The Choices We Face

[sabaijai]

The choices we face

A nationally televised address by Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont

For democracy to work, in addition to all of us accepting that we have a responsibility to fully participate - utilising our best judgement as to which political party and which representatives best reflect our own view of our society and the way we want things to be - there is a second condition which must be fulfilled: namely, each of us must agree to abide by the rule of law.

The rule of law means that all men and women are equal in the eyes of the law. Justice is available to all. No matter how rich and powerful you are, or how poor, the law will protect or punish you equally. There is one law for all.

For me this is the most important challenge our society faces today. If we are honest with ourselves, we must admit that the rule of law hardly exists in our country today, and without it democracy - this system of political organisation we are trying to make work - cannot possibly function properly.

If there is no justice, there can be no equality and certainly no democracy.

Some people will say that during the five years of the previous administration we had a functioning democracy. Citizens voted at general elections and the party with the most votes formed the administration of our country. That sounds like democracy, doesn't it?

But at the same time the rule of law came under fierce attack from the powerful, the rich and their cronies. Corruption washed through our government. Even the new independent institutions created by the "People's Constitution" of 1997 as a system of checks and balances to ensure good and transparent government were overwhelmed and failed to stem this tidal wave of greed.

Even Thaksin accepted that this was the case when he told Time magazine's readers around the world a few months ago that "corruption in Thailand won't go away, it's in the system".

What shameful words for any ex-prime minister of our country to say, especially one who had promised to wage a war against corruption.

I would like to ask you this: Do we want to allow those people with ill intentions to steal our nation's wealth day by day? I don't think we do.

I believe we all understand that corruption always favours the richer and more powerful. I believe we all understand that if we want a better life for all the citizens of our beloved nation, then we must eradicate this cancer called corruption by every means possible, but especially by strengthening the rule of law. Only by taking this path can democracy flourish and deliver its promised benefits and equal opportunities for all our citizens.

So this is the path I have chosen for myself, as your interim prime minister, and for my administration during this one-year transition period towards a free and fair general election by the end of this year. To attack corruption in all its forms and strengthen the rule of law in our land.

My battle plan consists of four strategies:

The first I announced soon after my appointment as your interim prime minister: the four operating principles of your Council of Ministers. In everything we do, transparency, justice, efficiency and the economical and sustainable utilisation of resources are the standards by which we judge our actions and our decisions.

In other words, although we may be old and slow, we put honesty and public service above all else.

The second strategy involves deterrence. If nobody is ever punished for committing corrupt acts or abuse of power, there is little reason for people to stop their wrongdoing. People need to realise that breaking the law carries the risk of punishment.

At least 13 major corruption allegations have been launched and each is being investigated thoroughly according to the due process of law. This is time consuming work but I have resisted calls to short circuit the investigative and judicial processes by using executive decrees because I believe that the law must be seen to work if it is to be credible.

To date, one case involving alleged tax avoidance from the sale of Shin Corp to Temasek has already entered the stage of criminal prosecution.

A second case involves the purchase of the plot of land at Ratchadaphisek Road from the Financial Institutions Development Fund (FIDF). This case has been recommended for criminal prosecution.

A third case involves the purchase of the CTX 9000 scanners and the airport link project for Suvarnabhumi Airport. The Assets Examination Committee has endorsed charges of malfeasance.

I expect more of the cases currently under investigation to proceed to the prosecution stage. But I wish to emphasise that everything will be done strictly according to the due process of law. All defendants are considered innocent until proven guilty in the courts.

My fellow citizens, in all honesty I must tell you that this is as painful a process for me to oversee, as it is, I expect, for many of you to witness. A large number of you placed great trust and hope in the leaders of the previous administration, who you elected to the highest public offices. Only the courts can decide if these people have violated your trust for their own personal gain.

My third strategy to combat corruption involves a comprehensive review of all laws relating to corruption with a view to closing loopholes and promulgating new laws where necessary. This process is ongoing.

As you can imagine, any major initiative to reform the administration of justice in our country, to make sure it works, to make sure justice is available to every citizen, equally, must include reform of the Royal Thai Police.

