Integrity and Transparency Assessment (ITA)
​
____________________________________________________
​
Background
ITA is an evaluation tool for anti-corruption of Thai government agencies. The ITA framework
was developed from the concept of the integrity assessment successfully used by the
Korean Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission (ACRC), integrated with the transparency
indexes of the Office of the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC).
​
Since 2015, the Thai government has assigned the Office of Public Sector Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC) to be responsible for assessing integrity and transparency of all Thai government agencies. Important indexes used for the assessment are as follows.
​
“The Prime Minister of Thailand set an ultimate goal for all Thai government agencies in the excellent scores (more than 80/100) by the fiscal yeal of 2017.”
​
​
​
Indexes
Indexes of ITA were also synthesized from the ACRC integrity assessment and the NACC
transparency indexes. The ITA indexes include transparency, accountability, integrity in
service delivery, integrity culture, and work Integrity. These ITA indexes are used in designing
survey questionnaires for data collection of the government agencies. Assessment of each
index is obtained as follows.
​
1. Transparency is evaluated from review comments of clients or stakeholders based ontheir impression in services of the government agencies. The transparency is also evaluated from information or evidence based on the agencies performance.
2. Accountability is evaluated from review comments of clients or stakeholders based on
their impressions in services of the government agencies.
3. Integrity in service delivery is evaluated from clients or stakeholders recognition to
services of the government agencies.
4. culture of integrity is evaluated from opinions of internal personnel of the government
agencies. The integrity culture is also evaluated from information or evidence based
on the agency performance.
5. Work Integrity is evaluated from opinions of internal personnel of the government
agencies based on the agency performance.
Conclusion
The assessment of integrity and transparency for anti-corruption of Thai government agencies relies on the indexes mainly relating to good governance, global ethics, Thai culture, as well as facts on corruption issues occurred in the government agencies. Most of the integrity and transparency issues arise from personal ethics, cultural factors of the agencies, certain types of works, and the acceptance of gifts that are prone to corruption. Thus, to resolve these issues within the agencies is to make attempts to change behavior, value, and agency culture of both executives and personnel in the agencies. The changes can be successfully achieved by emphasizing their responsibilities and participation in anti-corruption within the agencies. These changes are, though difficult to achieve, considerably important for increasing the integrity and transparency of the agencies. The changes can also indirectly create allies among the government agencies for anti-corruption in communities, societies, and the whole nation.
​
The assessment of integrity and transparency of Thai government agencies can be used as the beginning point to create a campaign for emphasizing transparency, accountability, corruption-free, culture of integrity, and work Integrity in the agencies. The agencies can utilize the results of the assessment to find approaches to improve their integrity and transparency to be well recognized by clients in all sectors. The successful and improved agencies can be the prototypes for other agencies to follow.
​
Most importantly, the assessment of integrity and transparency of Thai government agencies can be the key prevention mechanism for corruption in the nation. The assessment can have a major impact on an increase in the corruption perception index (CPI) of the nation ranked by Transparency International.
