Corruption in most Asian countries is not as bad as a year ago, with the notable exception of Thailand, a survey showed yesterday.

?Thailand?s case is special. Accusations of high-level corruption have been intensifying in recent months ? to the point where they could affect political stability,? said Political and Economic Risk Consultancy (PERC), a Hong Kong-based think tank, which conducted the annual survey.

It cited controversies involving Thai Prime Minister Thaksin, including the sale last month of his family?s controlling stake in Shin Corp to Singapore state investment firm Temasek Holdings.

Thaksin on Friday called a snap general election for April.

Indonesia still has the worst problem of corruption among the 13 places surveyed. However, the Indonesian government was credited with making headway in fighting the problem, the survey showed.

The survey asked 1,200 expatriate executives across the region whether corruption was better or worse than a year ago.

Singapore was ranked the least corrupt place to do business in Asia, as it was last year, but was graded worse than in the 2005 survey. Hong Kong?s score was the best in a decade, PERC said. Corruption in China was also reported to be lower, although it remained a problem. Japan was ranked the second-least corrupt place after Singapore.

?Japan is likely to take another step forward in its anti-corruption fight this year when a revised anti-monopoly law is to come into force that will increase fines for companies found to have participated in bid-rigging?, PERC said. ?Still, the close relationship structure between business and politics is intact.?

Following are results from PERC?s survey, based on a 0-10 scale in which zero is best and 10 worst: 2006 2005 Indonesia 8.16 9.10 Vietnam 7.91 8.65 The Philippines 7.80 8.80 Thailand 7.64 7.20 China 7.58 7.68 India 6.76 8.63 Malaysia 6.13 6.80 Taiwan 5.91 6.15 South Korea 5.44 6.50 Macau 4.78 n/a Hong Kong 3.13 3.50 Japan 3.01 3.46 Singapore 1.30 0.65.