Former senator Pratin Santi-prapop said corruption cases investigated by the committee covered three areas: policy level, government positions and state procurement.

He was speaking at a seminar organised by the Senate's ad-hoc committee on corruption and committee on social development and human security to review their performance before the Upper House's six-year term ends on March 21.

In Pratin's 72 years, corruption had occurred more during the current administration than in any previous government. The government could have suppressed corruption if it was determined to, but it didn't, he said. It had lied to the people.

Although the Senate committee on corruption, which Pratin had chaired, sent many reports and evidence of corruption, such as the CTX bomb scanning equipment to the government, it had ignored them all.

Auditor-general Jaruvan Maintaka said corruption at the policy level was a massive robbery of state funds conducted through laws or Cabinet resolutions that benefited particular people, while the administrative branch had influence over the legislative branch and the checks-and-balances system.

This kind of corruption had occurred so often people accepted it.

Secretary-general of the People's Network Against Corruption, Veera Somkwamkid said one noticeable excuse the government used for corruption at the policy level was that it was necessary and responded to the needs of the people. For example, the school milk project for children and the agricultural fertiliser project for farmers that were later found to be corrupt were formerly labelled as urgent or necessary.

The Village Fund project could also be considered vote-buying as the government gave benefits to people for its own stake in the future - although it used state funds, he said.

Prapasri Osathanon

The Nation