This is the 4th component of my battle plan to make our country a more just society that our children can inherit with pride.

On November 13, 2006 I set up a Committee on Police Reform and invited several well-known "honest cops" to be members. This committee will constitute the most far-reaching reform of our national police force ever contemplated. They include decentralisation, an independent public oversight committee, amended laws and regulations, enhanced public participation in police work and improving the skill development and welfare, especially of non-commissioned policemen.

I have talked at some length this evening about two closely related challenges facing our country today, challenges which are the most important in my mind, challenges which require each and every citizen to make real choices.

The first is the individual citizens' responsibility to participate fully, peacefully and in an informed manner in the political life of our country. This is one of the duties of citizenship in a real democracy.

Each one of us has an equal voice, one vote each. We should choose to make up our own minds, not to blindly follow others. We should choose to look for good and honest men and women who we might support to become our elected representatives and leaders following the general election at the end of this year.

We as a nation will not achieve good and honest government if we allow corruption and disregard for the rule of law to continue.

If individuals seek political power to become rich through abuse of power and corrupt activities, this makes a nonsense of the idea of good government.

This is the second great challenge facing our beloved nation, not just in the coming months but also for the foreseeable future. Each of us must choose to say no to corruption, not just in politics but in every part of our lives. Each of us must choose to respect the rule of law as the very foundation of our society.

If we cannot achieve good and honest government we will never solve the single-most important goal of any government of our country, which must be to close the gap between the rich and the poor - in a way that is affordable for the country and sustainable over the long term, thus empowering our most disadvantaged citizens. Economists call it "income inequality". It reflects the great disparity of wealth in our country and it is the reason that our country is divided politically. So, in my opinion, whatever the political party make-up of our next government, that government will have to make a rapid and radical reduction in income inequality its top priority.

In this regard I wish to conclude my speech about the decision made 11 days ago by the Constitutional Tribunal, which comprised nine of our country's most senior judges.

For breaking the law, the Thai Rak Thai Party has been dissolved and the members of its Executive Committee banned from political life for five years. This is the price we must pay if we are to respect the rule of law. I ask all my fellow citizens to accept the Tribunal's judgement, which is final.

A political party should be about ideas, not people. In its short history the Thai Rak Thai Party has reshaped the political life of our country. Some of its major policies will become permanent features of our society, for example, universal access to affordable healthcare.

For these good policies we should thank the Thai Rak Thai Party, even as we accept the Constitution Tribunal's verdict to dissolve the party for serious wrongdoing.

To those of you, my fellow citizens, who have been supporters of the Thai Rak Thai Party, I want you to know that your voices have been heard, your grievances put at the top of the nation's agenda, and in the next general election I am sure you will find candidates to support, from whichever political party, who will continue to work for the improvement of your lives.

Source: The Nation

[sriracha john]

A nationally televised address by Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont

[DamianMavis]

Wow, hope all he proposes will eventually be done. It will be close to impossible I think but I truly hope.

Damian Mavis

[Aujuba]

Great speech. Agree completely. I'm on his side. I want a better life for my kids. Why would anyone be against these ideas?

[sbk]

Great speech. Agree completely. I'm on his side. I want a better life for my kids. Why would anyone be against these ideas?

Perhaps people who only get elected by buying votes or paying people to be their supporters?

[lazeeboy]

Great speech. Agree completely. I'm on his side. I want a better life for my kids. Why would anyone be against these ideas?

Perhaps people who only get elected by buying votes or paying people to be their supporters?

great if he follows through ,will certainly help all thai's

[highdiver]

for all thos ethat thought the Juntas was a brainless bunch the speach is a good answer.

Well done!!

if only he can be ellected again. thailand has a sparkling future.

[blaze]

for all thos ethat thought the Juntas was a brainless bunch the speach is a good answer.

Well done!!

if only he can be ellected again. thailand has a sparkling future.

? ... what do you mean- elected 'again'?

"For breaking the law, the Thai Rak Thai Party has been dissolved and the members of its Executive Committee banned from political life for five years. This is the price we must pay if we are to respect the rule of law."

