Thailand Almost A Failed State - Surely A Failed Conscience

[webfact]

SIDELINES

Almost a failed state; surely a failed conscience

By Sopon Onkgara

The Nation

It's not yet two months since the mayhem, arson and other crimes committed by red-shirt mobs. Some of the ringleaders are gaining experience of life in captivity after a month of full rest at Cha-am Beach.

As Bangkok people get their lives back to normal, the peace interval might not be long-lived. Now we are hearing periodic warnings from military generals, and of late, Prime Minister Abhisit, that the red shirts might resume their terror campaign before the year's end.

We all know now that more red-shirt horror is a very distinct possibility as long as the government fails to restore law and order by taking firm control of the police, who have become notorious for their sympathy and alliance with the red shirts.

During the red-shirts' illegal protest at Rajprasong, the country was regarded as being almost a "failed state" due to the inability of the government to enforce the law. City residents were like hostages.

Army barracks were attacked with M79 grenades, and the prime minister had to seek refuge inside an Army regiment's quarters for safety. Such a fear of terrorism was never experienced by his predecessors, who had been troubled by the yellow shirts but without violence. This was one of the many stark contrasts between the two opposition campaigns.

Now that the government is talking about the possibility of more mayhem, people are still not getting any heartening answers. What is the prime minister and his team prepared to do to prevent such a repetition of terror? Future red-shirt retribution could be far more devastating, judging from the pressing need of Thaksin Shinawatra and his cronies to fulfil their vendetta.

What has been learned after two very costly political lessons? Not much, we can presume. We continue to witness complacency and the government's expectation that it can always rely on troops to suppress the red shirts if they resort to more violence. The emergency decree remains in force in Bangkok and many other provinces.

That's exactly the point. The red shirts remain unrepentant. Some red shirts continue to challenge the government and its ability to enforce the law. They have come out with a news magazine "Red Power" and a new TV station "Asia Update" with the intention of pursuing their original objective - getting rid of the Abhisit government as soon as possible.

The ongoing probe into the terror campaign financed by Thaksin and his cronies has so far not produced desirable results. The authorities, particularly the Department of Special Investigation, have not been able to nail the real culprits despite the strong evidence against them. Those in the know are aware that Thaksin's cronies had a network of campaign financing, but it will take more than a Herculean effort for the DSI to achieve what it set out to do.

What are the key problems facing the government right now? Among many factors are its sinking credibility and lack of public confidence - due to its incompetence, blatant corruption, and its ignorance of public calls for integrity and the restoration of law enforcement.

More worrying is that the government creates the impression that its incompetence and shortcomings could eventually drag the country towards becoming a failed state if the red shirts are able to regain strength and resume their subversive activities. The overall failure is based on its "failed conscience" and lack of ability to display a sense of accountability in its governance.

When such virtues are lacking, public trust gradually thins out and the government will find it hard to claim a mandate to continue its presence. If public distrust turns into a groundswell of hatred, when incompetence turns into the arrogance of power, then Abhisit will learn by himself that the red shirts are pretty harmless compared to the anger of a people filled with self-righteousness and true patriotism.

With the appointments of three committees on political reform, reconciliation and fact-finding - each comprising prominent personalities - we are seeing the familiar act of buying more time to remain in power, while feigning ignorance of the real crisis, with Thaksin as the sole root cause.

The first act of courage by Abhisit and the committees in gaining credibility and public acceptance will be the utterance of a name: "Thaksin". If we do not hear this word from them, it will be a waste of Bt600 million of taxpayers' money in a futile three-year exercise of shadow chasing.

-- The Nation 2010-07-13

[SomTumTiger]

What a nonsense article from that warmonger Sopon. From the King of those articles. He won't be happy til every Red is swinging from the rafters, neck first. I stopped reading this bozo's op/eds a long time ago.

[TallForeigner]

If public distrust turns into a groundswell of hatred, when incompetence turns into the arrogance of power, then Abhisit will learn by himself that the red shirts are pretty harmless compared to the anger of a people filled with self-righteousness and true patriotism.

