What Can The (democrat) Government Do

[jdinasia]

I was thinking, what would it take for the dem's to actually be affective? So I started working on a 'platform'

EDUCATION

1) Strengthen the Free education system by supplying all school uniforms free

2) Strengthen the free education system by providing breakfast and lunch at schools .... free

3) Strengthen the free education system by making HARSH penalties for school administrators that extort money from families for public schools

4) Penalize all school administration employees if they do not prevent such extortion from taking place

FARMING/Social Support

1) Do away with the village loan scheme that strengthens the local political machine and replace it with government programs that do NOT create more debt. Such as providing seed crops ... a farm education program similar to the county extension agents in the US etc.

2) Eliminate as much debt created by the village loan scheme etc as is possible. Just wipe the slate clean but not before putting some kind of social services net in place to help farmers.

3) Help farmers eliminate middle-men as much as possible by creating their own co-ops for sales and distribution

There's got to be more -- but face it I don't know farming!

Good Governance

1) Strengthen the checks and balances needed by democracy

2) Harsh laws to deal with corruption including 'whistle-blower' protection etc

3) Actually fulfill the promises of decentralization that have been around for a long time! Let provinces elect their own governors etc (Remember --- this requires points 1 and 2 of good governance be in place)

Actually having some local autonomy to specifically help people would be the best thing there could be I think.

[Ulysses G.]

Make Thaksin the Secretary of State.

[APMann]

Call and win an election legitimately, with a majority of the popular vote.

[Boater]

create a democratic govermnet forst would be a good step forward

[mrtoad]

JD, I think that Education is where they really need to make big in roads, this is where they must start, but will they really want to give the masses the educataion that they should be entitled to, as this may cause a threat to the ruling classes? Both the Dems and PPP/TRT have never really shown much intention to change the way the education system works. Kids need to be able to be given the chance to express themselves more, think outside of the box, and also to actually fail, the current multiple guess and drill learning that many endure does not help, as does the subtle or not so subtle propaganda that they get in schools. As for the crooked adminstrators, they are a disgrace, but sadly there are plenty of them, rooting them out would be a great start.

The biggest inital problem that the Dems will face though, is from the convicted criminal Toxin, so probably a call to Mossad my be a good starter.

[Jingthing]

Dress in hats with red and yellow swirly stripes.

Blame the farangs.

Pardon Thaksin.

20 baht health care.

Edited December 9, 2008 by Jingthing

[dotcom]

You nailed that one JD.

Not sure what it's called buy they have this farm loan government bank which purpose is, unless I miss my guess is to separate poor farmers from their land.

This is so corrupt.

I don't know who gets the foreclosed land but this is a terrible scheme.

It's akin to the old American west where native americans could trade fur skins for whiskey.

[Fore Man]

You nailed that one JD.

Not sure what it's called buy they have this farm loan government bank which purpose is, unless I miss my guess is to separate poor farmers from their land.

This is so corrupt.

I don't know who gets the foreclosed land but this is a terrible scheme.

It's akin to the old American west where native americans could trade fur skins for whiskey.

And the sad thing is that most of the rural folk have no idea of the negative consequences that Thaksinomics foisted on them. In many villages dotting the northern landscape, they still think Thaksin to be a sort of superhero who can do no wrong--an oriental Lochinvar riding in to save them--and anyone who tries to impart a shred of truth is quickly ignored or disregarded as a heretic. The latest reincarnation of the TRT party knows this and will not give up until they have fomented a civil war and rend Thailand to tatters from the peaceful, serene Kingdom it once was. The Democratic -minded will have an uphill educational battle to mount to convert the poor over to appreciating good governance. The vote-buying legacy will always win out over decency and honesty until a profound event occurs to convert them. Even the loss of 1.2 million jobs as predicted now by the Labor Ministry will generally see little effect on the agrarian poor--they had no jobs to start with. Change may require a youth revolution to create that critical mass of Thai who demand a better future and way of life. I am not suggesting violence here and surely hope and pray that the country can get past the ugly scars caused by Thaksin and his ilk in a peaceful way.

[jdinasia]

but none of you have suggestions to add? Surely I didn't think of all the best/most needed changes?

[mrtoad]

They need to change the FBA, and make it easier for foreign companies and individual to invest and work here.

[jdinasia]

They need to change the FBA, and make it easier for foreign companies and individual to invest and work here.

what does that have to do with national unity? and Thais?

