Yesterday's Thai Activist, Today's Reluctant Reformer

[webfact]

THAI TALK

Yesterday's activist, today's reluctant reformer

By Suthichai Yoon

The Nation

He has been plucked, almost reluctantly, from his world of self-imposed solitude to be part of the reform process headed by ex-premier Anand Panyarachun.

Seksan Prasertkul admits that he would feel somewhat guilty if he didn't somehow find a way to contribute to solving the country's serious political problems

The former student activist of October 1973 fame is today a 61-year-old academic who says his former socialist model for Thailand is no longer a formula for change.

"I used to have a somewhat clear-cut and rigid model. I wanted to change Thailand in a particular way, along socialist lines," he says.

In a wide-ranging interview published in Nation Weekender, Seksak confesses: "Today, I have matured."

It takes real guts for one of the country's best-known intellectuals to admit that the process of arriving at a sense of maturity took a few decades of his life. Idealism is good. It fires up your enthusiasm and pushes you forward. But it takes moral courage for the "Hero of October 14" to declare today:

"I will not impose my dream on anyone else. My duty is only to help them remove obstacles that block their dreams."

By reaching "maturity", Seksan means he no longer has any fixed ideas about how to shape the future of this country.

"Today, I have no fixed models like I used to have. The Thailand that I would like to see is one in which we could remove some of the structure that oppresses people, and let the people have more breathing space. Let them think for themselves how they want to improve their homes and lives."

Seksan says the "little people" feel they have no bargaining power in the current social structure. That has to change, if real reform is to materialise.

"The commission members have discussed this issue many times. We have to adjust this social relationship so that the ordinary people have more power to manage their own lives.

"They must also have more rights to plan and manage their local resources, and not [have rules] imposed from above."

But how does the process of reform really work in practice?

Seksak cites three points to explain how he sees the reform process taking place:

First, it has to involve changes or improvements to the prevailing social structure. Second, since it's not going to be a revolution or a coup, the changes will have to be carried out peacefully. And third, the final outcome will have to be worked out through compromises.

"Simply put, nobody can push for their ideal formula or achieve 100 per cent of what they want, because to do that, there would have to be a revolution that would uproot the existing systems. To me, that isn't an option for Thai society just yet," the former student activist says.

The commission has been given a three-year deadline to come up with its proposals. What does he see as the commission's ideal, concrete set of recommendations?

Seksan thinks that after three years, "We should see a comprehensive set of proposals. But I still can't say what the catalysts to implement the changes will be like. We need to see how the civil society will react. In my own religion, I don't allow myself to place my life in any particular hope. We have to live with the present. Therefore, I am not going to seek suffering by determining in advance how much we can achieve."

But Seksan allows himself at least the hope that the commission can get some positive, even enthusiastic feedback, from those who have for years been oppressed or taken advantage of in various ways.

"I think millions of people will care enough to push the powers-that-be to go along with the proposed reforms," Seksan says.

But he can't be sure. "If, after everything is said and done from our side, and the people say they don't want it, then we will just have to leave it at that. We can go home then. We don't have to get mad."

-- The Nation 2010-08-26

[asiawatcher]

Good input - and perhaps a fresh outlook on the grid locked situation at present.

[SamritT]

Do you think he is Yellow or Red?

[Scout666]

Do you think he is Yellow or Red?

Hopefully neither! He is to be "part of the reform process". Let us hope that reformation is colourless.

[Scout666]

Do you think he is Yellow or Red?

Hopefully neither! He is to be "part of the reform process". Let us hope that reformation is colourless.

I must be getting the hang of this. 5 minutes now and my post has not yet been mutilated - whoops, sorry, I meant modulated. Silly me!

[junglist]

Do you think he is Yellow or Red?

Orange, just the good parts of both groups i hope.

[Scout666]

Do you think he is Yellow or Red?

Orange, just the good parts of both groups i hope.

I, like many many others (I hope) concur!

Edited August 26, 2010 by Scout666

[edgarfriendly]

do ppl all need to be colour co-ordinated before we can wish them well?

do u think without polar biases?

this OR that?

like OR dislike?

GROW THE EFF UP!!!

ef

jesus this site is full of freaks, i dont like it, i guess i should just go home..

and NOT try thinking by myself. ciao

[chainarong]

Goodluck Seksan, welcome back .