Asia Times: Thai witnesses sideswiped in anti-graft probes



	July 17, 1999	atimes.com

Southeast Asia

Thai witnesses sideswiped in anti-graft probes
By Ron Corben

BANGKOK - Thailand's efforts to stem officialcorruption have suffered a major setback after the names ofwitnesses in a multi-million dollar Health Ministry scandal werepublished by local media.

The case highlights the tough balancing act between thepublic's right to know and the rights and protection of witnesses,as well as how disclosure might complicate the prosecution ofcorruption cases.

The whistle-blowers, many of whom are officials and doctors atThai provincial hospitals, now live in terror ofharassment from senior hospital and ministry staff alleged to havetaken part in medical pricing fraud. Thailand's government and Counter Corruption Commission (CCC) are looking to protect the witnesses amid fears they will changetheir testimonies once charges are brought to the courts.

The health scandal broke last year as suspicions about theprice-fixing of medical supplies sold to rural hospitals became afull-fledged outcry by rural doctors, even as they facedintimidation. Government funds totaling $37.8 million from thepublic health budget and intended to assist the poor and reducedebt at provincial hospitals were diverted to drugs and suppliesfrom specified firms at up to three times the normal rate.

Campaigners also called for, and successfully won, a boycott ofmedical supply companies allegedly involved by the ministry whileinvestigations were underway. Despite vigorous denials of the allegations, the scandaleventually forced the resignation of Public Health MinisterRakkiat Sukthana.

Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai then created a committee toinvestigate the allegations, and the CCC also heard evidence into the allegations. The CCC's 1,315-page report was released last week with 98 witnesses' statements, and included 22 testimonies of allegationspointing to possible links by corrupt health officials with seniorpolitical figures.

The CCC report accused Jiraya Jarassathien, an advisor to thedeputy health minister Dhiravat Siriwansarn, of involvement in thescandal, but fell short of accusing other more senior personnel,including Rakkiat. Jiraya is now under police investigation, as is a former actingdirector of the ministry's rural health division, and an assistantto the permanent public health secretary.

The release of the CCC report came after non-governmentorganizations and media presented a petition under Thailand'snew Freedom of Information Act (1997), marking a further step ingreater information and transparency to the public. But whereas in the United States individuals would be protected by at least having their names deleted before publication in such a report, the Official Information Committee (OIC) released thereport in full, despite pleas to delete the names of witnesses.

OIC chief Surasee Kosolnavin told reporters he insisted on a''reveal all'' philosophy, which he believed would strengthen thestill shaky implementation of citizens' rights to information. ''We have this still-fledgling law so we should help strengthen it by creating good precedents,'' Surasee said. ''There should, of course, be measures to help protect those witnesses. Societyshould also help watch over these brave people,'' he added.

The witnesses, however, know how even the publication of justtheir official positions makes them identifiable and open toreprisals or harassment.

Government spokesman Akapol Sorasuchart said authorities werelooking at how to give the witnesses the best protection. ''We have already informed them that if they need any special protection we are willing to help,'' Akapol said. But, he added,more devastating was that ''future informants or the progress ofthese cases'' would be jeopardized.

''A few of [the witnesses] have already decided they would haveopted out right from the beginning and not given any information,''he explained. ''What the government fears at the moment is that itwill affect this case and other cases in the future, to try andget more information."

CCC secretary-general Klanarong Chantik said given that it was thefirst time disclosure had occurred under the Official InformationAct, ''we are really concerned about the safety of our witnesses."

Bowornsak Uwaano, a legal analyst and member of the informationdisclosure review panel who opposed release of the report, saidthe report's release now jeopardized criminal proceedings. ''The CCC report is a basis for criminal proceedings but the case has not been prosecuted, so witnesses can change theirstatements any time if faced with threats or intimidation,''Bowornsak told reporters.

The Nation newspaper's deputy editor, Tulsathit Taptim, saidthe exercise also reflected on how local newspapers, in theirhighly competitive market, operate. ''The Thai papers have a habit of putting PR [publicationrelations] reports into the paper without editing. Official papersor reports are typed [for publication in the papers] without anychanges,'' he said.

''Other papers just want to put everything on record. Or tohave the 'Exclusive Report' . . . and go all the way. But after this[incident] there have been a lot of complaints. The witnesses areterrified. The media will need to be more careful in the future,''Taptim pointed out.

Analysts say Thailand will probably have to deal with a lot ofdifficult situations when balancing the public's right to know,and the country's new freedom of information laws under the new1997 constitution, with the rights of witnesses.

That constitution has added a new dimension to newspaperpublishing. ''The [legislation] is one of the new things inThailand,'' Taptim said. Even at The Nation, he said, decisions are regularly madeover whether to publish the names of individuals who may have beenaccidentally caught up in scams or unwitting victims. ''We encounter this dilemma every day because of the new [information] law. We are playing it by ear every day. It is aquestion we have never had to confront before,'' Taptim added.

In the meantime, the CCC has decided to try to set new guidelines forthe protection of witnesses with the Official InformationCommission and the Council of State.

(Inter Press Service)

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