[BeerBarBoy]

This is what Abhisit said a couple of years ego.

Source: Wikipedia.

Policy platform

On April 29, Abhisit announced his candidacy for Prime Minister at the Democrat Party annual convention. He promised an "agenda for people", with education as the main focus. He used the campaign slogan "Putting People First". He also vowed not to privatise basic utiliies such as the electricity and water supply and to nationalize state enterprises that Thaksin had already privatized. Regarding core elements of the so-called "Thaksinomics", Abhisit promised "the benefits from certain populist policies, such as the 30-Baht healthcare scheme, the Village Fund and the SML (Small Medium Large) scheme, will not be revoked but instead improved." He later urged that Thaksin's popular 30-Baht healthcare scheme should be replaced with a system where access to medical services is totally free. Abhisit stated that all of future Democrat MPs would have to declare their assets and any involvement in private companies. (By law, only members of the cabinet need to declare their assets.)

Abhisit raised over Bt200 million at the Democrat Party's 60th Anniversary dinner. He outlined several energy policies, including:

• Increasing dividend payments from the PTT and using the funds to repay Oil Fund debts
  
• Allowing EGAT to absorb part of the rising fuel prices, since a non-listed EGAT would have no incentive to increase their return on investment.
  

Abhisit later outlined plans to reduce retail petrol prices by eliminating the 2.50 baht/litre tax used to maintain the government's Oil Fund. However, his plans were criticised as distorting the market mechanism and discouraging the reduction of oil consumption.

On July 13, 2006, Abhisit promised to deal with escalating violence in the South by making the problems in the Southern provinces a public agenda.

Abhisit has also promised many populist policies in addition to free health care, including:

• Providing free education, textbooks, milk and supplemental foods for nursery school students
  
• Increasing the minimum wage
  

[mrtoad]

They need to change the FBA, and make it easier for foreign companies and individual to invest and work here.

what does that have to do with national unity? and Thais?

Quite alot, because if they don't get investment in there is going to a be a lot more people out of work, and that will have anaffect on Unity, as you should know.

[britmaveric]

Dissolving the Dem party for election fraud.

[blaze]

Through hands on involvement with the police, the legal process and the army, make it known to the public that the law is not just a code of suggestions to be trotted out at the convenience of either the government or its enemies- but rather the final arbiter on what constitutes admissable and inadmissable behavior. ANd that it applies to friends and enemies equally. Regardless of the claimed intent of the lawbreakers.

Because there will come a day within the very foreseeable future when this country will either succumb to the rule of law- or burst apart.

Edited December 9, 2008 by blaze

[JetsetBkk]

but none of you have suggestions to add? Surely I didn't think of all the best/most needed changes?

Bring back the AEC - Assets Examination Committee - and freeze the assets of anyone found to be "unusually wealthy", until they can show precisely where their money came from.

They can start with all the army and police generals, and work their way down to the politicians. Then me.

[Wiresok]

Stop supporting militants,terrorists, hijackers, and armed paramilitarty organisations like the PAD.

[Colonel_Mustard]

Education:

Incentives to attract better teachers to poorer areas.

Reduce class sizes.

Retrain teachers to encourage critical thinking.

Provision of better eqiupment, materials to schools.

Provide incentives to parents to keep their children in the education system.

Healthcare:

Provide free healthcare for people below a certain income bracket.

Incentives to attract higher quality medical staff to poorer areas.

Ensure hospitals are adequately equipped.

General:

Increase the minimum wage level.

Remove corruption form within their own party and then work on down from there.

Improve public facilities, utlities, roads etc in rural areas.

Incentives for more foreign companies to set up in Thailand (or at least remove the major obstacles), particularly in rural areas.

Provide government funded training/retraining schemes.

Introduce incentives for small businesses.

Education regarding financial planning.

Remove the middle men so that farmers see more of the fruits of their labour.

Crackdown on loan sharks.

Harsh penalties for corruption in the police and armed forces.

Harsh penalties for those involved in unlawful protests/demostrations, no matter which side they are on. No progress can be made while the country is held hostage by extreme. minority groups.

Increase tax and improve tax collection to help pay for the above.

Cut the armed forces budgets to also help partly pay for the above.

Just a few ideas. Doubt the 'democrats' have much stomach for those kind of changes though. They'll be quite happy to keep the status quo and that's why they'll fail and no doubt lose again at the polls.

