Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul has launched a renewed anti-corruption drive to lift Thailand's standing in the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), after the country's 2025 ranking fell near the bottom of both Asean and global tables.
Mr Anutin, who also serves as the interior minister, on Tuesday presided over the opening of a 2026 workshop titled "Integration to Proactively Strengthen Good Governance and Transparency in Public Agencies".
He delivered policy directives on measures and targets to tackle corruption and misconduct in a bid to raise the country's CPI score.
Senior officials in attendance included interior permanent secretary Unsit Sampuntharat, Public Sector Anti-Corruption Commission secretary-general Phumiwisan Kasemsuk, deputy permanent secretaries, department chiefs, governors from all 76 provinces, local administration executives and related officials.
Mr Anutin said Thailand continues to face a worrying level of corruption, noting that it remains one of the public's top concerns in opinion surveys.
"This shows we have not truly solved the problem," he said, adding that the country's CPI score suggests urgent reform is needed.
He said one major cause is that some state officials lack integrity and misuse their positions for personal gain, while systemic loopholes and insufficient cross-sector cooperation have allowed corruption to persist.
Mr Anutin said graft undermines national budgets, administrative efficiency and public trust.
He called on all agencies to confront the issue directly by improving ethical standards and transparency.
The prime minister issued an urgent directive to all Interior Ministry agencies and local administrative organisations nationwide to tighten anti-corruption safeguards, particularly against bribery in approvals, permits, the issuance of official documents and state procurement.
He said agencies must establish robust internal control systems that deliver real results rather than merely comply on paper.
"The key goal is zero corruption and zero bribery in public agencies," Mr Anutin said.
He stressed that the CPI is not just a statistical figure, but a crucial indicator of Thailand's image, investor confidence and competitiveness on the global stage.
Citing the latest assessment, Mr Anutin said Thailand scored 33 points in the CPI last year, ranking 116th out of 182 countries and eighth in Asean, placing it near the bottom of both the region and the world.
"As a Thai, this is embarrassing," he said.
