Political Risk:
Very High
Score:
30/100
Defence and Security Policy and Policy Transparency
Q1
42/100
Is there formal provision for effective and independent legislative scrutiny of defence policy?
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After the adoption of Thailand’s Constitution of 2017 and the election in 2019, the country has reinstalled a new House of Representatives consisting of…
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Between 2014 and early 2019, Thailand was ruled by a military government led by General Prayut Chan-O-Cha. There was therefore no parliamentary review on…
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Due to the influence of the junta government, parliament’s scrutiny of defence policy has been undermined. After the 20th Constitution of the Kingdom of…
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Q2
17/100
Does the country have an identifiable and effective parliamentary defence and security committee (or similar such organisations) to exercise oversight?
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In Thailand, the defence committee specifically or permanently tasked with conducting oversight and scrutiny of the defence sector exists with limited power. According to…
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According to the provisions of the 2017 Constitution of Thailand and the 2018 Rules of Procedure of the House of Representatives, the members of…
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Traditionally, Thailand’s constitution states that the Thai parliament has the power and duty to conduct state affairs and scrutinise the defence budget bill by…
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During the NCPO’s regime, no parliamentary committee conducting oversight of defence policy existed in practice, but after the general election in 2019, the parliamentary…
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Even though the Committee on National Security and Committee on Armed Forces were newly appointed after the general election in 2019, no long-term investigations were…
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The Committee on National Security and the Committee on Armed Forces have demonstrated their attempts to investigate and examine the defence budget, but their recommendations…
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Q3
44/100
Is the country’s national defence policy or national security strategy debated and publicly available?
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During the NCPO’s regime, US-based think tank Freedom House criticised the NCPO’s far-reaching bans on political association and activity as well as its systematic…
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Once parliamentary debate returned, some major issues relating to defence policy and national security were discussed, as illustrated by the following examples. In June…
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After the NCPO staged a coup in 2014, there were not any public consultations for four years [1]. The members of the Senate, who…
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According to Section 65 of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Thailand, the State should develop a national strategy to be employed as the…
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Q4
0/100
Do defence and security institutions have a policy, or evidence, of openness towards civil society organisations (CSOs) when dealing with issues of corruption?
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Even though the Official Information Act 1997 was implemented to guarantee Thai people’s right to have full access to government information, it does not…
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Ever since the junta government rose in power in 2014, the government has continued to arbitrarily arrest, detain and prosecute peaceful protesters and government…
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Civil society organisations, together with political parties, had been growing and some were later able to form an opposition to the military government [1].…
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Q5
100/100
Has the country signed up to the following international anti-corruption instruments: UNCAC and the OECD Convention?
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Thailand is not a significant defence exporter. According to the SIPRI, Thailand exported arms valued about 2,000,000 USD during 2016-2017 [1]. Thailand is a…
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Thailand has implemented anti-corruption interventions as part of its obligations under the ratified UNCAC. For instance, it introduced the Organic Act on Counter Corruption…
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Q6
13/100
Is there evidence of regular, active public debate on issues of defence? If yes, does the government participate in this debate?
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Between 2014 and 2018, there was no evidence of any regular, active public debate on issues of defence and, since there was no elected…
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Instead of actively engaging in public discourse about defence issues or equivalent, under five years of military rule, the Thai authorities prosecuted numerous peaceful…
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Q7
63/100
Does the country have an openly stated and effectively implemented anti-corruption policy for the defence sector?
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The implementation of the National Anti-Corruption Strategy (2017 – 2021) demonstrated the efforts made to eradicate corruption by the government and public officials, including…
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In 2013, the National Anti-Corruption Strategy Phase 2 (2013 – 2017) was implemented by the Ministry of Defence; its key provision was to formulate…
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Q8
75/100
Are there independent, well-resourced, and effective institutions within defence and security tasked with building integrity and countering corruption?
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The Office of the Inspector General is a special unit under the Office of Internal Audit responsible for monitoring corruption issues with the MoD…
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The Office of the Inspector General under the Office of Internal Audit, Ministry of Defence, is not in the chain of command of the…
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Since the Office of the Inspector General, a special unit under the Office of Internal Audit, was established specifically for monitoring corruption issues with…
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Q9
NS/100
Does the public trust the institutions of defence and security to tackle the issue of bribery and corruption in their establishments?
