How Prayut missed a golden opportunity [Opinion]

[webfact]

How Prayut missed a golden opportunity

By Tulsathit Taptim 
The Nation

 

 

Talk of what Prayut Chan-o-cha must do to ensure that his 2014 coup is not “wasted” has been too political. Many, including the man himself, assume the measure of success or failure depends on whether the camp loyal to Thaksin Shinawatra can make its way back into power. That idea is not only wrong, it’s also very damaging.
 

Underlining a missed opportunity for the junta is the luxury-watch saga involving Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan. He was let off the hook last week by the National Anti-Corruption Commission, which bought his explanation that he had borrowed the multimillion-baht collection. Social media erupted in disgust. But that uproar is already dying down, casting doubt on whether the controversial ruling will have any influence on the upcoming election.

 

The public outcry confirms that Thai people want transparency in politics. That the fervour will be just temporary tells us that although Thais are desperate for political transparency, their enthusiasm is infected by a national trait that mixes ideological partisanship with public integrity. And the fact that analysts appear more concerned over how the NACC ruling will impact the general election shows Thailand is taking the wrong track in its fight against corruption.

 

Simply put, occasional outcries and brief bouts of anger are useless deterrents. We need to uphold a principle permanently: politicians must be made to realise that corruption is unconditionally unacceptable, no matter who is involved.

 

Corruption has always been politicised in Thailand. When it involves certain people, it’s a conspiracy. When it involves others, it’s intolerable and has to be dealt with. This is why we get the occasional outcries and brief anger. The idea that any type of corruption is unacceptable is simply missing from our cultural DNA. Missing from our politicians’ genes is the willingness to “take it like a man” when people on their side are hit with damaging charges.

 

Coup-maker Prayut essentially pledged to change this deep-rooted and prevalent Thai attitude towards corruption. He was supposed to set a new standard, by which well-founded suspicion would be enough to remove anyone from their position, no matter how high or powerful. Whether Prawit is guilty or not does not matter. What matters is that legitimate doubts have arisen, and they will loom over whatever Prawit now does in government. His actions will be met with mistrust regardless of what role he plays in public life. This alone justifies taking action against him.

 

The coup would not have been “wasted” if Prayut had removed Prawit. Better still, Prawit could have voluntarily resigned and thereby set a new and noble political standard. The deputy prime minister could have said: “I will defend myself in court but I cannot now carry on in a position that requires a great deal of public trust.” Or Prayut could have told his deputy: “Brother, to set a good standard for this country, you must resign. That would be the best action to take for everyone and particularly for the future of our nation.”

 

That window of opportunity has however slammed shut, and not last week but a long time ago. The NACC will now be viewed with suspicion, its every decision scrutinised for political bias. The NACC is supposed to battle graft, not enemies of the government.

 

We are back in the vicious circle. Right now, the NACC is perceived as working for the Prayut government, but sooner or later somebody else will be ruling Thailand. Judging from the way it has been functioning, the anti-corruption watchdog will not be neutral. To combat corruption and improve political transparency and integrity, the justice system needs to be both neutral and effective.

 

There was only one way for Prayut to justify his coup. That was to install a system in which no corruption was tolerated, regardless of its ideological or political source, and whereby reasonable doubt alone was enough to oust suspects from office.

 

There is no other way. Selective treatment of graft cases can only amplify political conflicts and reinforce the long-standing practice of labelling corruption allegations “conspiracies”. It promotes peer corruption and crackdowns on graft motivated by revenge rather than justice.

 

Again, Prawit may or may not be guilty, but in a perfect world he would have quit immediately after suspicion arose, or Prayut would have told him to resign a long time ago. In a less perfect but still noble world, the NACC would have ruled that the doubts were justified and more investigation was needed.

 

These outcomes would damage Prayut’s political status, but showing such responsibility or integrity would boost the health of Thai public life immensely. Prayut might not be able to hold on to his premiership, but his coup would certainly not have been wasted.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/opinion/30361444

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2019-01-02

[fruitman]

But Prayuth did the right thing when his brother was in the picture for corruption. I never heard how that ended though.

