Form of CorruptionCorruption is closely related to conflict of interest, as bothderive private gain from public loss. Conflict of interest exists whenpublic officials impart their official duties in exchange, either directlyor indirectly, for personal gains or benefits at the expense of theADB/OECD Anti-Corruption Initiative for Asia and the Pacific