Despite publicly pledging to combat corruption within the procurement and contracting sector to improve transparency in the bidding processes and rewarding of contracts, former prime minister Yingluck Shinatwatra's government itself became implicated in a corruption-plagued rice-pledging scheme, significantly undermining its anti-corruption claims. Thailand's anti-graft body has indicted the former PM, who was forced to step-down over the allegations; Ms. Yingluck may face criminal charges over the scheme's failures, as reported in a May 2014 BBC News article. Thailand is currently under the rule of the military, which says it has taken control of the country to restore order and to enact political reforms.
Bribery and conflicts of interest are common within Thailand's private and public sectors. In addition, facilitation payments are common in most sectors but are particularly widespread in the intersection between business and government. Indeed, the main source of corruption in Thailand is considered to be money politics (the flow of money within the political scene), stemming from the high degree of interconnectedness between the business sector and the political system. The government has effectively implemented anti-corruption laws to mitigate these obstacles; however, the country still suffers from an ineffective government bureaucracy.