Couple jailed for Bangkok Film Festival bribery
This Thai bribery scandal, as reported on the news article on the BBC website, doesn’t surprise me at all. The law in the US is very different from Thai law. The Thai party who received the bribe is still to be charged. Bribery in Thailand is common practice.
According to the article Gerald Green and his wife bribed a Thai tourism boss ( Juthamas Siriwan) to secure management of the annual Bangkok film festival. There intent was simple –to make millions of pounds. It follows that Gerald Green and his wife Patricia have now been sent to US prison for six months and ordered to serve a further six months’ in home detention as well as pay back $US250,000. Meantime, the former head of Thailand's tourism authority, Juthamas Siriwan, (who they bribed) has yet to be charged. US prosecutors are considering whether they can bring her to trial. However, she has not been charged in Thailand and denies any malpractice.
This is another example of corrupt government officials in Thailand. People in Thailand accept the practice of bribery as normal.
Reference
Couple jailed for Bangkok Film Festival bribery. (2010, August,13) BBC news. Retrieved August,13,2010 From http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-10963317
Friday 13 August 2010
1 comment:
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I don't usually read the entertainment section, so I had missed this story, although I had been following it before. It made bigger headlines and caught my eye a couple of years ago.
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone know: was is reported in the local Thai press this time? I remember seeing earlier reports in the Nation before, but none recently.
I also agree with May's point that too many people accept bribery and corrupt practices as normal, like people who buy illegal CDs, DVDs and so on the footpath, knowing that supports stealing and corruption, and people who pay bribes to traffic cops, knowing it's supporting a corrupt culture, and perhaps worse are all the laws that directly encourage corruption, such as anti-prostitution laws and gambling laws.
I think May has brought up a large topic here.