Deputy Prime Minister Pakorn revealed seven approaches to prevent corruption in government civil service exams, describing it as a cancer that erodes public trust in the country. He advocated for stronger measures to increase penalties.
On 3 July 2026, Deputy Prime Minister Pakorn Nilprapunt, responsible for legal affairs, posted on Facebook that corruption in government recruitment exams is a cancer that corrodes trust in the civil service system. Currently, there is no specific law directly addressing this issue.
Pakorn stated that it would be beneficial to enact a law defining offenses related to recruitment exams for government service or positions in state agencies, citing the following reasons: Government officials, employees, staff, or other state officers have duties and powers to enforce laws, deliver public services, and administer government. Therefore, such personnel must possess genuine knowledge, capability, and integrity in their duties. The screening process for appointing or hiring personnel at all levels in government agencies must be of high quality, transparent, fair, and free from corruption at every step. This ensures that capable and honest individuals enter government service, enabling effective, transparent law enforcement, public service delivery, and administration. However, corruption in recruitment exams leads to dishonest, unqualified individuals assuming these roles, causing severe harm to the nation. Despite this, corruption in recruitment exams persists, often involving networks with many offenders, further eroding public trust in government. Hence, it is appropriate to establish specific offenses related to recruitment exam corruption to prevent such serious, long-term damage to the country. The main content is as follows.
1. To classify corruption in recruitment exams for government positions or state agency employment as a criminal offense.
2. To empower the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC), the Public Sector Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC), and the Anti-Money Laundering Office (AMLO) to investigate offenses under this law.
3. To require NACC, PACC, and AMLO to establish electronic channels for reporting tips or information regarding violations of this law to facilitate their duties.
4. If there is reasonable cause to believe an offense under this law has occurred, NACC, PACC, or AMLO shall have the duty and authority to promptly conduct investigations, as applicable.
5. When investigations as per point 4 are underway, the head of the state agency conducting the exam shall order a temporary suspension of the recruitment exam until NACC, PACC, or AMLO notifies the investigation results.
6. Anyone found guilty under this law shall be deemed to have committed corruption in recruitment exams and permanently barred from government service or employment in any state agency.
7. If the offender, or those who use or support the offense, is a government official, employee, staff, or other state officer, they shall be dismissed immediately and face penalties doubled in severity.