Interested in Thai Politics?

As some of you know, one has to be careful about what is said, the Boys in Brown are watching, but I was really touched by an article in Thailand's second English Language Daily: The Nation.

"SIDELINES
Karma catching up with political fraudsters

Published on Mar 25, 2008


We have heard moaning from politicians who are afraid that their political parties will be dissolved and that they will be barred from active politics for five years.


They blame the Constitution, which has strict stipulations requiring tough punishment for electoral fraud.


During his weekly television talk show, Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej said that the Constitution reflects Thailand's bad karma.


Some sympathisers of the PPP and their allies went so far as to denounce the constitutional provisions pertaining to election laws as intending to wipe out politicians in large numbers and saying that such actions could lead to a crisis of confidence in the international community, especially among foreign investors.


Looked at from another angle, this is actually karma catching up with habitual election fraudsters, who were successful with their dirty tricks and able to get away either by hook or by crook. This time round, the lawbreakers have been caught with damning evidence, thereby forcing them to resort to hysterical and pathetic acts.


This Constitution was conceived too late for our style of gutter politics and half-baked democracy. Had it been promulgated right after the student uprising that deposed the military regime in 1976, our politics might have undergone a gradual cleansing of politicians with dirty hands and soiled souls, and left a majority of fairly acceptable candidates.


Why do we need the present Constitution, which stipulates harsh requirements for politicians to behave ethically? Understandably, the country has gone through wasteful periods with crooks and charlatans grabbing ruling power and enriching themselves with public money.


For decades, we have had to tolerate politicians with money buying their way into the House and recouping their investments many times over. It is a deep shame that in Asia we rank second after the Philippines as a fertile land for corruption.


This has been made possible by an axis of evil comprising crooked politicians, dishonest civil servants and businesspeople who see the benefit of kickbacks and bribes in winning sweetheart contracts and closing shady deals.


Politicians of good conscience might feel ashamed that this country needs such strict rules for its politicos, as is clearly obvious by those caught red-handed committing contemptible actions who make a lot of noise and demand the law be amended to right their wrongful deeds.


By blaming everybody else for their predicament, politicians with tainted pasts have forgotten that they are able to enjoy their current power with such stratospheric arrogance simply because they won the election under the present Constitution. They have intentionally overlooked the fact that most in the People Power Party Cabinet would not be there if the 111 members of the now-defunct Thai Rak Thai party still had their places in the sun. Samak himself is not excluded; he would have been spending much more time in the kitchen and with his cats at home.


Now they have the gall to demand an amendment to the Constitution to suit their needs and prevent the possible dissolution of their party, which would mean that all executive committee members would join the 111 political zombies for five years.


Samak and his fellow party members should be happy that the present Constitution does open a new era for politics with the relatively credible assurance that winners in the election have been adequately screened and assessed.


Why should the international community be upset with our Constitution? Our businesspeople and their foreign counterparts should instead be happy in that they do not have to compete under the table with kickbacks in order to win bids.


Oh yes, they do not have to set aside extra budget to grease the hands of "Mister 30 per cent" or "Madame 30 per cent", whose notorious demands for large bites of the action were a real horror for bidders.


With lower costs, the public would enjoy lower prices and rates for goods and services.


Then we can claim good governance and transparency in the way we conduct business transactions with local or foreign participation. We can let another country assume our ranking among the world's most corrupt nations and take pride that we are the residents in a land with clean hands.


No, it is certain that the lawbreakers still want to dilute the potency of the Constitution for their own self-interest.


Samak and friends should realise that if they push further for constitutional amendments for self-serving purposes, not only do they stand to face the public's wrath, but also the real "people power".


Don't be surprised if karma catches up with them sooner than expected - its speed enhanced by the arrogance of power.


Sopon Onkgara


The Nation

Maybe you come here just for the wine, women and song - but I know a number of visitors do get very attached to Thailand and it's people. The next time you read or watch political news from Thailand, you might just want to consider what this editorial said.