When the dust settles, and some pretense of democracy has been re-established in the land, I sincerely hope that the good PM is around to read a similar paragraph after the Junta (not their appointees) have been taken to task over breaking the law which forbids tearing up constitutions- and can be applied retroactively.

Edited June 12, 2007 by blaze

[Siripon]

for all thos ethat thought the Juntas was a brainless bunch the speach is a good answer.

Well done!!

if only he can be ellected again. thailand has a sparkling future.

? ... what do you mean- elected 'again'?

"For breaking the law, the Thai Rak Thai Party has been dissolved and the members of its Executive Committee banned from political life for five years. This is the price we must pay if we are to respect the rule of law."

When the dust settles, and some pretense of democracy has been re-established in the land, I sincerely hope that the good PM is around to read a similar paragraph after the Junta (not their appointees) have been taken to task over breaking the law which forbids tearing up constitutions- and can be applied retroactively.

You ignore the reasons why the coup took place and why it had such massive support from the middle classes and politically aware groups. The law is more than words on paper, and Thaksin ignored that for years, making laws as decrees that directly benefitted his companies with no parliamentary scrutiny.

He never cared about the law, this is Thailand, TIT, he said scornfully to his former American partner who complained of being cheated by him.

Democracy is not the goal he also proclaimed, it's just the means to an end, presumably the greatest happiness of the greatest number, Jeremy Bentham style, so long as they vote TRT.

[solent01]

Fantastic speach, I hope Thailand moves forward how he expects

[Martin]

I particularly liked: "We may be old and slow".

A nice way of saying: "You have seen what happens if you put your trust in whizzkids. Now you have te chance to support some leaders who have enough years on their backs to have acquired some emotional maturity and wisdom".

This PM doesn't have the (often suspect) legitimacy of ballot-box eection---but the universal acclaim that greeted the CNS takeover, and the CNS's appointment of him as PM, spoke louder than the counting of votes to me.

There is a long and arduous trail to be negotiated if Thailand is to become a country where the spirit of democracy is widespread(and not just a five-yearly election of an executive-dictator occurs). So much will depend, ere long, on how it handles that which we do not mention, when it comes.

[Thaddeus]

A speech of the first order, and the only thing that I have read in several months that shows that some of them up there do actually have a grain of sense.

Let's hope that it doesn't fall on deaf ears, it won't do with TVers, but the populace as a whole, whatever their standing in society, need to listen and more importantly, understand an act on it.

[sriracha john]

Hard lessons from the Thaksin era

Citizens share blame for damaging democracy by ignoring last regime's wrongs, while enjoying its excesses

Interim Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont made an important speech on Sunday during which he discussed the importance of the rule of law, effective citizenship and social justice, which are prerequisites for a sustainable democracy, and the need to eradicate the corruption which has undermined all of our previous attempts at self-government. Addressing the nation, Surayud made an impassioned plea to all people, including the rural masses and the urban middle class, to learn the correct lesson from the painful episode that led up the political crisis, the September 19 coup of last year, and the suspension of democracy.

The prime minister hit the bull's eye when he said the majority of the people in this country must share the blame for not only turning a blind eye to Thaksin Shinawatra's misrule and corruption, but also for perpetuating the corruption-prone patronage system, cronyism and favouritism, which continue to be endemic to the social and economic life of the country. Surayud told the truth as it is without fear or favour because he harbours no political ambitions beyond his current term, which is expected to end in December.

No professional politician or would-be holder of public office would dare challenge members of the public to look at themselves in the mirror, so to speak, and make an honest assessment of themselves as citizens in this so-called modern democratic society of ours.

If we as a society are honest with ourselves, we must admit that in a way we deserved the Thaksin government because we allowed ourselves to be bought, manipulated and then exploited by the former telecom tycoon and his Thai Rak Thai Party in exchange for instant gratification in the form of his populist policies. As citizens of a democracy, we failed to live up to our duty to exercise judgement, scrutinise politicians' conduct and to collectively bring pressure to bear on politicians to ensure that they serve us honestly.