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This indicator is not assigned a score in the GDI. In recent years, the military has failed to gain public trust for several reasons.…
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Q10
67/100
Are there regular assessments of the areas of greatest corruption risk for ministry and armed forces personnel, and are the findings used as inputs to the anti-corruption policy?
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There is currently an internal risk assessment of conflicts of interest and corruption conducted for each department in the MoD every five months by…
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Internal risk assessments of conflicts of interest and corruption are conducted every five months by the Office of the Inspector General under the Royal…
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According to the Office of the Inspector General, because the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) had scored Thailand less than 50 out of 100 throughout…
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Defence Budgets
Q11
8/100
Does the country have a process for acquisition planning that involves clear oversight, and is it publicly available?
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According to Section 65 of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Thailand, the National Strategy Act 2017 was developed as a framework for achieving…
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It should be noted that the Public Procurement and Supplies Administration Act 2017 does not require state agencies to publicly disclose information about their…
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In Thailand, the military’s acquisition planning is conducted separately and individually by each defence agency according to their immediate needs and budgets, which means…
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Q12
50/100
Is the defence budget transparent, showing key items of expenditure? And it is provided to the legislature in a timely fashion?
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The documents published by the government’s Bureau of the Budget include appendices showing the annual budget allocation for each ministry in detail, including the…
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According to Budget Procedures Act B.E. 2502 (1959), Section 30, when a fiscal year ends, the Minister issues a Report on Income and Expenses…
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Q13
25/100
Is there a legislative committee (or other appropriate body) responsible for defence budget scrutiny and analysis in an effective way?
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According to Thailand’s constitution, the Thai parliament has the power and duty to conduct state affairs and promulgate laws. With respect to Thailand’s defence…
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Despite the powers outlined in 13A, the role of the Thai parliament in overseeing and controlling the defence budget is determined by the reality…
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Q14
42/100
Is the approved defence budget made publicly available? In practice, can citizens, civil society, and the media obtain detailed information on the defence budget?
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In 2019, the Thai government disclosed the new defence budget figures for the 2020 fiscal year as scheduled. After the general election in the…
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The documents published by the government’s Bureau of the Budget, including the annual budget allocation reports, include appendices showing the annual budget allocation for…
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After the 2019 general election was held and parliamentary reviews returned, the Ministry of Defence defended its spending by producing budget figures as proof…
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Q15
8/100
Are sources of defence income other than from central government allocation (from equipment sales or property disposal, for example) published and scrutinised?
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In February 2020, after the mass shooting incident in Korat, General Apirat Kongsompong admitted that the military has long been stained by alleged irregularities…
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Again, even though the Fiscal Responsibility Act was enforced in order to monitor, evaluate and report off-budget borrowing and thereby strengthen fiscal discipline, key…
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The Thai military is essentially unaccountable to civilian authority, as it has its own courts and an increasing budget that remains largely beyond public…
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Q16
25/100
Is there an effective internal audit process for defence ministry expenditure (that is, for example, transparent, conducted by appropriately skilled individuals, and subject to parliamentary oversight)?
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The Office of Internal Audit, Ministry of Defence, generally conduct reports on defence ministry expenditures in regards to the risks of corruption and conflict…
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During the NCPO’s regime between 2015 and early 2019, there was no oversight of sensitive or critical issues conducted by the parliamentary committee. After…
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According to the Internal Audit Policy of the Thai Ministry of Defence 2010, the Comptroller General’s Department under the Ministry of Finance allows the…
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According to the Internal Audit Policy of the Thai Ministry of Defence, the audit findings must be provided in the form of recommendations in…
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Q17
19/100
Is there effective and transparent external auditing of military defence expenditure?
