Thai Parties Policy Manifesto

[conquest]

I would like to try and understand the main differences between the Democrat party and the Pua Thai Party and would like to read their manifestos. Does anybody know where I can get an English copy?

I have asked a number of educated Thai people and none of them can tell me anything. I get the strong feeling that the very large majority of Thai people do not even know at all what the differences are on policy between the parties. In fact they don't know the policies at all. It all seems very superficial to me. What is the point of fighting for a democracy when the people fighting don't even know the policies of the party for which they are supporting?

What I would really like to understand is what policies do the UDD really get so upset about from the Democrats and what policies upset the PAD by the PTP?

To me the idea of free (non corrupt) elections in Thailand is a farce as every single party is buying votes. My staff have all been either approached directly or told by their village head who to vote for, of course with financial reward. Both the Democrats and PTP are equal in their corrupt practices in this respect.

Anyway, if anyone can lead me to the English versions of the parties manifestos I would be most grateful.

[Chinavet]

Conquest, your topic goes to the heart of Thai politics and current events. I was hoping someone more knowledgeable than myself would respond, but you are fast slipping off the new post list without any answers.

My understanding, Thai political parties do not have a manifesto/charter/philosophy. Parties and voter support tends to be regional. Money, the patronage system and intimidation are the big factors. Smaller parties exist for the sole purpose of being available to the highest bidder to form a coalition needed to form the numbers to make a government. The bargaining chips are the ministries with the most power and biggest budgets. This process is discussed openly in Thailand including the need to first recoup election costs from the public purse, then being generous in the party's base area and finally, a little personal enrichment has been known to occur.

This explains why MP's and parties regularly change sides without the slightest hint of embarrassment. Of course you follow the money.

There are some really fine people in the Thai political system but the system limits them to staying low profile and making positive contributions when the opportunity arises.

It is hard to imagine Thai democracy advancing until Thais can expect to know the philosophy of all major political issues and hold elected governments accountable, at the ballot box.

[conquest]

Thai political parties do not have a manifesto/charter/philosophy.

The parties do have manifestos and they can be seeon their web sites under นโยบายพรรค (Nayobai-pak). The problem is they are all in Thai and I would like to read them in English. You are no doubt correct that in reality these นโยบายพรรค are not really read by the mass population of Thailand. I would just be interested to be able to read for myself what the different policies are.

Can anyone help?

[bendejo]

The reds have no platform except "Abhisit no good, Taksin good!" Simple as that. Ask any of them out there in the street.

If you want more than that you'll have to talk to the boss, which requires a call to Montenegro, and he'll compose a rant just for you.

[vicco]

Thai political parties do not have a manifesto/charter/philosophy.

The parties do have manifestos and they can be seeon their web sites under นโยบายพรรค (Nayobai-pak). The problem is they are all in Thai and I would like to read them in English. You are no doubt correct that in reality these นโยบายพรรค are not really read by the mass population of Thailand. I would just be interested to be able to read for myself what the different policies are.

Can anyone help?

Seems unlikely that they would bother to translate them. Also doubt that more than a handful of Thai's read them. It's a sad truth that even in western countries

the big majority of voters don't know much about the agendas of the parties they vote for. Voting decisions are often based on a clever one liner in a TV debate.

We don't elect the best leaders any more, we elect TV personalities....or the guy with the biggest campaign fund...and PR team. In Thailand the connection between

the cash and he vote is a bit more direct, but the idea seems pretty much the same. Policies are of little importance..and the real policies never seem to be in the manifestos anyway...just the ones the parties think the people want to hear.

[chickenslegs]

The reds have no platform except "Abhisit no good, Taksin good!" Simple as that. Ask any of them out there in the street.

If you want more than that you'll have to talk to the boss, which requires a call to Montenegro, and he'll compose a rant just for you.

You need to look outside the confines of Thaivisa.

This is from the UDD website:-

The Six Principles of the (UDD) The United Front of Democracy against Dictatorship

1) Achieving the goal of establishing a genuine democracy that has the King as our Head of State, with political power belonging exclusively to the people. We reject any attempt, past or future, at using the monarchy to silence dissent or advance a particular agenda.

2) Dissolving the 2007 Constitution and restoring the 1997 Constitution, which may then be amended through a transparent, consultative and democratic process.

3) Bringing Thais together in an effort to solve our political and socio-economic problems, recognizing that such efforts must stem from the power of the people.

4) Implementing the rule of law, due process and a system of equal justice for all, free of any obstructions or double-standards.