[Puchaiyank]

showing such responsibility or integrity would boost the health of Thai public life immensely. 

 

Is this a joke?   ????

[colinneil]

Just had my first laugh of the new year reading that.

[Lungstib]

The NACC is crippled, just like the criminal justice system, by the feudal class division which insists on this 'respect' for your betters, elders, superiors etc. The wai given by a top Bangkok policeman to a suspect wildlife hunter illuminated all the problems involved with this. There can be no proper justice when people believe that no-one is in a position to judge them. Its all about social equality or the lack of it.

[boonrawdcnx]

Nice piece but useless - in Thailand any government - whatever they promise - coming from elections or coups- will always just be one corrupt bunch of crooks replacing another.

Laws written and passed by criminals in power to protect themselves would need to be disposed of first - as long as some people are above the law and without an independent executive and judiciary that can act without favor or fear nothing will ever change.

The “leaders” past and present of this country have neither honor, the will nor idealism, integrity or the balls to challenge the status quo. Corrupt to the core spineless, lying, cheating cowards is what describes them best - and you are stuck with them until one day the people stand up to them and say “no more”!
But what can you expect from people who think corruption is ok if it provides them with an advantage and are equally corrupt when given the chance to get their hand into the cookie jar?

So Thailand I think you are stuck with dishonest, corrupt, thieving scoundrels - and the sad thing is there seems to be no light at the end of this tunnel!

Prayut missed a golden opportunity ??
The Nation are you rally so naive to have ever believed that the coup was staged for any other reason than the re-distribution of the cake?


Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect

[YetAnother]

2 hours ago, webfact said:

This is why we get the occasional outcries and brief anger. The idea that any type of corruption is unacceptable is simply missing from our cultural DNA.

quite true, however corruption happens when people , corrupters, can do so, these are mostly people in authority or in wealth; brief anger and outcries from academics, activists and editorialists is just that, brief; change, if it ever happens, will be very very slow

[tracker1]

Just the boys club protecting their own and using their absolute power to make sure of that !

[robblok]

1 hour ago, boonrawdcnx said:

Nice piece but useless - in Thailand any government - whatever they promise - coming from elections or coups- will always just be one corrupt bunch of crooks replacing another.

Laws written and passed by criminals in power to protect themselves would need to be disposed of first - as long as some people are above the law and without an independent executive and judiciary that can act without favor or fear nothing will ever change.

The “leaders” past and present of this country have neither honor, the will nor idealism, integrity or the balls to challenge the status quo. Corrupt to the core spineless, lying, cheating cowards is what describes them best - and you are stuck with them until one day the people stand up to them and say “no more”!
But what can you expect from people who think corruption is ok if it provides them with an advantage and are equally corrupt when given the chance to get their hand into the cookie jar? 

So Thailand I think you are stuck with dishonest, corrupt, thieving scoundrels - and the sad thing is there seems to be no light at the end of this tunnel!

Prayut missed a golden opportunity ??
The Nation are you rally so naive to have ever believed that the coup was staged for any other reason than the re-distribution of the cake?


Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect

Thailand was never a democracy, always a kleptocracy. I was just foolish to believe things could change here. Its nothing more as changing one group of crooks for another. 

 

It will go on forever unless honest people are available and get elected and really change laws. 

[Eric Loh]

20 minutes ago, robblok said:

It will go on forever unless honest people are available and get elected and really change laws. 

Don’t agree with you much but this one I fully agree. Thailand need continuing democracy and election for honest leaders to be available and for the citizens to judge. 

[robblok]

6 minutes ago, Eric Loh said:

Don’t agree with you much but this one I fully agree. Thailand need continuing democracy and election for honest leaders to be available and for the citizens to judge. 

I partly agree with you here. Thailand is not a democracy never has been always has been a kleptocracy to evolve to a democracy it needs the steps as described, voting in honest leaders  who then change laws. 

[Classic Ray]

The only way it got dealt with in Hong Kong was to set up the ICAC (Independent Commission Against Corruption) staffed by Western law enforcement officers from outside the colony, who were only seconded for a couple of years to prevent them being corrupted.

