Junta has failed to prepare country for challenges of the future, says Sudarat

By WASAMON AUDJARINT 
THE SUNDAY NATION 

 

 

THE MILITARY junta has failed to prepare the country to cope with the era of technological disruption, as it wasted its time mostly consolidating and perpetuating power and trying to weaken opponents, said prominent politician Khunying Sudarat Keyuraphan.

 

Rather than acting as the regulator, the junta is now a political actor competing with political parties in the field, she said. “While the authority restricts political parties’ activities, government leaders are spending the national budget for their own political campaign without accountability,” Sudarat said in an interview with The Nation.

 

Sudarat has been widely regarded as the Pheu Thai Party’s leader-in-waiting, but she herself has never expressed any intention to take the reins of the party. She is not a member of any political party since being banned from politics after the dissolution of the Thai Rak Thai in 2007. 

 

Speaking in her personal capacity, Sudarat said the Pheu Thai, whose government was toppled by the military in the 2014 coup, would be a prime target for the junta to prevent its victory in the next election.

 

The junta had not only prohibited the party’s political activities, but also disturbed the normal lives of many key members, barring them from events where they could express their opinions against the junta, she said.

 

Like many other parties, the Pheu Thai would face a lot of obstacles in the election, if held next February, she said. With the changes in the election law and the Election Commission, it would be an uphill task for any party to win a majority in the election next time, she said. The electoral system is very complicated and difficult for voters to understand, and this would result in no single party getting a clear majority.

Only parties or individual politicians who openly support the junta leaders in the election would benefit, Sudarat said. The National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), the official name of the junta, is enforcing its grand strategy to weaken other political parties and peoples’ participation in politics. The NCPO has already mapped out a 20-year national strategy and development plan and made it binding on the next government, she said. 

 

“The problem is I see nothing in the so-called 20-year strategic plan that is useful for the people and the country’s development,” Sudarat said. “The politicians and the people have no alternative.”

 

The reforms, as claimed by the junta, over the past four years have only moved the country backward in every aspect when compared with other Asean countries, she said. “We used to be the frontrunner in Asean, now we are in the same boat as other backward countries – economically and politically,” she said.

 

Thailand is now facing economic disruption due to advances in technology but the authority has not prepared the country for such a change, she said. Disruptive information technology is now posing a threat to many sectors, notably banking, she said. “Our banks have to lay off thousands of skilled workers as financial technology has more capacity to run banks.”

 

“How is the government going to tackle unemployment when robots are replacing human workers in industry?” she asked. “Politicians should be thinking about these kinds of developments but we are not allowed to have any policy about this.”

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/politics/30346342

 

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2018-05-27

Just now, rooster59 said:

Junta has failed

Ill just re-title   that for you

18 minutes ago, rooster59 said:

Rather than acting as the regulator, the junta is now a political actor competing with political parties in the field, she said. “While the authority restricts political parties’ activities, government leaders are spending the national budget for their own political campaign without accountability,” Sudarat said in an interview with The Nation.

There is a lot of truth in the quote above.

 

How is the Junta going to be held to account? Or perhaps a better question is will the Junta ever be held to account? (hint; No, it won't)

 

If Thailand wants to become a modern, responsible country, it needs to have an accountable government. Until that happens, it'll simply be a nice, third-world place for a holiday.

 

Off to the beach!

 

30 minutes ago, rooster59 said:

“While the authority restricts political parties’ activities, government leaders are spending the national budget for their own political campaign without accountability,” Sudarat said in an interview with The Nation.

spot on, surprised they didn't dissolve the political parties

Sudarat is back!

 

As a Thaksin toady, she doesn't have a lot of credibility as a potential leader. But she does offer an alternate view, and that can only be healthy. What she says in that article, however, is oh so true. She's another wake-up call for the junta and the Dear Leader.

52 minutes ago, Samui Bodoh said:

Off to the beach!

yuck!

2 hours ago, rooster59 said:

THE MILITARY junta.........wasted its time mostly consolidating and perpetuating power and trying to weaken opponents

Fat chance of the junta doing anything now to improve things for the people (other than the rich); after all they haven't done anything for the past 4 years. 

In any case the Junta Party and the Prime Minister are now fully pre-occupied with electioneering around the country while making sure other political parties are kept handcuffed and on a very short leash. 

It looks a grim future ahead for Thailand. 

 

2 hours ago, rooster59 said:

How is the government going to tackle unemployment when robots are replacing human workers in industry?

Robots working in the fields, in water, overheating, employment for umbrella holders to keep them in the shade, oiling their joints , charging them up, 

 

Humans will adapt no matter

2 hours ago, rooster59 said:

Junta has failed to prepare country for challenges of the future,

What future?

1 minute ago, mikebell said:

What future?

Chinese tourists,of course.?

 

But not Singaporeans-they are definitely out!

3 hours ago, YetAnother said:

spot on, surprised they didn't dissolve the political parties

I believe they're still going to try. If they think thay can carry the courts after the Doi Suthep fiasco.

4 hours ago, rooster59 said:

Rather than acting as the regulator, the junta is now a political actor competing with political parties in the field, she said. “While the authority restricts political parties’ activities, government leaders are spending the national budget for their own political campaign without accountability,” Sudarat said in an interview with The Nation

Spot on, except they are not really trying to compete. Attempting to dismantle key opposition, bulldoze the pro democracy activists, poach the influential elite and buy the public.

 

Divide and conquer.

5 hours ago, rooster59 said:

Junta has failed to prepare country for challenges of the future

Coming dear, coming...

 

      

Edited May 27, 20188 yr by Lupatria

Is she next PM?

1 hour ago, coulson said:

Divide and conquer.

 

Yep. Worked before, will work again right?

 

Maybe not so right, we'll see. This government is dead in the water. I sense a certain former general will soon be fleeing abroad, and then it really *will* be dead.

 

 

22 minutes ago, Anak Nakal said:

Is she next PM?

 

I do hope not. Serioualy. Rumour has it that when part of the Thaksin government, this lady was excessively 'hungry'. Apparently it is and was common knowledge. She needs to be obliged to explain the wealth of her and her husband.

 

In my opinion she will damage the redshirts beyond repair and permanently associate them with the alleged Sino-Thai corruption of the Thaksin government. For this reason, Prayuth and Mr Piggy will be down the wat, praying for the Redshirts to vote her in.

 

Right now, Thailand badly needs to dissociate itself from *all* things Chinese. This relationship is not a symbiosis. It resembles rather the relationship between parasite and host, but this parasite, unlike most others, will kill the host.

 

Edited May 27, 20188 yr by KiwiKiwi

Junta has failed

6 hours ago, kannot said:

Ill just re-title   that for you

another re-title:

Junta has succeeded to prepare for their own future

duplicate due to ThaiVisa gremlins

6 hours ago, kannot said:

 

Edited May 27, 20188 yr by klauskunkel

good for her..hope she doesn't get arrested

good for her..hope she doesn't get arrested