re: "Corruption rises in Thailand, global watchdog says" (BP, January 29)
Dear editor,
It cannot surprise to see countries "growing more corrupt as they become more autocratic" as Transparency International's report "Corruption Perceptions Index for 2018" notes of several, including the US under Trump, under whom democratic norms are eroding.
That rising autocracy correlates with rising corruption is not only the logical correlation, it is the long established historical rule. It is a major reason dictators become dictators. The same rule also does much to explain why Thailand has remained mired in corruption for decades: all of those coups happened for reasons. And contrary to the loudly touted promises, the reality of Thai history shows that those reasons have never included ending corruption, the eradication of which requires respect for the transparency enabled by the free speech that goes hand in hand with democracy.
For their own good reasons, dictators criminalize free speech.
Felix Qui
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The above letter to the editor is the text as submitted by Felix Qui to the Bangkok Post.
The text as edited was published in PostBag on January 31, 2019, under the title "Autocracy feeds graft" at https://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/postbag/1620906/autocracy-feeds-graft
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