During its remaining mandate, the government should speed up action on major graft cases involving state projects initiated by the previous Thaksin administration, a key member of the Assets Examination Committee urged yesterday.

"Our investigation shows that corrupt practices are evident in big projects such as the Ua Athorn housing programme, the airport elevated-rail-link project and the rubber-seedling distribution scheme. This has caused considerable damage to the state and public interest," AEC secretary Kaewsan Atibodhi said.

However, no minister has followed up on the major corruption scandals, he told a seminar.

"In my opinion, the interim ministers should devote their time and energy to solving these problems at their ministries during the remaining period of their one-year term.

"We should close the loopholes that allowed the corrupt practices and develop new mechanisms to prevent future corruption," he said.

In the long run, public graft should be reduced by limiting the role of the state in procurement and big infrastructure projects, while the rules and regulations of these schemes should be detailed in legislation so that the public can sue the state if any damage is done, he added.

Abhisit Vejjajiva, leader of the former opposition Democrat Party, called for further research on the appropriate role of government with a view to stamping out state fraud.

"Government reform is not just about increasing or decreasing the number of ministries; it should be more about what duties should or should not be performed by the government, and if the government should do this or that task, what should be the checks and balances mechanism" he said.

A Dhurakij Pundit University poll found that 34.9 per cent of the respondents were unsure that the Surayud government could succeed in cracking down on corruption.

However, 43 per cent said the mass media's reliable coverage of corruption would help eradicate the practice over time.