Edited December 10, 2008 by Colonel_Mustard

[wolfmanjack]

Education

make sure the english teachers an speak english.

i also agree with the corruption in schools not only by administrators as mentioned but by the teachers themselves.

As for the comments about the minimum wage it was increased twice this year and thailand already has a higher minimum wage than its competitors Vietnam, Indonesia, etc. Raising the minimum wage would not incourage foreign businesses to locate here until after the education level and work ethic has been raised.The main problem is not the minimum wage but to get the Thai companies to actually pay the minimum wage. I know of people working for 80 baht a day here in chiang mai.

Another thing i can not figure out is why they still have social insurance when there is the 30 baht health care that they do not limit only to the poor people? If you are working for a company that pays minimum wage and deducts the 5% required by law for social insurance you are losing 200 - 250 per month in social welfare payments.

[bobbin]

This is good stuff.

Begs the question. There are highly educated Thai civil servants plus foreign consultants available. These ideas must have come up for discussion before..

Why aren't they on the table?

[Losangels]

Increase property and inheritance taxes.

At least double the tax rate on land and especially unused land

[grandpops]

Wishful thinking by OP.

No mandate and a shattered economy, espescially in Bangkok which is the hub of their PAD masters.

Should the weak one take the helm, it's quickly downhill as they will be bankrupt and rapidly lose the bit of support they had.

Remember, this is a Coup, and more than half the country is not going to recognise them, let alone work with them.

Pure fantasy to think they can do anything other than their masters bidding. This truly will be a puppet government whilst it lasts.

[APMann]

This is good stuff.

Begs the question. There are highly educated Thai civil servants plus foreign consultants available. These ideas must have come up for discussion before..

Why aren't they on the table?

One interesting point was raised around 200 years ago : Thailand has everything on its side, clement weather, rich soil, old culture. Why isn't Thailand more successful as a country and a culture?

Because it wasn't colonised?

[JetsetBkk]

Education

make sure the english teachers an speak english.

i also agree ...

And also make sure they know when to capitalise words, e.g.

1. words derived from proper nouns, e.g. "English",

2. at the beginning of every sentence,

3. the nominative form of the singular first-person pronoun "I",

etc.

[LooseCannon]

Education

make sure the english teachers an speak english.

i also agree ...

And also make sure they know when to capitalise words, e.g.

1. words derived from proper nouns, e.g. "English",

2. at the beginning of every sentence,

3. the nominative form of the singular first-person pronoun "I",

etc.

Also on the correct usage of 'etc.'

When used at the end of a list introduced by 'such as', 'for example', 'e.g' or any similar expression, 'etc.' is incorrect.

Etc can only be used when the contents of a noninclusive list are obvious to the reader.

But who gives a rat's arse, tinker's cuss, monkey's c*nt, etc. etc.

[geriatrickid]

The OP's proposal would impact those that benefit from keeping the poor poor. Removing the extraneous levels of distribution systems would preclude a certain segment of the population from exploiting situations where a profit can be made.

The people responsible for foisting such conditions upon the poor are, ipso facto, incapable of such change. In simple language, PAD and its backers would not accept such changes.

I suggest instead that Jonathathan Swift's A Modest Proposal be translated into Thai and modified to so that all references to the Irish are changed to Thai. It would then be entitled A Modest proposal For Preventing the Children of Poor People in Thailand from Being A Burden to Their Parents, or Country And For Making Them Beneficial to The Public

[LooseCannon]

The requirement that MP's have a university degree should be abandoned.

There needs to be a socialist left political party that will represent the urban working classes & farmers. The current political parties only represent & serve the capitalist elites & middle classes. Only after the poor are genuinely represented in Parliament will their lot be improved, & some sort of distribution of wealth achieved.

[soundman]

To stop the political fighting and get back to the real meaning of a democratically elected government, these mechanisms have to be put in place:

No changing parties without resigning from the current party you belong too for a period of more than two years, before re-registering for another party.

Politicians don't have the power to change/amend the constitution, only to present recomendations (based on popular vote from the citizens of the country) to an independant body, which includes the judiciary, to make the final decision.

Longer bans, and including family members, for electoral fraud.

Independant audits on all aspects of government spending & severe penalties for companies that win government contracts at higher than prevailing market prices, or are found to have paid bribes to politicians.

