In Thailand, Graft's Big Bite
Richard L. Cassin | Thursday, July 19, 2012 at 2:28PM 
Companies in Thailand said they have to spend up to 35 percent of a project's budget for bribes to win government contracts, according to a survey by the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce and the Anti-Corruption Network.
That means corruption could cost the country $250 billion this year, or more than 2 percent of its gross domestic product, according to a report Thursday in the Bangkok Post.
The survey covered 2,400 respondents from the business and public sectors.
'More than 85 percent of respondents said they had to pay bribes whenever they had to deal with government agencies or politicians to win contracts,' the report said. 'Only 4.7 percent said they had not paid any bribes, while almost 10 percent said they were unaware there was graft.'
On average, respondents said, they must pay about 30-35 percent of the budget to win a project from the government or a state-owned agency.
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