Why do you publish such extreme hatemongering? This is a threat of terrorism promising to be worse than what we have seen until now. Under the emergency laws this would be a reason to close down The Nation and put at least Sopon into prison.

[craigt3365]

Some of what he has said makes sense:

"We all know now that more red-shirt horror is a very distinct possibility as long as the government fails to restore law and order by taking firm control of the police, who have become notorious for their sympathy and alliance with the red shirts.

During the red-shirts' illegal protest at Rajprasong, the country was regarded as being almost a "failed state" due to the inability of the government to enforce the law. City residents were like hostages."

But reforming the police will take a long time....

[jayjay0]

What a nonsense article from that warmonger Sopon. From the King of those articles. He won't be happy til every Red is swinging from the rafters, neck first. I stopped reading this bozo's op/eds a long time ago.

If you don't read the articles you don't know what they say.

Obviously you are a red shirt lover.

Red shirts cry democracy while they actively pursue Anarchy.

[Thai at Heart]

What has been learned after two very costly political lessons? Not much, we can presume. We continue to witness complacency and the government's expectation that it can always rely on troops to suppress the red shirts if they resort to more violence. The emergency decree remains in force in Bangkok and many other provinces.

That's exactly the point. The red shirts remain unrepentant. Some red shirts continue to challenge the government and its ability to enforce the law. They have come out with a news magazine "Red Power" and a new TV station "Asia Update" with the intention of pursuing their original objective - getting rid of the Abhisit government as soon as possible.

What has not been learnt is that the country has changed over the last 10 to 15 years. The systems of governmental control over the population have all stood still while the population has developed politically and has access to more information (be it wrong or right).

I do like the idea that it is only the reds who are unrepentant. Some organisations have been unrepentant for the conduct and interference in politics over 15(?) times in the last 75 years.

What we are seeing here is a confluence of many factors that have been building up for a very long time. The idea that getting the reds to back down and apologise will in some way make the world perfect again is wrong. There are many things in Thailand that have been set a certain way for a long time, but are now causing issues. One of the more obvious issues being that depending on the political persuasion of the day, the government can "

always (or not) rely on troops to suppress the red shirts if they resort to more violence."

The overt desire to return to the sepia tinted times of yore when Thailand was united, happy, wai wai, Thai smile are long gone unless someone comes up with something NEW to make sure that everyone (geographically, economically and politically) feels included in society.

[Thormaturge]

What we are seeing here is a confluence of many factors that have been building up for a very long time. The idea that getting the reds to back down and apologise will in some way make the world perfect again is wrong. There are many things in Thailand that have been set a certain way for a long time, but are now causing issues.

This is possibly the best statement I have read on the current situation for a long while.

This ridiculous idea that whoever can form a government is entitled to suppress the opposition in the name of "democracy" is at the very root of Thailand's current problems. Both sides are as bad as each other and enlisting the army, suppressing media, imprisoning opponents without trial indefinitely, etc. etc. just adds to the mounting problems.

Thailand needs someone powerful to unite both sides.

I will suggest the United Nations, but only because I have a sense of humour.

Edited July 13, 2010 by Thormaturge

[Xangsamhua]

The article strikes me as inflammatory rather than cautionary or advisory. What is he actually advocating - total repression of the red movement? Neither possible nor desirable; more likely counter-productive. Reform of the police? Well, we all agree on that. And is he suggesting that the committees of enquiry are going to pussyfoot around the T-factor? It would seem unlikely, though I would hope they'll go deeper.

The breakdown in national unity and regional identification with the wider concept of Thai nationality has its roots in the 19th century and, in response, defenders of the regime still seem to appeal to the nationalist myths of the Pibulsonggram era. The Thaksin phenomenon brought regional grievances to a head, but did not cause them, and bringing Thaksin to justice will not relieve them.

Hopefully the committee/s of enquiry will consider the root causes and the need for radical reconsideration of state responsibility.

[Koh_Falang]

I must say, I am quite over this crap...

Corruption - (n.) The act of corrupting or of impairing integrity, virtue, or moral principle; the state of being corrupted or debased; loss of purity or integrity; depravity; wickedness; impurity; bribery.