 

But I can’t see the Thais asking for any such help as everyone is too comfortable with the current system and too proud to admit anything is wrong enough to need outside help.

[tomta]

42 minutes ago, robblok said:

Thailand was never a democracy, always a kleptocracy. I was just foolish to believe things could change here. Its nothing more as changing one group of crooks for another. 

 

It will go on forever unless honest people are available and get elected and really change laws. 

Robblok, I would genuinely like to know what your recipe for getting honest people into politics. I think we agree that both coups have not succeeded in their ostensible aims. I very much doubt the honesty of those who are lining up for the senate trough. 

 

Politics will always attract  a mix of honest and dishonest people. It is a field in which one can enrich oneself and/or do something good for the country.  How can the preponderance be shifted in favour of the honest.

 

It need not go on forever if democratic values gained permanent traction, a process which is never enhanced by a coup.

[robblok]

9 minutes ago, tomta said:

Robblok, I would genuinely like to know what your recipe for getting honest people into politics. I think we agree that both coups have not succeeded in their ostensible aims. I very much doubt the honesty of those who are lining up for the senate trough. 

 

Politics will always attract  a mix of honest and dishonest people. It is a field in which one can enrich oneself and/or do something good for the country.  How can the preponderance be shifted in favour of the honest.

 

It need not go on forever if democratic values gained permanent traction, a process which is never enhanced by a coup.

I have no recipe for it, its up to the people to vote for them not me, as long as they vote for crooks its stays a kleptocracy with the risk of coups. The risk of coups is there because they want a share of the pie too as they see others steal and know the laws and judiciary wont stop the crooks and wont stop them either. If the checks and balances and the law were functioning then it would not be profitable to stage coups or stage violence to get in power.

 

Yes politics will never be clean but the levels of corruption here in Thailand are far to high to call it a democracy. I accept that politics will never be clean but they can be a lot cleaner as now.

 

As for democratic values, I ask you what democratic values, you mean the right to steal once in power ?. Democratic values will come once we get those honest people, problem is getting them as the public does not seem to care too much. Nor do they have real good options as long as super crooks like Charlem, Suthep still are around the people get what they vote for.

[Lupatria]

3 hours ago, colinneil said:

Just had my first laugh of the new year reading that.

Too bad I missed the good laugh because I stopped reading after this:

"...politicians must be made to realise that corruption is unconditionally unacceptable, no matter who is involved."

[DrTuner]

IMHO the entire coup was wasted, the army should have declared a full out war on the maibpenrai attitude on day one and kick it out of existence. Go full Lee Kuan Yew on their <deleted>. The only way Thais will ever wake up is a mighty rattle.

[Eligius]

3 hours ago, boonrawdcnx said:

Nice piece but useless - in Thailand any government - whatever they promise - coming from elections or coups- will always just be one corrupt bunch of crooks replacing another.

Laws written and passed by criminals in power to protect themselves would need to be disposed of first - as long as some people are above the law and without an independent executive and judiciary that can act without favor or fear nothing will ever change.

The “leaders” past and present of this country have neither honor, the will nor idealism, integrity or the balls to challenge the status quo. Corrupt to the core spineless, lying, cheating cowards is what describes them best - and you are stuck with them until one day the people stand up to them and say “no more”!
But what can you expect from people who think corruption is ok if it provides them with an advantage and are equally corrupt when given the chance to get their hand into the cookie jar?

So Thailand I think you are stuck with dishonest, corrupt, thieving scoundrels - and the sad thing is there seems to be no light at the end of this tunnel!

Prayut missed a golden opportunity ??
The Nation are you rally so naive to have ever believed that the coup was staged for any other reason than the re-distribution of the cake?


Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect

Brilliant post, above. Not much more I can add to it. It overflows with truth.

[Cadbury]

6 hours ago, webfact said:

There was only one way for Prayut to justify his coup. That was to install a system in which no corruption was tolerated

Even if he wanted to, which he doesn't, he simply doesn't have the gonads to stand up to the real masters of corruption being his fellow politicians, big business and senior civil servants. For all his bravado and faux toughness about corruption the best he can come up with is a Pinocchio promise that he will have it fixed in 20 years.