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According to the the Internal Audit Policy of the Thai Ministry of Defence 2010, the Comptroller General’s Department under the Ministry of Finance allows…
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According to the Audit Council Act 1933, Thailand established the Audit Council (later called the Office of the Auditor General of Thailand or the…
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The external audit reports are only provided by the Comptroller General’s Department under the Ministry of Finance, while the Office of the Attorney General…
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In general, the Comptroller General’s Department under the Ministry of Finance allows Ministry of Defence expenditure to be solely subject to internal audit, but…
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Nexus of Defence and National Assets
Q18
10/100
Is there evidence that the country’s defence institutions have controlling or financial interests in businesses associated with the country’s natural resource exploitation and, if so, are these interests publicly stated and subject to scrutiny?
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According to Section 100 of the Organic Act on Anti-Corruption 2018, all state officials are prohibited from having an interest in a private business…
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Despite the existence of the Organic Act on Anti-Corruption 1999, the result of the 2014 coup allowed the military to extend its power and…
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There are many cases of forest trespassing, both illegally and by policy, which demonstrate the involvement of defence personnel in businesses relating to the…
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In the case of the potential misuse of land by the Thai Royal Navy, after the Department of Forestry announced the military’s intention to…
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Even though the Organic Act on Anti-Corruption 1999 forbids state officials, including military officers, from having an interest in a private business that contradicts…
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Organised Crime
Q19
0/100
Is there evidence, for example through media investigations or prosecution reports, of a penetration of organised crime into the defence and security sector? If no, is there evidence that the government is alert and prepared for this risk?
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In Thailand, there is a strong likelihood of human trafficking and arms smuggling in the defence sector. In 2017, an army general was sentenced…
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Regarding the aforementioned cases, the Thai government did not take any serious action. This was illustrated when, in response to Thailand’s largest human trafficking…
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Q20
33/100
Is there policing to investigate corruption and organised crime within the defence services and is there evidence of the effectiveness of this policing?
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In Thailand, the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) is a special police force responsible for preventing, suppressing and investigating criminal cases that require special…
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Currently, the DSI is subject to considerable undue influence from the junta leader. In 2019, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha announced that he would be…
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In 2018, the DSI alleged that distributors deceived government agencies into buying GT200 bomb detectors but made no mention of whether any government officials…
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Control of Intelligence Services
Q21
0/100
Are the policies, administration, and budgets of the intelligence services subject to effective and independent oversight?
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According to the National Intelligence Act, B.E. 2562 (2019) (‘Act’), which was passed and came into effect on April 17, 2019, the National Intelligence…
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There is no independent oversight of the policies, administration, or budgets of the National Intelligence Agency in Thailand [1]. As such, this indicator is…
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Q22
17/100
Are senior positions within the intelligence services filled on the basis of objective selection criteria, and are appointees subject to investigation of their suitability and prior conduct?
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According to the National Intelligence Act B.E. 2562 (2019), Section 10, for the purpose of improving the efficiency of National Intelligence Agency operations, civil…
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Ever since the 2014 military coup and even after the 2019 general election, the National Intelligence Agency has been predominantly under the command of…
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As noted above, the National Intelligence Act B.E. 2562 (2019) does not specify how the agency director is selected and appointed, which means that…
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Export Controls
Q23
25/100
Does the government have a well-scrutinised process for arms export decisions that aligns with Articles 7.1.iv, 11.5, and 15.6 of the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT)?
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According to Thailand’s statement, which was delivered by Mr Woranut Khongmuang, Director of the Directorate of International Security, Office of the National Security Council,…
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Thailand has not ratified the ATT [1], so this indicator is marked ‘Not Applicable’ .
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There is no evidence of parliamentary debates on upcoming arms exports, despite the fact that Thailand exported arms to Malaysia in 2016 and 2017…
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Lobbying in Defence
Currently, Thailand does not have any formal legislation concerning lobbying [1]. The closest code of conduct would be the Regulations of the Ministry of…
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Thailand does not have any formal legislation concerning lobbying at the time of research [1]. As such, this indictor is marked ‘Not Applicable’.
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Thailand does not have any formal legislation concerning lobbying at the time of research [1]. As such, this indictor is marked ‘Not Applicable’.
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Thailand does not have any formal legislation concerning lobbying at the time of research [1]. As such, this indictor is marked ‘Not Applicable’.
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