Shown at the 65th National Arts and Handicrafts Fair late last month, one of the films shows a schoolboy using money to buy friendships and illegitimate privileges. He is following in the footsteps of his bribe-paying father.

But the film wraps up with an impressive moral – the father is arrested and the son realises that those who kow-tow to him because he is rich will never be his real friends.

Another film that won an award shows a schoolgirl who, despite hoping to find money for her mother’s medical bills and her younger sister’s educational trip, decides not to touch valuables in a bag someone has left behind and does the right thing – she breaks her own piggy bank.

Such themes have been reinforced in Thai society in many different ways.

The majority of Thai citizens complain about deep-rooted corruption in society. In one poll, respondents voiced support for government officials and employees involved in corruption scandals to be transferred to inactive posts. However, many have turned their back on student activists who pressured the junta for a deeper investigation into the scandal involving Rajabhakti Park.

The new team of charter drafters has drawn up an “anti-corruption” draft, which prescribes ethical standards and requires that Cabinet members have no record of grave unethical offences. Indeed, Thailand has several anti-corruption agencies, chief of them being the National Anti-Corruption Commission. The rules are there, but in practice only a few people have been punished despite a rising mountain of related complaints.

Confusion over graft is also rife in the business world.

For years the private-sector Collective Action Coalition against Corruption (CAC) has been lobbying hard to increase the number of companies that have internationally-accepted governance practices.

As of January, the organisation witnessed its member companies increase to 548 from 525 in October 2015, and has already certified 152 for their compliance with anti-graft guidelines. To win the certification, these companies have to comply with tonnes of requirements, including a commitment not to take illicit money or pay bribes to government officials to win contracts.

Yet despite complaints that corruption boosts operating costs and erodes competitiveness, some companies still choose to operate in the grey. At the turn of the year, only a few companies such as Bank of Ayudhya and Total Access Com-munication had publicly announced that they would not welcome New Year gifts.

Then there was an incident surrounding CP All, which may cause further confusion.

The group’s executive chairman, Korsak Chairasmisak, was fined by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in December for using insider information to trade Siam Makro shares.

The SEC’s decision stirred criticism: Why was Korsak allowed to remain in his position? Indeed, he did not break any rules that would stop him from remaining as a listed company’s executive. The SEC criteria for listed company directors do not cover insider information for trading stocks. Society has acknowledged the rules, but also questioned the morals of Korsak and CP All’s board of directors.

Some investors reacted by saying they were prepared to suspend investment in the company’s shares. After an urgent meeting on Friday, CP All’s board of directors insisted that Korsak and two other executives had already been penalised and that they could hold on to their jobs given their work performance.

Schools have been urged to include moral and ethics in the curriculum. Yet, from time to time, school principals are found engulfed in corruption allegations. Some are charged with bribing officials to advance their career, while others are alleged to have demanded money from people seeking job contracts. Each year, parents complain about having to pay “tea money” to headmasters to ensure their children are enrolled.

Social guru Mechai Viravaidya said at a function that while schools try to inculcate ethics in children, there is a risk that clear consciences will get blurred in the adult work environment. Temptation does exist in society, no one can argue with that – it’s just that we should stop our darker side from getting the better of us.