Unless the whole of the Thai Society understands why upholding the law is so important, nothing will ever change...

[Tokay]

I could be wrong but I think this is far from over. Nothing was accomplished by the Reds.

[craigt3365]

I must say, I am quite over this crap...

Corruption - (n.) The act of corrupting or of impairing integrity, virtue, or moral principle; the state of being corrupted or debased; loss of purity or integrity; depravity; wickedness; impurity; bribery.

Unless the whole of the Thai Society understands why upholding the law is so important, nothing will ever change...

Right on...you beat me to this. Corruption is the root of all evil here in Thailand. Army, police, politics, business, government, etc...sad...

[asiawatcher]

What a nonsense article from that warmonger Sopon. From the King of those articles. He won't be happy til every Red is swinging from the rafters, neck first. I stopped reading this bozo's op/eds a long time ago.

If you don't read the articles you don't know what they say.

Obviously you are a red shirt lover.

Red shirts cry democracy while they actively pursue Anarchy.

Yes - the country is set on the road to anarchy even now and all because of Red Shirts and what they believe in. They would not know the meaning of 'democracy' or even be able to define it. Take out the head pushing his personal agenda and there may be some respite but anarchy is well advanced.

The Police are a disgrace and care nothing about law enforcement - they use the law to extract money from the public at every opportunity and nothing is done as they ARE the police! It is time to put a broom through the whole system starting from the top police down to the low ranks, then induct the low ranks into the army and teach them discipline and honour. The army given the numbers will be quite a substantial force but they too would be suspect to falling foul of corruption given time, being taught by the deposed police.

Thailand has some serious restructuring to contemplate and it may need some vigilante's who have 'had enough'. If the Govt has no control and the PM is a figure head with only straws to grasp at due to lack of support from his fellow parliamentarians, it would seem obvious the anarchy may in fact, be a solution!

[atyclb]

My goal is to not criticize society. Based on observations it would seem societal dilemmas may be related to the below;

# deep rooted corruption,

# culture of corruption,

# 85% of society ok with it providing they benefit from it,

# apathy,

# and police force that functions as an autonomous entity for paying customers

I must say, I am quite over this crap...

Corruption - (n.) The act of corrupting or of impairing integrity, virtue, or moral principle; the state of being corrupted or debased; loss of purity or integrity; depravity; wickedness; impurity; bribery.

Unless the whole of the Thai Society understands why upholding the law is so important, nothing will ever change...

[eggomaniac]

Khun Sopon,

Thailand IS a failed state. The only proof anyone needs is that Thaksin AND Sondhi are not in jail, and all of the other red and yellow mobsters.

With fanatics, like you, who have firmly chosen one side, over the other, Thailand will split up into 3 or 4 Nations.

I say this, sadly, because The Kingdom of Thailand has such great potential if it could be saved from the influence of the corrupt, terrorist red AND yellow gangsters.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If you want to see terrorism, just watch the Yellow moves after the next election.

[Brian67]

<BR>Khun Sopon,<BR>  Thailand IS a failed state. The only proof anyone needs is that Thaksin AND Sondhi are not in jail, and all of the other red and yellow mobsters.<BR>  With fanatics, like you, who have firmly chosen one side, over the other, Thailand will split up into 3 or 4 Nations. <BR>   I say this, sadly, because The Kingdom of Thailand has such great potential if it could be saved from the influence of the corrupt, terrorist red AND yellow gangsters.<BR>   -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<BR>   If you want to see terrorism, just watch the Yellow moves after the next election.<BR>

<BR><BR>I wouldn't rush to put Thailand into the same basket as say, Somalia, <BR><BR>

[Trentham]

Nothing is as it seems in Thailand. Nobody can be trusted. You can never know who your friends are or when they will turn against you. Money, power, face, greed and revenge are the leading forces behind events in this country. Buddhist principles are an illusion. The coins everybody drops in a beggar’s cup are not for the beggar. He is not important. You drop them in the cup to buy your own merit. That is not true merit. Right now in this “land of smiles” these forces are completely out of control. What is happening is not a revolution to help the poor and downtrodden. It is a battle for power and money by very rich people one side of which is using the poor as pawns to be disposed of and sacrificed in their attempt to win this ruthless game of chess. Thailand’s poor are not going to gain from their struggle and sacrifice.

