Transparency International (TI) rated Thailand a 3.4 on its corruption perceptions index (CPI) on 1 December 2011.  TI rates the perceived corruption level of countries from 0 to 10, with higher ratings reflecting less corruption, while lower scores reflect higher corruption. Thailand’s score has decreased very slightly from its score of 3.5 last year, but this small decrease has limited importance in comparison with Thailand’s bigger problem in the CPI ratings: consistently poor CPI’s ratings over the last few years reflecting an international perception that Thailand’s suffers from a serious on-going corruption problem.

CPI scorings are derived from several surveys and accorded a fair amount of respect in the international business community and courts adjudicating foreign bribery cases.  With increasing aggressive enforcement of foreign corruption laws, this will make foreign investment in Thailand increasingly problematic.  For more information on international foreign corruption laws and Thai corruption laws, click here.