Most of us were prepared to tolerate Thaksin's self-serving tendencies because he offered us entitlements, most of which were either undeserved or economically unsustainable, and we soon became accustomed to his conflicts of interest and the more blatant forms of corruption during his term. People in this country went so far as to let Thaksin get away with the controversial extrajudicial killings of drug suspects, with more than 2,500 killed on his watch.

Too many Thai citizens, especially the poorly educated and poverty-stricken, saw themselves as helpless victims in a game played by politicians who treated them like dispensable pawns to be manipulated for political power. Highly educated and financially well-off members of the urban middle class were not much better because they tended to be opportunistic and unprincipled.

Ordinary Thais should not be let off the hook too easily. The majority of citizens cannot excuse themselves merely by saying that they were duped by Thaksin.

After all, virtually everybody continued to want a piece of the action or crumbs from the table even after they realised that Thaksin and his cronies had flouted the rule of law, rolled back civil liberties, engaged in corruption and undermined democracy. Let's not forget that the anti-Thaksin sentiment that swept through the rank and file of the urban middle class was a recent phenomenon that only took off early last year when the economy started to show signs of weakness due to political uncertainty. In other words, many members of the middle class abandoned Thaksin only after it became evident that continuing to support him was no longer profitable.

This brings us to the sobering crux of Surayud's speech, when he said that one of the most important prerequisites for a sustainable democracy in this country is "individual citizens' responsibility to participate fully, peacefully and in an informed manner in the political life of our country. This is one of the duties of citizenship in a real democracy.

"We as a nation will not achieve good and honest government if we allow corruption and disregard for the rule of law to continue ... Each of us must choose to say no to corruption, not just in politics but in every part of our lives. Each of us must choose to respect the rule of law as the very foundation of our society."

- The Nation Editorial

[younghusband]

I particularly liked: "We may be old and slow".

A nice way of saying: "You have seen what happens if you put your trust in whizzkids. Now you have te chance to support some leaders who have enough years on their backs to have acquired some emotional maturity and wisdom".

This PM doesn't have the (often suspect) legitimacy of ballot-box eection---but the universal acclaim that greeted the CNS takeover, and the CNS's appointment of him as PM, spoke louder than the counting of votes to me.

There is a long and arduous trail to be negotiated if Thailand is to become a country where the spirit of democracy is widespread(and not just a five-yearly election of an executive-dictator occurs). So much will depend, ere long, on how it handles that which we do not mention, when it comes.

It was a good speech, particularly clever in navigating its way through the awkward fact that the junta illegally seized control and have presided over the government since then with lethargy and incompetence.

However my question to you given that the "universal acclaim that greeted the CNS takeover" spoke louder than vote counting (I'll ignore the patronising and arrogant way some foreigners take the Thai people's views for granted), what do the voices in your head say now given that most Thais would like this wretched government to disapear as soon as possible?

[Martin]

'The Nation' is premature to use the past tense in:

"Too many Thai citizens, especially the poorly educated and poverty-stricken, saw themselves as helpless victims in a game played by politicians who treated them like dispensable pawns to be manipulated for political power. Highly educated and financially well-off members of the urban middle class were not much better because they tended to be opportunistic and unprincipled."

It is still "see", not "saw".

Just an hour ago, my wife was telling me about the conversation that had just taken place at our 'talad'. The gist of it was that: "Bangkok is screwing us again. The price of all our household and farming expenditures has kept on going up, but the price that we are paid for sugarcane and rice falls behind. The only time that we got any significant improvement in life around here was when Thaksin built us the hospital extension (which is twice as big as the original hospital) and we could go to it for just thirty bahts."

When I asked what the view of those farmer-shoppers would have been as to Thaksin's corruption, I got the reply that there was no sympathy for any members of Bangkok elites who had yelped about having suffered from Thaksin's corruption.

It brought it home to me just how far Thailand has to go to develop a One Nation spirit.

There is such an imbalance, with the great majority of the export-trading and non-farming employment concentrated in and around Bangkok, far from the farming areas.

But the next couple of decades promise to be very interesting.

