Poll shows most Thais believe political division is insoluble

 

 

A slim majority of the Thai people believe that political polarization will continue after the new government is in place and the problem will not be resolved because it is deeply entrenched in Thai society, according to a Suan Dusit Poll today.

 

The poll gauged the opinions of 1,107 people between May 22nd and 25th on the subject of “The People and Their Wait or the New Government”.

 

Asked about political conflict before and after the formation of the new government, 52.21% of the respondents believe national reconciliation will never be achieved because the divisions have been deeply entrenched for a long time, while 34.06% believe that the conflict will escalate because none of parties in the conflict will accept each other.

 

Full story: https://www.thaipbsworld.com/poll-shows-most-thais-believe-political-division-is-insoluble/

 

 

-- © Copyright Thai PBS 2019-05-27

 

56 minutes ago, webfact said:

and the problem will not be resolved because it is deeply entrenched in Thai society,

and a whole lot of us believe that too, if thais cannot govern themselves then maybe the Only viable alternative is authoritarianism

Purely because of the great social inequality. We all know exactly who stands on the side of the yellows and military, and who lines up behind the reds and 'democracy'. A society so driven apart by social inequality, where justice depends solely on your status and where status is just granted because of your birth or wealth, is never going to be a happy place. The lack of human rights, freedoms and real justice will keep people fighting for ever. 

38 minutes ago, Lungstib said:

Purely because of the great social inequality.

Sorry but you're wrong, the divide is purely Ethnic.

Ethnic Laos vote Thaksin, Siam Thai vote Junta.

2 hours ago, webfact said:

Poll shows most Thais believe political division is insoluble

And we had been saying that Thai were not smart.

Of course, HE who cannot be discussed in Thailand is a major part of all the problems and the solutions.  Until some of that issue is resolved, no change in status quo.

And no-one wants to or cannot stand up and say "Let us try and change these deeply entrenched attitudes for something better, for the benefit of all our people."?

 

It is no wonder they cannot deal with road trauma, corruption etc., ad infinitum ad nauseam!

 

LEADERS with VISION are required NOT Rulers!

 

IMHO. ????

1 hour ago, Lungstib said:

Purely because of the great social inequality. We all know exactly who stands on the side of the yellows and military, and who lines up behind the reds and 'democracy'. A society so driven apart by social inequality, where justice depends solely on your status and where status is just granted because of your birth or wealth, is never going to be a happy place. The lack of human rights, freedoms and real justice will keep people fighting for ever. 

There's only one solution imho: a forced division of labour to create what French sociologist Emile Durkheim called "organic solidarity" Empower the peasants from Lanna and Issan to get fit for a modern labour market. And yes, in the newly created Economic Corridors it seems to work. E.g. right here in the outskirts of Pattya a new working middle class is emerging. 

1 hour ago, BritManToo said:

Sorry but you're wrong, the divide is purely Ethnic.

Ethnic Laos vote Thaksin, Siam Thai vote Junta.

Not that easy. The young students in Bangkok obviously don't support the Junta, Future Forward don't either. 

1 hour ago, BritManToo said:

Sorry but you're wrong, the divide is purely Ethnic.

Ethnic Laos vote Thaksin, Siam Thai vote Junta.

Seems you are in full agreement with the post you responded to by Lungstib. 

1 hour ago, chingmai331 said:

Of course, HE who cannot be discussed in Thailand is a major part of all the problems and the solutions.  Until some of that issue is resolved, no change in status quo.

Wasn't that the case previously.... 

The US is one of the most politically divided and hate field nations right now, I can't see that country calming down any time soon. Not to mention the sheer level of racism there as well (racism in both directions) 

Edited May 27, 20197 yr by MellowYellow101

1 hour ago, BritManToo said:

Sorry but you're wrong, the divide is purely Ethnic.

Ethnic Laos vote Thaksin, Siam Thai vote Junta.

During these last elections, it did not work as much as before. The Junta gotv23% of vote, probably less than 20% without rigging, so I guess there are more ethnic Thai than that. On top of it, a significant share of votes forvPPP has been brought by ex- pro Thaksin politicians from N and NE.

Edited May 27, 20197 yr by candide

Reconciliation was identified as a major goal of the coup makers right after they took over in 2014 but I don’t believe they made any serious effort in the 5 years they were in power....no big surprise.

"If you want peace, work for justice" as the bumper sticker from decades ago declared

3 hours ago, webfact said:

Poll shows most Thais believe political division is insoluble

Insoluble?...……………. Of course there's a solution!

 

Why would anyone think that after a coup where the army is still clinging to power things would get better?  Nobody likes an authoritarian government that competes with the people.  It is astonishing anyone would ever expect peace and tranquility after five years of buffoonery and cowardice. 

Edited May 27, 20197 yr by yellowboat

1 hour ago, BritManToo said:

Sorry but you're wrong, the divide is purely Ethnic.

Ethnic Laos vote Thaksin, Siam Thai vote Junta.

