This is hardly all that surprising: a country that has had 37 coups since it monarch lost his power in the 30s. No real surprise to find that most Thais and now lawmakers too don't care all that much about corruption and just consider quite plaintively that it's simply a fact of life. Shocking though these views are, the fact is that Thailand is one monumental behemoth when it comes to getting the money collected in taxes into capital projects that will help everyone.
"In a recent survey commissioned by the Public Sector Anti Corruption Commission, almost one in three [Thai] lawmakers said they viewed corruption as normal and an intrinsic factor in life."
And just as disturbing,
"Almost nine in ten people rated corruption as serious to most serious problem in society. And about six in ten businessmen said they had had first-hand experience about bribery."
So why isn't anything ever done about it? This is on the back of an ABAC poll about a year ago which resulted in most Thais stating they didn't mind corruption (considering it a fact of life) so long as the corrupt politicians did something for the country as well!
There's something to be said for that old line, "The people get the leaders they deserve!"
