The government is under pressure to provide results in its fight against corruption amid the many scandals that have erupted involving state officials.
Critics have questioned why so much corruption and irregularities within government agencies have been detected nationwide despite the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO)'s announcement upon seizing power that graft eradication was its top priority.
"When the NCPO came to power, corruption surveys found a clear drop in occurrences, but then the rate rose again in subsequent years," Anti-Corruption Organisation of Thailand secretary-general Mana Nimitmongkol said.
"We believe the networks of cheaters gradually found loopholes or believed the NCPO's anti-graft mechanisms could not do anything to them," he said. "High-ranking officials over the past two years have not continuously and effectively followed up on corruption."
Mr Mana said that the credit for the recent exposure of corruption cases must go to the public and civil society.
Thailand Development Research Institute researcher Tippatrai Saelawong, who studies corruption in Thailand, agrees. He said, however, despite the Public Sector Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC) being very active over the past year, it has yet to show its effectiveness.
"The PACC found evidence of corruption in welfare funds in dozens of provinces, but it has appointed probe committees for only about 10 provinces. I don't know how many people will end up being prosecuted," he said.
"If the government is serious about fighting corruption, government agencies should keep the public up to date on the progress of graft probes to alleviate doubts about whether the agencies are trying to prolong cases or are being too lenient," he added.
"While high-ranking officials are allegedly involved in scandals, the government must be transparent in its investigations and ensure penalties for wrongdoers. Otherwise, the people will lose confidence."
PACC secretary-general Kornthip Daroj, meanwhile, said corruption is a persistent problem in Thailand but that since the NCPO seized power, checks have intensified and more people are willing to come forward.
"Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has given the green light to investigations and he requires the PACC to update him weekly on our work," Lt Col Kornthip said.
He also gave credit to whistleblowers such as Panida Yotpanya, a Mahasarakham University student, who exposed suspected corruption at a welfare centre in Khon Kaen which has led to widespread investigations into embezzlement of similar funds throughout the country.
"We have found that villagers do not give in to graft anymore. In cases where corrupt government officials paid them to change their testimony, they recorded and exposed the misconduct," he said.
Mr Mana said government officials have a lot of money at their disposal and, unless they are mentally strong enough, they can fall prey to greed. As well as providing a better system for directly handing money to eligible people, government offices have to work harder to promote the rights of the people.
But although he feels that progress is being made, Mr Mana said he wanted to see more concrete results.
"People in these [internal auditing] agencies are normally not promoted and not empowered," he said. "Many of them have nothing to do. And many times when they report graft suspicions to the agency head, the issues have been covered up or downplayed."
Mr Tippatrai said he wanted to see more active work from the National Anti-Corruption Commission and the Office of the Auditor-General.
He also raised concerns that some who work with the National Anti-Corruption Board, chaired by Gen Prayut, have doubts about the body as one of its prominent members is Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwon, who is being investigated over the scandal related to his collection of luxury watches.
Thailand scored 37 in the Corruption Perceptions Index for 2017 released by Transparency International. This was a slight improvement on 2016's score of 35 in 2016 but still below the global average of 43.