Politician's families cannot enter into contracts with the state.

IMO of course.

[paulfromphuket]

This is good stuff.

Begs the question. There are highly educated Thai civil servants plus foreign consultants available. These ideas must have come up for discussion before..

Why aren't they on the table?

One interesting point was raised around 200 years ago : Thailand has everything on its side, clement weather, rich soil, old culture. Why isn't Thailand more successful as a country and a culture?

Because it wasn't colonised?

Wrong, it was colonised by the chinesse hundreds of years ago but as usual the thais didn't notice.

[jasreeve17]

There are some good ideas listed.

Certainly, since Samak took the reins to now, no policies at all have been implemented, talked about or even thought about. The coups time in power was equally as pathetic as far as Thai development goes, before that...

So, as a starting point, actually doing something would be good. Abahisit has listed some interesting ideas, and it'd be nice to see him follow through on these promises / ideas. I don't actually believe he will be given the remit to,

and there lies the problem. The corruption, powermongering and disregard for society needs to be removed. How do you, as a PM, take the mafia out of the police? Not sure, but you could have a look at what they've tried to do in Jamaica. The army? Well, you need to change the constitution, take away their power (support) annd change their mindset - this cannot be done for obvious reasons, but may be possible in the not too distant future. Which leads on to the huge problem of Nationalism, it's mass brainwashing and stops social progress. Take the universities; study a curriculum and you'll see; 'Thai morality', 'Thai language', 'Buddhist ideals' etc, etc these are all required lessons, regarless of what major you study - this all needs to be cut out (of every area of society). Language, an area of huge importance to society and development, needs to change. Thai is set out to control the people, it's an awful language as far as social development goes.

It's bleak, but Singapore has done well (far from perfect), as have Korea (South), Japan, Malaysia and Vietnam.

Vietnam attacked corruption, how did they do that? I'm not sure, but if I was a Dem MP I'd study how and try to implement some of their ideas here. Again, the nationalism, 'Thai is special', 'we are Thai', inhibits looking elsewhere for good ideas - it's the major problem.

I agreed with:-

. Free healthcare, a fundamental right in my opinion. (The US model is an awful, and very corrupt, one.)

. Knowledge re-investmet. What I mean here is when people have a Phd in agriculture that they go back to the roots and help the farmers directly with knowledge, schemes, education, etc. I work with a company that sells fertilizer to farmers, and they tell me that the educated folk that have the ability to benefit grassroots rural agriculture don't - they jump into well paying company jobs instead. Understandably on a personaly level, but this is where the government comes in by putting together skilled groups, in each region, to act as a local skill / knowledge resource. Universities can link closely to grassroots workers too. Four years ago I was thinking about starting a fishfarm on my missus's land. Having no knowledge in the area I contacted the universities, that did have knowledge, to ask for help, they basically weren't set up to offer any, to me, or anyone else. That could so easily be changed, get the students out in the field, doing supervised projects, working with the small fieldfarmers - knowledge re-investment.

. Decentralization of industry (power). Half a dozen 'industry zones' should be set up around the country (in poorer areas) with incentives to encourage foreign investment. This will need infrastructure projects which will further provide jobs as well as diversifying jobskills within these areas outside of Bkk.

. Increase taxes. I pay hardly any, and would willingly pay more to benefit society. Taxes need to target the right groups without wantonly attacking the rich (impossible I know). Higher tax (if only a litttle) for high earners, inheritance and property tax increases. This needs to be supported by a tough bunch of tax collectors.

. MP and public / civil servant (army) financial accountability / visibility. Why are these politicians and army bosses so super rich, we know the answer, but it's a fundamental problem. Visibility of this might be a start to tackling it (to be fair, Abhisit does make some murmurs in this direction. To be real, he owes this very group sooooo much).

. Change foreign ownership laws. In business especially, but generally too. Basically to encourage investment and, over time, chip away at the power of the super rich elites. A large group of unconnected rich is far better, for social development, than a small group of inter-related rich.

Most of these points come down to the same thing; facilitating a route for the poor to step into the middle classes while inhibiting the super-rich from hogging all the cash. But this is a governments job - to provide equally for everyone in society. On a purely capitalist front - 60 million capable hardworking Thais benefit the growth of the coutry far more than 100,000 super-rich and 59,900,000 downtrodden and demoralized nobodies.

Edited December 11, 2008 by jasreeve17