5) Uniting all Thais who love democracy, equality, and equal justice within all facets of society, in an effort to deconstruct and move beyond the Amartyatippatai (Aristocracy) system.

6) Using exclusively non-violent means to achieve these objectives.

uddthailand.com

[Chinavet]

The reds have no platform except "Abhisit no good, Taksin good!" Simple as that. Ask any of them out there in the street.

If you want more than that you'll have to talk to the boss, which requires a call to Montenegro, and he'll compose a rant just for you.

You need to look outside the confines of Thaivisa.

This is from the UDD website:-

The Six Principles of the (UDD) The United Front of Democracy against Dictatorship

1) Achieving the goal of establishing a genuine democracy that has the King as our Head of State, with political power belonging exclusively to the people. We reject any attempt, past or future, at using the monarchy to silence dissent or advance a particular agenda.

2) Dissolving the 2007 Constitution and restoring the 1997 Constitution, which may then be amended through a transparent, consultative and democratic process.

3) Bringing Thais together in an effort to solve our political and socio-economic problems, recognizing that such efforts must stem from the power of the people.

4) Implementing the rule of law, due process and a system of equal justice for all, free of any obstructions or double-standards.

5) Uniting all Thais who love democracy, equality, and equal justice within all facets of society, in an effort to deconstruct and move beyond the Amartyatippatai (Aristocracy) system.

6) Using exclusively non-violent means to achieve these objectives.

uddthailand.com

Thanks for the post Chickenlegs. With the reality unfolding before us, I'm having a little problem connecting the dots. But it all seems clear, with no contradiction, to many.

[bendejo]

was that piece from the UDD site posted on April 1st?

[JusMe]

My understanding, Thai political parties do not have a manifesto/charter/philosophy. Parties and voter support tends to be regional. Money, the patronage system and intimidation are the big factors. Smaller parties exist for the sole purpose of being available to the highest bidder to form a coalition needed to form the numbers to make a government. The bargaining chips are the ministries with the most power and biggest budgets. This process is discussed openly in Thailand including the need to first recoup election costs from the public purse, then being generous in the party's base area and finally, a little personal enrichment has been known to occur.

This explains why MP's and parties regularly change sides without the slightest hint of embarrassment. Of course you follow the money.

You've pretty much got it there, Chinavet. It goes back to the Asian form of feudalism that existed here. We historically had feudalism in which the peasants were attached to the land, and were transferred with the land to any new lord by whichever means they changed - inheritance, war, purchase, king's pleasure.

The Asian system connects the peasant to a specific lord or master, and wherever the master went, there went his peasants. And wherever the master's loyalty went, there went the loyalty of the peasant.

Therefore, when we let this evolve into the current situation, we have political factions associated with phu yai, which can shift between parties as they like and take their faction with them.

Very broad and in a nutshell political science, and missing all the subtleties, but it's caused many modern problems in Thailand (and a few other Asian countries, too).

[steveromagnino]

The reds have no platform except "Abhisit no good, Taksin good!" Simple as that. Ask any of them out there in the street.

If you want more than that you'll have to talk to the boss, which requires a call to Montenegro, and he'll compose a rant just for you.

You need to look outside the confines of Thaivisa.

This is from the UDD website:-

The Six Principles of the (UDD) The United Front of Democracy against Dictatorship

1) Achieving the goal of establishing a genuine democracy that has the King as our Head of State, with political power belonging exclusively to the people. We reject any attempt, past or future, at using the monarchy to silence dissent or advance a particular agenda.

2) Dissolving the 2007 Constitution and restoring the 1997 Constitution, which may then be amended through a transparent, consultative and democratic process.

3) Bringing Thais together in an effort to solve our political and socio-economic problems, recognizing that such efforts must stem from the power of the people.

4) Implementing the rule of law, due process and a system of equal justice for all, free of any obstructions or double-standards.

5) Uniting all Thais who love democracy, equality, and equal justice within all facets of society, in an effort to deconstruct and move beyond the Amartyatippatai (Aristocracy) system.

6) Using exclusively non-violent means to achieve these objectives.

uddthailand.com

UDD has nothing to do with PT's manifesto.

Don't try to confuse the two, they aren't the same thing. Certainly, you would be unwise vote for a political party which listed THIS as their election manifesto as opposed to social, economic and environmental policy including specifics on education, healthcare, etc. Perhaps one must also read the red Siam manifesto also, if one wishes to have a balanced view on the red shirts, as that's another group in their coalition 'of the willing' (or of the tire and bamboo industry, depends how you look at it :-).