There doesn't appear to be any way in which Greater Bangkokand the Seaboard will be able to absorb all those who are at present undergraduates in the rural universities.

If they stay on to make such careers as they can in their home areas and take the PM's words to heart and shoulder their duty to be responsibly politically-active citizens, the ethics and abilities of the MPs from the rural areas could change totally.

We shall see.

[hammered]

I particularly liked: "We may be old and slow".

A nice way of saying: "You have seen what happens if you put your trust in whizzkids. Now you have te chance to support some leaders who have enough years on their backs to have acquired some emotional maturity and wisdom".

This PM doesn't have the (often suspect) legitimacy of ballot-box eection---but the universal acclaim that greeted the CNS takeover, and the CNS's appointment of him as PM, spoke louder than the counting of votes to me.

There is a long and arduous trail to be negotiated if Thailand is to become a country where the spirit of democracy is widespread(and not just a five-yearly election of an executive-dictator occurs). So much will depend, ere long, on how it handles that which we do not mention, when it comes.

Martin. Rural Udon Thani is not an area I know well. Was the CNS takeover and choice of Gen. Surayud well acclaimed up there? Conventional wisdom would say that would not be the case. It would be interesting to hear from someone actually Isaan based.

[Grover]

However my question to you given that the "universal acclaim that greeted the CNS takeover" spoke louder than vote counting (I'll ignore the patronising and arrogant way some foreigners take the Thai people's views for granted), what do the voices in your head say now given that most Thais would like this wretched government to disapear as soon as possible?

more fluff words and giddy frills by yh.

most according to who or what ? voices in your head ?

[Jai Dee]

'The Nation' is premature to use the past tense in:

"Too many Thai citizens, especially the poorly educated and poverty-stricken, saw themselves as helpless victims in a game played by politicians who treated them like dispensable pawns to be manipulated for political power. Highly educated and financially well-off members of the urban middle class were not much better because they tended to be opportunistic and unprincipled."

It is still "see", not "saw".

Just an hour ago, my wife was telling me about the conversation that had just taken place at our 'talad'. The gist of it was that: "Bangkok is screwing us again. The price of all our household and farming expenditures has kept on going up, but the price that we are paid for sugarcane and rice falls behind. The only time that we got any significant improvement in life around here was when Thaksin built us the hospital extension (which is twice as big as the original hospital) and we could go to it for just thirty bahts."

When I asked what the view of those farmer-shoppers would have been as to Thaksin's corruption, I got the reply that there was no sympathy for any members of Bangkok elites who had yelped about having suffered from Thaksin's corruption.

It brought it home to me just how far Thailand has to go to develop a One Nation spirit.

There is such an imbalance, with the great majority of the export-trading and non-farming employment concentrated in and around Bangkok, far from the farming areas.

But the next couple of decades promise to be very interesting.

There doesn't appear to be any way in which Greater Bangkokand the Seaboard will be able to absorb all those who are at present undergraduates in the rural universities.

If they stay on to make such careers as they can in their home areas and take the PM's words to heart and shoulder their duty to be responsibly politically-active citizens, the ethics and abilities of the MPs from the rural areas could change totally.

We shall see.

Excellent post.

[sabaijai]

'The Nation' is premature to use the past tense in:

"Too many Thai citizens, especially the poorly educated and poverty-stricken, saw themselves as helpless victims in a game played by politicians who treated them like dispensable pawns to be manipulated for political power. Highly educated and financially well-off members of the urban middle class were not much better because they tended to be opportunistic and unprincipled."

It is still "see", not "saw".

Just an hour ago, my wife was telling me about the conversation that had just taken place at our 'talad'. The gist of it was that: "Bangkok is screwing us again. The price of all our household and farming expenditures has kept on going up, but the price that we are paid for sugarcane and rice falls behind. The only time that we got any significant improvement in life around here was when Thaksin built us the hospital extension (which is twice as big as the original hospital) and we could go to it for just thirty bahts."

When I asked what the view of those farmer-shoppers would have been as to Thaksin's corruption, I got the reply that there was no sympathy for any members of Bangkok elites who had yelped about having suffered from Thaksin's corruption.

