With the achievement of the OECD Integrity Review of Thailand 2021 – Phase 2, Thailand has become the first country in Asia-Pacific completing a full review of the key pillars of the country’s public integrity system. This demonstrates the Government of Thailand’s continued commitment to investing in public integrity and sharing practices and expertise with OECD countries. The Review was conducted by the Directorate for Public Governance through a series of consultations with the Thai stakeholders, and is part of the Thailand-OECD Country Programme and the Directorate’s broader work programme on public sector integrity. Tackling corruption in the public sector and building transparent and accountable public institutions fosters investment, encourages competition, and improves government efficiency. The policy recommendations in this Integrity Review not only seek to bolster Thailand’s integrity system, but also to promote public trust and ensure that the country can continue down a path of sustained economic growth.

A sound public integrity system requires a multi-faceted approach, in which disciplinary mechanisms and sanctions, risk management, and integrity in policy and decision making play a pivotal role. Enforcing the integrity measures through sanctions is a necessary element to prevent impunity among public officials and to ensure the credibility of the integrity system as a whole. Integrity risk management supports decision making and ultimately helps to ensure the achievement of integrity objectives. Integrity in decision making ensures the pursuit of the public interest in policy making and improves the delivery of public services in the long-term, promotes fair competition and helps restore trust in government. The Integrity Review of Thailand – Phase 2 deepens the analysis in these three key areas of Thailand’s integrity system, in line with the 2017 OECD Recommendation of the Council on Public Integrity. Together with the OECD Integrity Review of Thailand – Phase 1, the finalisation of this Phase 2 makes Thailand the first country in Asia-Pacificto complete a full review of the key pillars of the country’s public integrity system.

This chapter reviews the disciplinary system for public officials in Thailand, with particular attention to fairness, policy coherence, institutional co‑ordination and the use of data. Although Thailand has a solid foundation for enforcing integrity rules and standards, further reforms are required to improve its quality and introduce a more coherent approach to disciplinary processes. For example, Thailand may strengthen the corps of disciplinary investigators and leverage the use of data on sanctions.

This chapter describes the national government’s efforts in Thailand to modernise risk management policies and practices for safeguarding integrity. This includes the work of the Comptroller General’s Department (CGD), the Office of the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) and the Office of the Office of the Public Sector Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC), which play critical roles in supporting line ministries to build their knowledge, capacity and skills for managing integrity risks. The chapter offers recommendations for the Thai government to consider in three areas: 1) ensuring clarity of roles and making good governance a central theme; 2) improving risk assessments; and 3) enhancing monitoring and evaluation, as well as quality assurance assessments. These areas are not exhaustive with regards to the challenges and opportunities for improving control and oversight in Thailand more broadly, but they represent key priorities given the narrow scope of the chapter on integrity risk management.

This chapter provides an assessment of policies that aim to promote transparency and integrity in public decision making in the Kingdom of Thailand. It identifies weaknesses in the current legal framework, such as the lack of specific guidelines or regulations on how stakeholders and public officials interact during policy making. Furthermore, it raises practical concerns related to the enforcement and implementation of the regulations in place such as the lack of data and broad assessments on public consultations. Based on the analysis and the Recommendation of the OECD Council on Public Integrity, the chapter provides recommendations to foster regulations on stakeholder engagement and participation in policy making, for example by developing rules for interactions between stakeholders and public officials. Further, it provides advice to promote transparency and access to information on decision making, as well as to strengthen enforcement by raising awareness and including sanctions in regulations.