Commission to draw on people power in anti-corruption efforts

The anti-corruption commission has formed a civic network coordination centre to monitor graft in Bangkok, with similar units to be rolled out in the provinces.

The centre was established in line with an order given in August last year by the Public Sector Anti-Corruption Commission, which aims to give people wider participation in battling graft.

The centre in Bangkok includes representatives from every district and will work with residents to look out for and report corruption. Similar networks will be established in the provinces in the near future.

The centres will serve as platforms for members of the public to give advice on anti-graft missions and work with state authorities to boost good governance, PACC secretary-general Prayong Priyajit said.

They will also help supply information about corruption in state agencies, promote anti-graft activities among the public, and organise training for volunteers and authorities to investigate irregularities in state projects.

Sompong Padpui, deputy head of the Bangkok centre, said it will monitor state projects and government-funded campaigns that are prone to graft and which could lead to severe financial damage to the state.

The centre was unveiled yesterday at the Chulabhorn Research Institute with the participation by representatives from civic networks, the PACC and the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration.

The representatives said they will work vigorously for the benefit of communities in Bangkok and the country, coordinate with all state agencies to adopt the principle of good governance and turn Bangkok into a model city.

City clerk Pirapong Saicheua said representatives from the centre will be able to vet the use of budgets among authorities.

"People from the civic network will be sent to meet representatives from district offices every month to discuss expenses and other possible problems in their work," he said. "[Public participation in combating graft] could be the immunity we need to fight graft that may occur within BMA agencies."