| BUSINESSWEEK ONLINE : JUNE 14, 1999 ISSUE | ||||||||
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| INTERNATIONAL -- ASIAN COVER STORY
Pasuk Phongpaichit: Unflappable Crusader (int'l edition) Beneath her soft-spoken academic demeanor, Pasuk Phongpaichit is a tigress. And she has seized on the corrupt among Thailand's political and business establishment, refusing to let go. The Cambridge University-trained economist spent six years researching corruption in Thailand. The result is an explosive book, Guns, Girls, Gambling, Ganja: Thailand's Illegal Economy and Public Policy. Released at the end of 1998, the book is shaking Thailand's foundations. The reason is that Pasuk has documented with detailed research what Thais themselves had long suspected: that many of their police, politicians, and businesses are linked in an overwhelmingly corrupt web of self-interest. And not only that: Their gambling dens, prostitution rings, and other illegal activities are big business, raking in billions of dollars a year. ''These actions involve politicians up to the ministerial level, and some high bureaucrats, police, and military,'' says Pasuk, 53. ''This finding frightens me. If some of our politicians at high levels are involved in these activities, we won't get very good social and economic policies.'' EMBOLDENED. But there's hope. As a result of Pasuk's book, Thailand is changing in major ways. A Parliamentary committee was set up to study how to control illegal activities. The police force, formerly part of Thailand's powerful Interior Ministry, has been realigned to answer directly to the Prime Minister. And Thailand's press--already among the freest in Asia--has been emboldened to write about corruption, bringing the debate into the public domain. Many journalists, who previously found it hard to find public figures to speak out on the issue, now quote Pasuk. Pasuk's motivation comes from a single incident in 1992, when Thai generals seized power in a military coup. The generals told the Thai public that they were overthrowing the elected government because it was corrupt. ''That angered me,'' says Pasuk. ''What angered me even more was that [the generals] had the reputation for being as corrupt, if not more corrupt, than the government. It made me want to understand corruption.'' So Pasuk, who was born in a small village more than an hour's trip upriver from Bangkok, spent the next two years probing business transactions in the Thai countryside. She found that local politicians and businessmen had front businesses, such as construction, but generated most of their revenue from illegal sidelines. And importantly, all roads led to Bangkok--the trafficking center for the country's drugs, women, and smuggled goods. With that finding, she took her research back to the city and assembled a team at Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University, where she has taught economics for 28 years. HARASSMENT. The researchers expected to find that drugs were the largest illegal activity in Thailand, given the country's location as the exit point for the Golden Triangle. But surprisingly, gambling topped the list, followed by prostitution--then drugs, contraband arms, smuggling of diesel oil, and trafficking in laborers and women. These activities totaled 8% to 13% of gross national product between 1993 and 1995. Pasuk's team left out illegal logging, trading in endangered species, and smuggling of other goods. If it hadn't, the total likely would have reached 20% of GNP, she says. ''Once you start on the topic of corruption, it seems only a scratch,'' says Pasuk. ''This book is just the tip of the iceberg.'' When her findings first came out, at a national conference in 1996, Pasuk and her team became subject to harassing surveillance, threats, and a libel suit from police, subsequently dropped. They were angered at the findings that gambling dens were paying police protection money. The Prime Minister had to intervene. He telephoned the university rector and asked him to speak to the police chief about his men. ''We didn't realize we were cracking the rice pot of some local police,'' Pasuk says with studied aplomb. ''We were a little bit naive.'' Pasuk hopes that others are now inspired to carry on her pioneering work. For herself, she is planning to move on to another topic--fostering democratic ideas among the country's middle class. ''I want to broaden people's view of our society and to encourage them to think democratically,'' she says. If Pasuk's approach is anything like her attack on corruption, watch for even more openness and reform in Thailand. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ BACK TO TOP |
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 The Stars of Asia RELATED ITEMS Pasuk Phongpaichit: Unflappable Crusader (int'l edition) ONLINE ORIGINAL: The 1992 Coup ``Made Me Want to Understand Corruption'' (int'l edition) INTERACT E-Mail to Business Week Online | |||
