BANGKOK, Thailand: More than a quarter of people living in Asia had to pay a bribe while trying to access a public service in the past year, a watchdog said Tuesday, calling on governments to root out endemic graft in the region.
The report by Berlin-based Transparency International surveyed more than 20,000 people in 16 countries spanning the Asia Pacific region from Pakistan to Australia.
From the results they estimated 900 million people were forced to fork over “tea money” at least once in the previous 12 months.
Bribery rates were highest in India and Vietnam, where nearly two thirds of respondents said they had to sweeten the deal to access basic services like public education and health care.
Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong and Australia reported the lowest incidences of bribery.
Police were the most common demanders of kickbacks, according to the survey, with just under a third of people who had come into contact with an officer in the past year saying they had paid a bribe.
The poor are hit hardest by corruption with 38 percent of respondents saying they had to pay a bribe, the highest in any income category.
Yet while poorer people were more likely to be targeted in countries like Thailand, India and Pakistan, the reverse trend was found in places like Vietnam, Myanmar and Cambodia.
“Governments must do more to deliver on their anti-corruption commitments,” Jose Ugaz, the chair of Transparency International, said in a press release.

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