This Thai Official Was Paid Despite Decade-long No-show At Job And Singing At Nightclubs

A high-ranking Thai official is under public criticism after he embezzled his pay for 10 years despite being a nightclub singer most of the time. The incident has brought great concern over the level of corrupt practices within the Thai public sector. The official reportedly worked in the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation in Ang Thong province and had not performed any governmental work during his tenure. His night club engagement left him too drained, thus incapable of performing his daily tasks.

As per the report by the local newspaper, The Thaiger, he would sometimes show up at the office, mostly when called by the local mayor, to either rubberstamp documents or to scold him. He was never dismissed and no disciplinary action was taken.

The misconduct was reportedly exposed by a Facebook page called Watchdog.

Having gained more than 1.1 million followers, the Watchdog’s post about the official’s activities became highly popular. Social media users were highly critical of the country’s public sector as individuals bore no responsibility for their actions.

The local administration has yet to respond to this disclosure, even after the public uproar, and it is still unknown whether or in what manner the official would be penalised.

Thai laws for corruption offences may lead to one to ten years of imprisonment and fines of 2000 to 20,000 baht (approximately Rs 5000 to Rs 60,000), as per the report by the South China Morning Post.

This has also brought into focus the issue of systematic corruption in Thai public authorities.

According to Transparency International, a leading nongovernmental organisation that fights corruption, Thailand is placed 108th out of 180 countries and earned a score of 35 out of 100 on the 2023 Corruption Perceptions Index.

As per the survey, 24% of Thai respondents who dealt with public services reported having paid a bribe in the year prior to the survey, and 88% of respondents said that government corruption was a grave problem.

According to the SCMP report, youth opted for public sector jobs because of their reasonable welfare benefits and financial stability. But in recent years, more and more young Thai people have made the decision to follow their aspirations by pursuing other career options.