Some truth in that. But like everywhere else, voting also reflects resentment against the growing gap between the haves and have-nots.

 

In Thailand, one percent of the populations owns nearly 60 percent of the country's wealth and a bunch of Thai business tycoons command regular slots on the annual Forbes list of billionaires. 

 

The Thai average wage in Thailand decreased to 13,995.56 baht per month in the first quarter of 2019, from 14,048.44 baht in the last quarter of 2018.

 

Not a recipe for bringing happiness to the people, particularly via government dominated by military brasshats, their well-heeled relatives and other members of the elite.

 

 

Sure it's like a football team, if the player don't like or accept the Leader , the team will be a looser !!!!!

Things are easily soluble, just remove the military from political power of any kind, in fact if there weren't 250 illegally appointed Junta Senators, this would have been solved already. The people need to dismantle the military, reduce the Thai Generals by 90%, reduce the Military Budget to a more realistic and controllable amount, then arrested all the coup leaders and supporters, jailing them for about 20+ years, and banning them from holding any office as long as they live. That will never happen though, because the Thai people are obedient serfs, they've been programmed from birth to kiss up to the Elite HI-SO's that run things.

The division in Thai society is not actually that deeply entrenched in my opinion. The real problem is that certain people in charge of the country are continually sowing division and pitting Thais against each other, and then presenting themselves as the solution.

Change will eventually come with the new generation who were denied a fair vote this time around.

I spoke yesterday to a Thai friend who has just returned after a 4 day visit to Korea... he said after looking around at that country, the people, the infrastructure, the way it operated, the freedoms they enjoyed he said his attitude to the current way of things here has changed dramatically. He said he's had is eyes opened up for the first time & can see what they're missing out on & what Thailand could be or should be!

Only held back by the ruling elite who look for self enrichment and status instead of a truly democratic, transparent government working for the benefit of the country & it's people.

Many of his friends who have started to travel all come back with the same thoughts, times will change.

The answer is very simple. Britain needs to step in and colonise the place. Look at what a good job British politicians do, historically and presently 

 

(Sarcasm/cynicism alert)????

The old adage "Thailand is too stupid for democracy" comes back to mind again, although it is of course not quite that simple. There are many good and smart people out there - well-educated, well-intentioned, relatively honest, but... the majority, the rural farmers and small town hoi polloi mostly just care about the here & now. Will I get paid today? Do I have enough now to stay moderately happy or at least complacent? Can my friends and I get drunk and sing horrible karaoke songs once in a while? What can I buy/get to make my friends jealous? How can I cut corners and get what I want with minimal effort? They don't generally see corruption and lying as so bad if it gets a person their way, same as cheating on an exam in school or cutting in front of each other on the road. Just keep face and don't rock the boat too much. People like that just want to be more less told how to live and stay in their place, and will listen to anyone in authority who at least promises them something. Of course there are thousands of students who will rise up in protest and demand that their educated and enlightened voices be heard, but that is still a relatively small minority compared to the millions of just plain Thai folk who can't be bothered. 

A generation who fights against war, will never achieve peace. Only a generation who loves peace will achieve peace.

 

Such problems can not be solved on the same level in which they were created. One must evolve to a higher point and the solution will simply appear.

1 hour ago, hotchilli said:

Change will eventually come with the new generation who were denied a fair vote this time around.

I spoke yesterday to a Thai friend who has just returned after a 4 day visit to Korea... he said after looking around at that country, the people, the infrastructure, the way it operated, the freedoms they enjoyed he said his attitude to the current way of things here has changed dramatically. He said he's had is eyes opened up for the first time & can see what they're missing out on & what Thailand could be or should be!

Only held back by the ruling elite who look for self enrichment and status instead of a truly democratic, transparent government working for the benefit of the country & it's people.

Many of his friends who have started to travel all come back with the same thoughts, times will change.

The ones who can't or don't travel are on the internet looking out side of the bubble as well, thing will change but there will be conflict.

The rich will always stay in power here , the only way for change is if they let the younger rich take over power , they have a different picture of live then the older ones , so that will change some of the big picture . But the whole problem will never be solved . 

4 hours ago, BritManToo said:

Sorry but you're wrong, the divide is purely Ethnic.

Ethnic Laos vote Thaksin, Siam Thai vote Junta.

Not only ethnic Laos, but ethnic Lanna, Chinese, Burmese and Hill Tribes across the North of Thailand along with many other poor rural Thais. The Shinawatras are ethnic Chinese as is much of the Bangkok "establishment".

5 hours ago, BritManToo said:

Sorry but you're wrong, the divide is purely Ethnic.

Ethnic Laos vote Thaksin, Siam Thai vote Junta.

 

Did you hear that one in the bar?

6 hours ago, BritManToo said:

Sorry but you're wrong, the divide is purely Ethnic.

Ethnic Laos vote Thaksin, Siam Thai vote Junta.

Since when are people up north ethnic Lao ?