Charges of corruption could be punishable by death for both Thai and foreign nationals under new anti-corruption legislation passed by the military government.
Under the military government’s amended Anti-Corruption Act which went into effect Friday, elected officials, state officials, foreign officials and agents of international organizations can face the death penalty for significant acts of corruption.
Punishment for such convictions under the amended law range from five years in jail to life imprisonment or even capital punishment, depending on how severe the crime, according to Thai PBS.
It’s not spelled out where the thresholds are to enable the different punishments, but overall it seems similar to a proposal pitched by ultranationalist Veera Somkwamkid, who said anyone who cost the state more than THB5 million (about USD150,000) should be executed.
