Mr. Panthep Klanarongran, President of the NACC, Commissioners, Distinguished Participants, It is my great pleasure to be here today to address this important gathering of scholars and practitioners, who are meeting to discuss anti-corruption policy, based on evidence from research and investigation. The theme this year is ‘Organized Corruption’ and this is indeed an insidious threat, not only to national security and the country’s immediate financial position, but also to the country’s long-term economic and social development and moral fabric.  Corruption is the abuse of public office for private gain and can manifest itself in many shapes and forms.  Public office is abused when an official accepts, solicits, or extorts a bribe, and when private agents give or offer bribes to avoid compliance with rules and regulations, for profit and advantage over their competitors.  But public office can also be abused through patronage and nepotism, theft of state assets, or diversion and misuse of state budgets. In Thailand, as elsewhere, there has been progress in fighting the simpler forms of corruption, but deep-seated ‘organized’ political or systemic corruption, can paralyze a nation.  The link between money and politics and the capture of state institutions by powerful interests at the national and local levels is the most dangerous enemy. In these cases, traditional public sector management needs to be supplemented with more innovative transparency and accountability mechanisms, as well as wider engagement of the international community, the domestic private sector, the financial sector, civil society and professional groups.  Sometimes, command and coercion are even needed. My government has shown by action, that it is fully committed to fighting corruption.  Judge us by our deeds, not by how we came to power.  We are strengthening the freedom of information Act, we have passed the ease of doing business law, we are considering participation in the Open Government Partnership and membership in the World Trade Organisation’s Government Procurement Agreement, in order to improve transparency and freedom of information which are crucial in the fight against corruption. We have initiated steps to become a candidate and ultimately a compliant country in the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), which is a global standard to promote open and accountable management of natural resources. We have already mandated construction sector transparency (CoST) in large government projects.  We have removed or transferred all government officials with pending corruption cases, to allow investigations to be carried out without fear or intimidation. I am not a politician, and I do not seek popularity.  Some measures that we have undertaken are unpopular because it cuts into old ties, bad habits, personal agendas and egos, and in particular, corrupt networks.  But we are interested in building the anti-corruption infrastructure, not just day-to-day fixes.  And this requires a stable environment where policies and measures can take shape.  Ideas for reform have come from all sectors of the population, and are being digested. Many reforms would involve a major overhaul of long-established systems. In the current situation, some strong measures may be needed, but they are part of the design to achieve a full-fledged democracy with proper checks and balances. We are committed to the rule of law, and a just and moral society. We fully support NACC’s efforts in meeting the complex challenge, not only of investigating corruption cases, but also of strengthening the national governance systems. Sound policies need to be based on evidence and sound evidence comes from research.   I am pleased that members of the NACC are not confining themselves to day-to-day investigation no matter how important, but are building capacity through research and data management as well.  This conference moves the NACC forward in this important challenge, and it is my hope that concrete policy recommendations will result. In closing, I would like to commend each of you for being here today. Whether you are academics or practitioners or members of civil society, you are all important in this fight against corruption.  Your presence shows that you care personally about issues of integrity and good government, and because you can see that corruption threatens your society as deeply as it threatens societies everywhere. By participating in this conference, we are all expressing our commitment to improve the society in which we live. I wish you all every success in your deliberations. Thank you very much. Source: Royal Thai Government