Thailand Ranked 80th In Corruption Perception Index

BANGKOK, December 1 (TNA) - The 2011 Corruption Perception Index (CPI), released Thursday by Transparency International, a global coalition against corruption, showed that Thailand scored 3.4 out of 10, listing the country on the 80th place among 183 countries surveyed worldwide. Secretary General of Transparency Thailand Dr. Juree Vichit-Vadakan acknowledged that Thailand shared the same global rank this year with Columbia, El Salvador, Greece, Morocco and Peru, but was on the 10th rank among 26 Asian nations surveyed. Based on the 2011 CPI, most countries surveyed scored below half in its 0-10 scale; while only 49 countries scored higher than five, with New Zealand becoming the least corrupted country gaining the highest score of 9.5, seconded by both Denmark and Finland with the score of 9.4. The 2011 CPI showed that Somalia and North Korea were the most corrupted countries globally with 1.0 score each; while Singapore scored 9.2, making the island state the least corrupted nation in Asia. Member nations of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and European countries were listed with better scores than countries in other regions. At the other end, countries in East Europe, Central Asia and Africa were listed with their rather low scores. Dr. Juree said that Thailand has become more aware of corruption, as all sectors have put efforts in tackling with the problem, suggesting that a most effective mean is to change people's perceptions and to encourage them to realize that corruption is unacceptable. The CPI is a composite index, a combination of polls, drawing on corruption-related data from experts and business surveys carried out by a variety of reputable independent institutions forming in a non-governmental organization (NGO) which monitors and publicizes corporate and political corruption in international development in order to encourage governments and the public worldwide to realize severe impacts of corruption, both domestic and international, and to jointly tackle the problem. (TNA)