The Bangkok Post  reports that H.E. Abhisit Vejjajiva, former prime minister of Thailand, recently called on civil society and the private sector to step up and play a key role in combatting corruption and related illicit activities. Speaking at the ICC FraudNet Bangkok Conference on Fraud, Asset Recovery & Cross-Border Cooperation in Bangkok on October 17, Mr. Abhisit stated that up to 3 percent of Thailand’s GDP is lost to fraud and corruption each year—an amount almost equal to the country’s total expenditures on education.

Following up on these remarks, Thawat Damsa-ard, a partner at Tilleke & Gibbins, pointed out that recovery of assets stolen through corruption is a real option. Stakeholders often focus only on the need to “bring the wrongdoers to justice and prosecute them,” he said, but more should be done to actually attempt to trace and recover the money that is lost to corrupt activities.

The FraudNet conference touched on a wide range of topics related to corruption, fraud, money laundering, and asset recovery. To read the full Bangkok Post  article on the event, please click on the PDF below.