It brought it home to me just how far Thailand has to go to develop a One Nation spirit.

There is such an imbalance, with the great majority of the export-trading and non-farming employment concentrated in and around Bangkok, far from the farming areas.

But the next couple of decades promise to be very interesting.

There doesn't appear to be any way in which Greater Bangkokand the Seaboard will be able to absorb all those who are at present undergraduates in the rural universities.

If they stay on to make such careers as they can in their home areas and take the PM's words to heart and shoulder their duty to be responsibly politically-active citizens, the ethics and abilities of the MPs from the rural areas could change totally.

We shall see.

Excellent post.

Thai political pundits have a saying about Thai democracy, 'The villages elect the government and Bangkok unseats them.' The gap is both economic and educational. Villagers are more susceptible to vote-buying and are less savvy about national politics (but more savvy about a lot of other things ). I don't see this changing anytime soon. One could argue that so far Thailand's most functional post-1932 regimes have been military or military-backed.

[mrtoad]

"The rule of law means that all men and women are equal in the eyes of the law. Justice is available to all. No matter how rich and powerful you are, or how poor, the law will protect or punish you equally. There is one law for all."

So does that now mean that anyone can run to become an MP? Or is it still reserved for the ruling classes? Of which many have been found to have rather dubious educational qualifications which allow them to stand.

I'm sorry, although it is an excellent speach with a lot of good points, politicians are adept at being good with words. What people actually want to see is some sort of substance to back it up. My own feeling, is that much of what is said is hollow, and that those who are in power or have been, are unwilling to make the difference in changing the society as they have far too much to lose.

Does this mean that the current mushroom syndrome is about to change? Pretty unlikely.

Secondly, any voter regardless of what part of the world will vote for the government that serves their own self interests and not that of the country. So, in the future TRT in some form will be back because they did make a difference to the majority of people even though they allegedly robbed the country blind.

You get the government that you deserve and until you educate people to cherish the power of the vote and to make politicians accountable nothing will change.

[SiamSquare123]

thailand needs to improve the way it treats its poor, but this is a very bad excuse to support Thaskin or TRT.

[Martin]

"You get the government that you deserve and until you educate people to cherish the power of the vote..."

Sometimes I compare the development of the governance of Thailand with what happened in Europe centuries (and over centuries) ago.

Did that 'cherishing of the power of the vote' come from education, or from something within the individual---such as the feeling that we must exercise the vote in honour of those who won it for us?

Maybe Thailand was done a dis-service by those young people who came back from education in Europe and did the 1932 coup-de-etat in the name of Democracy. "Nothing can withstand an idea whose time has come" is very true. But maybe an idea was introduced before its time had come and spoilt its chances of taking root.

Maybe it is all yet another case of "Got the hardware and the software and produced a cockup because we didn't have the orgware". With the orgware in this case being that inner belief in equality, and/or that 'fire in the belly' that can be sparked off through suffering the lack of it.

So I don't expect the new rural undergraduates to become democrats (with a small 'd') easily and quickly.

But maybe becoming aware of wider-world history may cause more 'believers' to come into being and spark off others.

And, if they cease to be all sucked off to the capital's constituencies and enough start staying on in the rural constituencies, we may see political-keeness growing where it is needed.

[pnustedt]

The rule of law means that all men and women are equal in the eyes of the law. Justice is available to all. No matter how rich and powerful you are, or how poor, the law will protect or punish you equally. There is one law for all.

Does this mean that the people who illegally instructed tanks to enter Bangkok and overthrow the democratically government will now be prosecuted under the law?

Will the law now be applied equally to the Democratic and the TRT party?

I don't think so. Merely words which have no substance because the people saying them actually assume that they are above the law.

[Gary A]

It was a great speech. Unfortunately the fact of the matter is that the Bangkok elite will continue to run the country. When Thaksin said the corruption was part of Thailand he was speaking the truth and was criticized for it. Issan people are looked at with contempt by all the elite and until that changes the government will continue to steal from the poor.