Thaksin Is Merely a Symptom of a Serious Illness
During the past couple of weeks, nothing received more press coverage and analyses or made the government of Thailand more nervous than the visit to Cambodia of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra. Two other events also occurred during that time but received scant attention compared to Thaksin’s movements although they represented something of no less consequential for the long-term prospects of Thailand. One was the release by Transparency International of its 2009 Corruption Perception Index, which showed that Thailand received a score of 3.4 with 10 being perfect or virtually no corruption.
Among 180 countries surveyed, Thailand ranked at joint 84th. Both the score and rank were lower than last year’s, when Thailand received 3.5 and was joint 80th. Although these numbers are not statistically different, some analysts have blamed the ongoing political and economic crises for increased corruption. The numbers and sentiment seem to be corroborated by the October Abac Poll survey which indicates a similar trend, namely, over 63% of respondents believe that corruption has worsened over the past year. Besides, 77.5% of respondents say that corruption by politicians is acceptable compared to about 63% in October 2008.
In my article of July 9th, I commented on the results of an earlier Abac Poll survey which also indicated high levels of corruption and acceptance. I said then that with the mindset giving rise to those numbers, Thailand did not need to look any further for explanation of its slow development. In my many years of writing commentaries, I never received a nastier comment. There are many Thais, apparently, who still do not believe that corruption is a serious problem in this country.
Another event was the firing of an M79 grenade into the large crowd gathered in Sanam Luang to express disapproval of Thaksin’s recent activities, especially his comments on the Thai monarchy in an interview with The Times of London. Despite the heightened security surrounding the gathering, someone was able to launch the grenade with impunity. That, sadly, was only the latest in a series of the use of deadly weapons in the middle of Bangkok, starting with repeated firings of M79 grenades into the protestors occupying the grounds of Government House last year, followed by the attempted assassination of Mr. Sondhi Limthongkul in April. Bangkok was under emergency law during that attempt. How thugs were able to smuggle in many assault weapons and grenade launchers, and why all the closed-circuit television cameras broke down at that particular moment, are still beyond comprehension. Worse, no one has been caught for the crimes despite repeated promises made by the deputy chief of police that the case of Mr. Sondhi would be solved before his retirement at the end of September.
With the ease of modern communications and widespread dissemination of information, I would assume that Thais know of these events and yet most seem unconcerned and go on with their lives as usual. All of these reflect a serious social illness and Thaksin is only part of its symptoms. If Thaksin were to stop what he has been doing since being deposed, a lot of people with corrupt mindset similar to his would still remain. That a large group of parliamentarians abandoned their duties and trooped to Cambodia to pay their respect to Thaksin attests to this disturbing fact and the latest launching of the M79 grenade inside Bangkok confirms that some thugs will continue to operate with impunity because they likely receive cooperation from authorities.
Certainly, Thaksin should not be allowed to assume a position of power which he can again abuse unless he can prove that he is truly reformed. But to pay so much attention to him to the point of distraction may in fact be more harmful to the country’s long-term development than his activities. Most Thais claim to be Buddhists but seem to forget the Four Noble Truths when confronted with problems. Yes, my fellow Thais, blame Thaksin for partly causing the current turmoil but do not forget to look in the mirror to find out where the root cause of the problems is. Otherwise, they cannot be fixed –ever.
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Author : Dr.Sawai Boonma. Published in Bangkok Post on November 23,2009
I totally agree with you sir. Like the Four Nobel Truths has stated, the first step of improving on anything is to know what are the problems or what hinders the progress (the causes). If we look closely to Thai society, we’ll see that most Thai people don’t like to admit faults. It’s a common practice in everywhere (a family, a work place, even a temple) to hide your own faults. Taksin is the master of this practice. I’ve never heard him admit that he is wrong on anything and now it is the main theme of the Red’s shirts for their current fight. It’s always other people’s faults, not mine. When someone cannot see their own mistakes, their proposal for solving a problem will base on someone else duties, not their. Therefore, the forward progress will not happen because the actual problems has not been solved. Worse, new problems emerge because of the wrong approaches to the problem. For me, this practice is one of the core problems that hinder Thailand progress. I don’t know how to stop it, except look in the mirror and see what are my faults and correct them following the King’s and Buddhism principles.