[Samuian]

Some of what he has said makes sense:

"We all know now that more red-shirt horror is a very distinct possibility as long as the government fails to restore law and order by taking firm control of the police, who have become notorious for their sympathy and alliance with the red shirts.

During the red-shirts' illegal protest at Rajprasong, the country was regarded as being almost a "failed state" due to the inability of the government to enforce the law. City residents were like hostages."

But reforming the police will take a long time....

The whole Society needs to be"reformed", a society which condones this mess and in a poll even expresses it's respect and wide acceptance for general country wide corruption and malpractice, abuse of power and the like, it si somewhat a "failed State" but it is by far not "failed" in the way the Journo of the Article tries to imply!

Reads as if he had a real terrible weekend....

[avalonmick]

Both the Reds and the Yellows are wrong, and they are right.

This admission from Sopon: ..."What are the key problems facing the government right now? Among many factors are its sinking credibility and lack of public confidence - due to its incompetence, blatant corruption, and its ignorance of public calls for integrity and the restoration of law enforcement." ... would, in a democracy, be perfectly valid reasons for agitating to get rid of the government at the next election, whether you are Red or Yellow.

The problem is, these puppet governments are afraid of fair and full elections because they might lose.

As a result, and very sadly, the country is now in a death spiral that will lead to the inevitable crash with numerous casualties [hopefully not physically hurt] in business, rural areas, and in the working suburbs of the large cities and towns, unless a true leader emerges soon to pull us out of this.

Thaksin is a failed experiment; he was never a true leader because he allowed self interest to rule his judgement and his decisions, so he should remain banished.

But where is our leader when we need him???

[ozzieovaseas]

What a nonsense article from that warmonger Sopon. From the King of those articles. He won't be happy til every Red is swinging from the rafters, neck first. I stopped reading this bozo's op/eds a long time ago.

On the contrary it would seem you've taken it up again

[SomTumTiger]

What a nonsense article from that warmonger Sopon. From the King of those articles. He won't be happy til every Red is swinging from the rafters, neck first. I stopped reading this bozo's op/eds a long time ago.

If you don't read the articles you don't know what they say.

Obviously you are a red shirt lover.

Red shirts cry democracy while they actively pursue Anarchy.

Did you call me a red lover? hahaha, you must be new here.

[Skytrain2hell]

The root of all evil here (and in many other countries) is greed and selfishness. Corruption is just a bi-product.

It's so deep rooted it's even ingrained in many aspects of Buddhism. The whole Thai idea of Karma is that they should do good things in this life to help themselves later...I guess accepting corruption won't affect their next life. Many Thais go to the temple to donate or help out, and they immediately advertise it to everyone and anyone to show how good of a person they are. What percent is genuine, what percent is for show?

And the whole idea of "mai pben rai" is something you love when you first come to Thailand, but you realize later that that attitude is what's destroying the nation.

[geovalin]

When a once respected newspaper publishes this kind of dangerous literature, yes we can tell that Thailand is "Almost a failed state; surely a failed conscience"... thanks to the people writing such infamous texts.

"The Nation" should think twice before to publish. They'll have a part of responsibility in the possible coming civil war.

[eggomaniac]

The article strikes me as inflammatory rather than cautionary or advisory. What is he actually advocating - total repression of the red movement? Neither possible nor desirable; more likely counter-productive. Reform of the police? Well, we all agree on that. And is he suggesting that the committees of enquiry are going to pussyfoot around the T-factor? It would seem unlikely, though I would hope they'll go deeper.

The breakdown in national unity and regional identification with the wider concept of Thai nationality has its roots in the 19th century and, in response, defenders of the regime still seem to appeal to the nationalist myths of the Pibulsonggram era. The Thaksin phenomenon brought regional grievances to a head, but did not cause them, and bringing Thaksin to justice will not relieve them.

