- Key government sites
- Regulatory agencies & stock exchanges
- Government sites (miscellaneous)
- Accounting and auditing sites
- Professional organisations
1. Key government sites
Ministry of Finance (MOF): ww2.mof.go.th
The Ministry has many roles besides being the country's financial regulator: it oversees "Government property, operations of Government monopolies, revenue-generating enterprises which can be legally operated only by the Government and not under the purview of other Government bodies, as well as other organizations to which the Government has contractual obligations". In addition, it provides loan guarantees for Government agencies, financial institutions, and state enterprises. The website is clean, fairly up-to-date, with a site map and search engine but seems sparse in relation to other MOF sites in the region. Statistics on the country's financial and economic performance are available, along with speeches,
press releases, news articles and an "Economic Links" section to other relevant sites, although some of the links are broken.
Bank of Thailand (BOT): www.bot.or.th
BOT is Thailand's central bank and the regulator of the banking sector. This site is clean, up-to-date and informative. The site map and index are excellent resources for sifting through the data available on the site, from current versions of banking legislation, BOT notices to a good archive of speeches and press releases. Unfortunately, the governance-related material on this site is not extensive or easy to find, partly because of a poor search engine. A stronger search facility would be welcomed.
The Office of the National Counter Corruption Commission (NCCC): www.nacc.go.th
Thailand’s anti-corruption agency. A basic website that does little more than describe the operations and functions of the NCCC as well as the constitutional backing for its activities. Unlike its Hong Kong counterpart, the Independent Commission Against Corruption, the site fails to provide information on its past cases or allow complaints to be made online.
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2. Regulatory agencies and stock exchanges
The Securities and Exchange Commission of Thailand (SEC):
www.sec.or.th
The SEC is the main regulator of the Thai securities market. The website, on the surface, seems well-designed and easy to use but you can lose yourself in its maze. The site contains a vast amount of data from SEC laws/regulations and an asset management page to a good governance section. However, not everything is easily accessible and navigating the site is easier through the site map. A search engine is available but only on the homepage. Another disappointing feature is that many sections, including the "Good Governance" section are only available in Thai. The links do not correspond to the icons, such as "enforcement news" under "laws/regulations/enforcement"; it takes a few steps to find the correct page. However, the site offers a good catalogue of listed companies' financial reports plus an "Enforcement News" section that lists companies required to revise their financial statements or having criminal charges brought against them by the SEC. The site needs tweaking.
The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET): www.set.or.th/en
SET is the national stock exchange of Thailand. Its website is information-rich, but lacks coherence; the site map is the only way to "find" your way around the site. It contains extensive documentation on securities regulation, including all the key corporate-governance codes and rules, and a helpful "News Room" that provides updated information on new exchange policies, corporate actions and enforcement measures against individual listed companies. An obvious omission that undermines the value of the site is the lack of a search engine, but the most glaring weakness is the difficulty of finding specific documents on corporate governance: most of which are in a sub-sub-section called "Free Downloads" (under "Investor Education/Information Services"). In fact, you can find information on corporate governance under most of the other sections: market operations; and rules and regulations. It would be useful if there was a "focus section" centralising all this information, and a corner on SET's own Corporate Governance Center.
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3. Government sites (miscellaneous)
National Corporate Governance Committee (NCGC): www.cgthailand.org
The NCGC was established in 2002 and is chaired by the prime minister or an assigned deputy prime minister. It is responsible for stimulating corporate governance initiatives in Thailand through policies, measures and schemes, including appointing sub-committees and working groups to analyse and assist any CG operations. The site is cleanly designed and contains useful information on the different governance rating systems and awards in Thailand, and a detailed self-assessment template for companies. In addition, it houses a section on SET's Corporate Governance Center. While a search engine is lacking, the site map proves to be useful.
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4. Accounting and auditing sites
Federation of Accounting Professions (FAP): www.fap.or.th
Thailand’s only institution for the accounting profession. Unfortunately, there is no English version of this website.
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5. Professional organisations
Thai Institute of Directors (IOD): www.thai-iod.com
The organisation was founded in 1999 with the support of the Bank of Thailand, the Stock Exchange of Thailand, the Capital Market Development Fund Foundation and the World Bank, with the aim of improving the professional knowledge and skills of corporate directors through educational programmes, networking meetings and seminars. The website that contains information relating to corporate governance and boardroom ethics as well as director training and seminars. While the site contains a lot of information on corporate governance and boardroom ethics, not all of it can be accessed since much of it is in Thai or for members only, although the summaries of the seminars are in English and available for download. Given the lack of a search engine or a site map, traversing the site is cumbersome.
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