UDD are the activist group of PT, for now. Solely related ot changing the constitution, of course they fail to directly mention here that they also wish to grant Thaksin a pardon and amnesty, which is a core goal of the constitutional reform which is why their idea of reform in a democratic process is merely to win an election then unilaterally change it themselves however they want without any involvement of anyone else.

The exact opposite of how a constitution should be developed, in fact.

Regarding manifestos, as most Thais can read Thai, they don't need english. Most people don't read manifestos, but accept the key policy platforms and the party general position.

http://www.democrat.or.th/en/about/ideology/

this is from 1946 I think.

I can't really accurately and quickly translate a manifesto, if I can I'll try to source one from PT and also Dems for you which they have translated themselves.

[321niti123]

The policy is regional and usually goes through vote buying. Not all vote buying are through money, and not all of them are individual buying.

The beauty/cruelty of the vote buying (learnt from my thai teacher who talked to some of the farmers) is that the people selling their vote might not even know that their votes are being sold. The puyai barn or the village leader will negotiate with the politicians for the votes, and during the voting process there will be a person standing over the voters to see if they are actually voting the way they promised (this does not happen in bangkok, usually in remote villages). Sometimes it becomes violent and they even threaten people and hurt people as an example for others not to follow. I've heard, the puyai barn will take some of the money (corrupt) and the rest will go to helping the village.

Sometimes people sell votes as an exchange for a school in their community or electricity and each promise builds up the policies.

The main reason why the rural poor are supporting thaksin right now is not because he is helping the country because most of the time they dont even have a say to what happens in the country, and the government dont help them, but when thaksin came along, they got more healthcare, more schools, more jobs (OTOP), and they are thinking to themselves "I dont care If the government is corrupt as long as they help me"

[isanbirder]

The only Thai politician who has really understood how to operate within a parliamentary democracy is Thaksin. He put forward clear policies (health care, million baht per village etc) which everybody could understand; when his party was elected, he fulfilled his promises. No wonder most of the poorer people still support him; the fact that the man helped himself to a lot more than he gave them simply hasn't reached them.

The rest of the parties do have 'policy statements' but they are virtually meaningless, like the UDD one quoted, which is full of vague ideals, and short on specifics.

[Chinavet]

The only Thai politician who has really understood how to operate within a parliamentary democracy is Thaksin. He put forward clear policies (health care, million baht per village etc) which everybody could understand; when his party was elected, he fulfilled his promises. No wonder most of the poorer people still support him; the fact that the man helped himself to a lot more than he gave them simply hasn't reached them.

The rest of the parties do have 'policy statements' but they are virtually meaningless, like the UDD one quoted, which is full of vague ideals, and short on specifics.

Just a choice of words, but if you replace 'operate within' to 'successfully milk' or '100% manipulate' ...along those lines...I totally agree with you.

[isanbirder]

The only Thai politician who has really understood how to operate within a parliamentary democracy is Thaksin. He put forward clear policies (health care, million baht per village etc) which everybody could understand; when his party was elected, he fulfilled his promises. No wonder most of the poorer people still support him; the fact that the man helped himself to a lot more than he gave them simply hasn't reached them.

The rest of the parties do have 'policy statements' but they are virtually meaningless, like the UDD one quoted, which is full of vague ideals, and short on specifics.

Just a choice of words, but if you replace 'operate within' to 'successfully milk' or '100% manipulate' ...along those lines...I totally agree with you.

OK, Chinavet, but aren't all politicians manipulators?

One of my favourite quotes, from e.e.cummings in the 1930s

a politician is an arse upon which everything has sat except a man

[Chinavet]

The only Thai politician who has really understood how to operate within a parliamentary democracy is Thaksin. He put forward clear policies (health care, million baht per village etc) which everybody could understand; when his party was elected, he fulfilled his promises. No wonder most of the poorer people still support him; the fact that the man helped himself to a lot more than he gave them simply hasn't reached them.

The rest of the parties do have 'policy statements' but they are virtually meaningless, like the UDD one quoted, which is full of vague ideals, and short on specifics.

Just a choice of words, but if you replace 'operate within' to 'successfully milk' or '100% manipulate' ...along those lines...I totally agree with you.

OK, Chinavet, but aren't all politicians manipulators?

One of my favourite quotes, from e.e.cummings in the 1930s

a politician is an arse upon which everything has sat except a man

I agree with you and e.e. cummings even more.