Hopefully the committee/s of enquiry will consider the root causes and the need for radical reconsideration of state responsibility.

Inflamatory, because he is squarely a yellow sycophant in the red versus yellow war that will tear Thailand apart.

The committees are 'hopeless' for 2 reasons. The enemies of Thailand are powerful minorities, the reds AND yellows, the OTHER enemy is The Mute Majority. They should rise up and rid Thailand of these scourges, these criminal red and yellow terrorists.

1. They have a 3 year 'mandate' and Thailand has a few months, more or less, before a major event, like 'elections', for 1 example, ignites the fuses that articles like this one highlight; [another example, the military reshuffling in the fall.]

2. There is a perfectly sane and balanced way to select Committee members, which they DID NOT do.

=============================================

One part of the OP I liked was THE TITLE.

The more and more people realise that Thailand is well and truly, really, really, really messed up, in need of a total TRANSconciliation, NOT a back to ABnormal, corruption/business as usual, deformation, the better.

===================================

Don't trust anybody in Thailand who owns yachts and private jets. The odds are great they got them by being skillfully corrupt.

Thaksin is on the run, Sondhi is facing 'paper' charges and the man who ignited the red and yellow riots, by doling out 40,000,000,000 in bad loans, spends his life yachting. < That is Thailand, folks!

[ozzieovaseas]

The root of all evil here (and in many other countries) is greed and selfishness. Corruption is just a bi-product.

It's so deep rooted it's even ingrained in many aspects of Buddhism. The whole Thai idea of Karma is that they should do good things in this life to help themselves later...I guess accepting corruption won't affect their next life. Many Thais go to the temple to donate or help out, and they immediately advertise it to everyone and anyone to show how good of a person they are. What percent is genuine, what percent is for show?

And the whole idea of "mai pben rai" is something you love when you first come to Thailand, but you realize later that that attitude is what's destroying the nation.

;)You got that right....

IMO, the average Thai on the street will NOT consider the consequences of their actions until LONG after the event...IF at all.

Opinions like this guys does NOTHING to help, and although maybe half disguised, obvious to see it serves only for the purpose of stirring up more trouble amongst the gullible..

The masses of the grass roots red army simply allowed themselves to be hearded along like sheep, and hopefully they can now see how they were to easily indoctrinated and manipulated into the lure of gaining a quick buck..a quick buck that never came and was gobbled up by BIG T's big boys.

Hopefully this lot will now see the untold damage they have done to the country and also recognise that this government and Abbhisit is making some attempts to address the issues..After all what government in the world has a magic wand it can wave to solve all of societies problems?..

The gap between rich and poor will always be there..but i surmise that the root problem here is the whole "face" thing..the denials, the greed, the rampant materialism, an inability to accept personal responsibility, and the acceptance of lies and poor morals as fair game...

add to this the desperation amongst the poor, JUST to survive....and the fact that they are unable (or rather not allowed) to express themselves in this so called "polite" society...

So the slowly simmering pressure cooker has finally exploaded..

On the other hand, to play devils advocate, a casual bystander might wonder if these grass roots people have attempted something the poor all over the world could only dream of..

But as always, not our country...falang mai loo waa

[craigt3365]

Interesting if you compare this to other countries. China just raised their minimum wage to $141/month. Or 4,500 Baht. About what minimum wage is here....maybe a little lower. BUT...they don't have the same political violence problems. They do have the same rich-poor disparity...but very little violence. At least as compared to what has happened here in the past few years.

Could it be to a stronger government? Police who obey orders? I know it is NOT due to less corruption. Rampant in China just like here.

And there are these same problems in many other neighboring countries. Heck, the rich-poor gap is about the same all over Asia.

I lean towards a week government. What are your thoughts?

