Due to the country’s relatively low ranking in the international Corruption Perception Index (CPI) last year, the government had made its anti-corruption mission a priority as it was a matter that required urgent resolution to stop further, long-term damage to the state, Prayut said.

He was presiding over the country’s main anti-corruption event, held at Mahidol University’s campus in Nakhon Pathom province.

The event was jointly hosted by the government, the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC), state enterprises and a civil-society network.

The country’s 2015 CPI score was 38 per cent, placing it 76th out of 168 countries covered by the index.

“Such a low rank indicates ongoing corruption scandals,” the PM said.

He added that though the country’s corruption problems had improved due to the government’s reform of budget management, corruption cases in some governmental projects still occurred.

“This government has initiated a wide range of over 500,000 projects nationwide. This is the difference [between our efforts and those of previous administrations]. I acknowledge that there might be corruption cases, so the government needs to scrutinise such cases. In the past, [previous governments] were never busy with this [anti-corruption mission],” he stressed.

The premier said he wanted the state’s organisations to work together in line with good governance.

He also addressed the issue of public losses resulting from corruption, which was a barrier to the continuity of public administration.

He said his government had to design a 20-year national strategic plan with an anti-graft mechanism, which was supported by the constitutional draft that passed a referendum in August, he added.

“The government got the chance to take office. So, we had to initiate policies and the 20-year national strategic plan. I don’t know whether or who is going to follow it [the junta-supported strategic plan]. But, if we didn’t draft it, the country would step back onto the track we had seen before,” he said.

The junta head also asked the people to adhere to the sufficiency-economy philosophy of King Bhumibol Adulyadej rather than living luxuriously, which might lead to corruption problems.

He also emphasised that the next government should be transparent and open to scrutiny.

Meanwhile, he also led participants at yesterday’s event in declaring their intention to combat graft.

Similar events were also held in other provinces around the Kingdom, including Chon Buri, Nakhon Ratchasima, Si Sa Ket, Prachin Buri and Phatthalung.

The events were jointly hosted by the government’s local agencies and the NACC to raise public awareness in the battle against corruption.

In a related development, Democrat Party politician and former MP Watchara Phetthong yesterday urged the PM to scrutinise the controversial purchase of natural-gas-for-vehicle (NGV) buses of the Transport Ministry’s Bangkok Mass Transit Authority (BMTA).

Watchara said the import of 100 NGV buses by a contracted company was unlawful.

He said the Customs Department had found irregularities in the purchase and he requested Prayut to push the department and the Anti-Money Laundering Office to take legal action against any wrongdoers.

He also asked the BMTA and the ministry to look into the alleged irregularities.