Thailand Development Research Institute professor Somkiat Tangkitvanij said the government was not paying attention to fighting graft and strongly urged it to improve state procurement procedures to make them transparent and accountable.

If the new NCCC is not selected soon some of the 600 outstanding cases could lapse, he said.

Somkiat was speaking after presenting a study to a conference on state procurement systems held by the Comptroller-General's Department and the World Bank.

His study found that the PM's Office's procurement regulationsdating back to 1992 for central and local administrations were adequate, although they lacked mechanisms to verify contract legality and compliance.

In an international context, Somkiat said the rules "fare not too badly", but several points needed to be addressed, including the lack of a state mechanism to deal speedily and efficiently with complaints and no procedure for evaluating and training procurement officials.

The public lacks confidence in the arbitration of purchasing disputes, and a court's decision can't be enforced on those involved.

Other issues include state agencies refusing to comply with rulings of the Procurement Commission and the commission's lack of independence and legal clout.

NCCC reports from 2000-2003 listed 800 procurement-related cases. Of these, 183 cases lacked enough evidence to proceed while 616 were still pending. The NCCC has so far sent just one case to court.