[TheBarbarian]

Stupidity rules at the offices of the Nation. The yearly failed state list published two weeks ago, clearly does not have anything to do with the red shirt horror. Maybe it has to do something with outright idiots that send the army into the streets to kill people two consecutive years in a row. It might have to do something with the horror that hundreds of thousands of tourists and businessmen met when the yellow shirts had occupied the airports. it might even have to do something with crooked army generals buying weaponsystems that will never be used (But the kickback is fine) aircraft carries without aircrafts, bomb scanners and so on or maybe with nation supported politicians taking bribes from bankrupt companies (Democrat party) it might have to do with brothels ran by elitists, corrupted police or even with crooked yellow shirt leaders who think that the poor are dump and therefore provoke them? Or has it something to do with the lack of press freedom in which the nation in a major beneficiary? It has in any case nothing to do with the red shirts and there justified demands.

[Thai at Heart]

Interesting if you compare this to other countries. China just raised their minimum wage to $141/month. Or 4,500 Baht. About what minimum wage is here....maybe a little lower. BUT...they don't have the same political violence problems. They do have the same rich-poor disparity...but very little violence. At least as compared to what has happened here in the past few years.

Could it be to a stronger government? Police who obey orders? I know it is NOT due to less corruption. Rampant in China just like here.

And there are these same problems in many other neighboring countries. Heck, the rich-poor gap is about the same all over Asia.

I lean towards a week government. What are your thoughts?

They know that if they really shake the apple cart in China they will get shot or disappear. There are many protests outside the main cities about government corruption and injustices against farmers, which don't get publicised. I have seen riots in Guizhou from workers who weren't paid for 6 months and it isn't pretty.

Overall, having spent many weeks per month over the last few years in rural China there is still a feeling that the government does attempt to try to take care of those at the bottom of society. Since the people don't really have too many choices in the matter, all they can do is wait for crumbs to fall from the central government table in Beijing or the provincial capital.

Probably the main difference is that crumbs get thrown more regularly. Add in the fact that periodically corruption gets smashed down upon very heavily (notice Chongqing last week) and maybe there is a tendency for the poor to not feel quite so helpless against big business as maybe they do in Thailand.

The communist party in China knows that it must appear to be taking care of the poor whilst allowing business to flourish, or it will have 600mn people with pitchforks to deal with. They admit to themselves that their biggest problem is uneven wealth distribution and that they must find a way to tackle it.

In Thailand we are still debating whether or not governments should bother to take care of them. All the meanwhile Thai companies continue on their merry way claiming that a 2baht increase in the minimum wage will bankrupt them, but the owners keep buying new Mercs.

[frankman]

Stupidity rules at the offices of the Nation. The yearly failed state list published two weeks ago, clearly does not have anything to do with the red shirt horror. Maybe it has to do something with outright idiots that send the army into the streets to kill people two consecutive years in a row. It might have to do something with the horror that hundreds of thousands of tourists and businessmen met when the yellow shirts had occupied the airports. it might even have to do something with crooked army generals buying weaponsystems that will never be used (But the kickback is fine) aircraft carries without aircrafts, bomb scanners and so on or maybe with nation supported politicians taking bribes from bankrupt companies (Democrat party) it might have to do with brothels ran by elitists, corrupted police or even with crooked yellow shirt leaders who think that the poor are dump and therefore provoke them? Or has it something to do with the lack of press freedom in which the nation in a major beneficiary? It has in any case nothing to do with the red shirts and there justified demands.

Justified demands , from the red shirts???   ???

OMG, where do you live, mars? 

[MikeyIdea]

Can't be bothered to reply to the posts, I'll comment on the title of the thread instead

Thailand Almost A Failed State

Hmmm, nope, not at all. There were those who said that after Sujinda in the early 90s and they were all wrong of course. I wonder if we are not going to hear the same stupid thing in another 19 years time

[somo]

"That's exactly the point. The red shirts remain unrepentant. Some red shirts continue to challenge the government and its ability to enforce the law. They have come out with a news magazine "Red Power" and a new TV station "Asia Update" with the intention of pursuing their original objective - getting rid of the Abhisit government as soon as possible."

Oh my God. They are unrepentant, they are challenging the goverment and have media outlets to voice their opinions!!! This of course should not be allowed in a democracy. Stamp on them now before it all gets out of hand.