One Thai Persons View

[Guest IT Manager]

From Todays Bangkok Post

Thank the stars for human dignity

Sanitsuda Ekachai

The Thaksin administration's message is clear: Shelve the small is beautiful ideology; it's time to put the economic crisis behind us and think big again.

Forget the post-crisis self sufficiency motto. Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's maxim is ''the bigger the better''.

Interestingly, the public are more than happy to go along with him. Really, for a sanuk oriented society like our own, there is no choice between indulging and economising _ even though we're spending our children's future.

Mr Thaksin's dream for Thailand to rise from the ashes as an economic tiger has many people worried that we are heading back along the same disastrous path. But their concerns are unheard as the public are not in the mood to listen. Who would be when the government bombards us day in and day out with endless mega-dream projects and rosy economic figures to make us believe we are on our way to becoming a member of the world's first league?

This administration's popularity does not lie solely in its policies to give the masses more crumbs from the economic pie than did previous governments. It is also because it is a master of dreams.

Forget reality. What matters is perception. That's why the Apec summit was crucial for the Thaksin administration's image game. Playing on nationalist pride, it gave the public the perception that Thailand is fully back in the world arena. The Fulham hype following the Apec euphoria was also seen as part of the spin to boost the Thai ego as an international player.

When you think you are big, you act big. You no longer question if the government is a dream factory.

New cities. New mass transport webs. The end of poverty. Thailand as a centre of regional biotechnology, energy and telecommunications. Mr Thaksin's dreams become your dreams so you no longer bother to ask who gets the cake and who the crumbs.

For the moment, the dreams seem to help fuel the economic machine since public confidence encourages more spending and consumption. In the meantime, the deals allowing Thailand to exploit natural resources in neighbouring countries help feed this new round of growth, albeit at the expense of the oppressed.

The glitch is that we've all been through this before. It's wealth atop the misery of the poor buried under oppressive, top-down, political structures.

This is cause of widespread injustice, and Mr Thaksin's dreams won't change any of it.

But this should not be a cause of hopelessness, social reform guru Prawase Wasi said. For when we understand that the source of injustice is the top-down structure, we see beyond individual political leaders and work in our own small ways towards an egalitarian system.

The system of oppression prevails because it has succeeded in making us believe we are powerless as isolated individuals. The trick, he said, is to revive respect in human dignity.

''This respect will help us to see the beauty and value of each and every little person,'' he said. ''As individuals, we can create a node of like minds first. Then each node can connect and communicate with one another to create a network of knowledge. When this reconnecting of nodes expands across the land, change is inevitable.''

This is not empty rhetoric. The exchange of experiences and knowledge among grassroots organisations, rights activists and academics has led to the reform campaigns which culminated in the forward looking charter of 1997.

It has happened because of the power of individuals. And it will happen again.

This is why the people's movement is busy building and connecting nodes through face to face visits, community radio networks and even the internet. This is to protect their rights and to assert their belief that small is not only beautiful but imperative _ if social equity is our goal.

- Sanitsuda Ekachai is Assistant Editor, Bangkok Post.

Now---- Discuss That

[p1p]

Thank you for posting this.

Wish I had a crystal ball ?.. Not if, just when?..

Edited May 1, 2004 by p1p

[sbk]

It ends on a nice optimistic note tho! Living in a small rural community I am not sure how well the "grassroots network" is working. Don't see much of it here, but then could be we just aren't being challenged by something particularly nasty yet. I have read about other villages protesting things, and then again how the govt. reduces them to being unimportant minorities. Or rather, what they think are minorities. Remember Pak Moon dam? or the pipeline protest in the South? (they got reduced to being terrorists, guess that's because there is a large muslim population in the south).

frankly, if it were just about this govt.s xenophobia I wouldn't be so worried about the fate of thailand, but it seems to be completely unconcerned about its own people and more into enriching its own pockets. mind you, nothing new from politicians here, but this seems to be on such a huge scale as to dwarf previous administrations.

non-performing loans are on the rise again, lets blame the IMF! national debt is increasing, let's blame the foreigners! it all seems to be about finding somewhere to place the blame and nothing about actually solving any problems.

Interesting how little feedback this one generated! guess dissing thai women, farang women, visa fees, food, and each other is far more fun!

[Guest IT Manager]

Give it time. It's 3.00 AM in the states. I did only post it 3 hours ago.

[KevinN]

I really can't say that I have seen a great change over the last couple of years,only one new Thai Farm car in the village and one with new sheet metal,but don't see anyone just laying around and not at least lookin for a job.

And my friend and the wife cousin own building supply stores and they don't notice that they are ordering more or selling more than usual,so I don't know where it is goin,,maybe village life will not get any of the trickle down economy,say isn't that what Ronald Reagan said when he was Prez of USA when they ###### near starved to death over there??trickle down economy..

[Guest IT Manager]

We are seeing a few items in the Post about it, from members of TRT, who are feeling more than a little disenchanted, is my take on it.

The 30 baht medical scheme alone is being discussed in my village becaue of 2 people who need it right now, to survive.

I hope it gets fixed but I won't be holding my breath until it happens. I think there are many facets of the political ball, and some will come and bite soon.

[stumonster]

I thought the million baht scheme was to equip the grass roots with a networking device, abiet at a small charge per minute of their time.

and is the chang mai doctor being investigated for spending because they know he must be spending more than 30 baht if his hospital works?

[Guest IT Manager]

Stu the million baht scheme was an on-paper attempt to make the man on the street see the value of his vote when applied under normal circumstances, ie., vote for me I will pop 1 million baht into your village for use by the people. It was bold and it was at least loosely thought out. More than a few Thai Political Scientists have noted the holes, in articles in the Post, as you probably know.

On paper (during the election), it was a grant, in fact it was a loan with an unclear "due-by" date. In essence, people have misused the opportunity to have some "bulk cash" to pay off outstanding accounts and consolidate, and we now have a situation where the borrowings were for mobile phones, motor cycles and cars. Not the aim, but in the execution of the program, easy enough to do.

Thailand has a very tenuous tax base. In the US, UK etc, everyone essentially, pays tax. Here few people do and those who do, do their utmost to avoid as much as possible, not minimise, avoid. The result is that the Tax Department cannot accurately budget around expected tax receipts. Therein, IMHO lies the root of the problem. Without a secure primary tax base, the budgets are just hot air discussed in meaningful ways by people who hope that eventually the tax chicken will return to the roost.

Time will tell, but as I have noted elsewhere, the total inability to grasp the real issue regarding the million baht scheme and the 30 baht medical catastrophe, that is, without a fixed, determinable Taxation Base, you can't spend money you simply don't have, and in all likelihood, will never see.

Without the Social Conscience and vision of Khun Chuan Leekpai, who put his Asian-ness aside and asked for a rescue package, which was granted, we would probably be living in a Laotian Style bottomless poverty hole.

[stumonster]

does the government here supply any revenue figures to the public, what percentage of the population do pay tax, and what funds the enormous beauracracy. very few of the small businesses I have seen have a cash register, and if the average wage is 3000-4000 baht per month how can they afford to pay any tax.

Is this facade likely to come tumbling down. I am just wondering if my company is finally starting to make inroads into this area because other companies do not want to expose themselves to the risk of it all going to sh1t.

[Guest IT Manager]

This is a question to be directed an Sunbelt as its' his area of expertise, but certainly an employee on 4000 baht doesnt pay tax but there is a point where is is supposed to be paid just not sure what the cut-off is.

[Guest IT Manager]

Amazing how little interest there is in this.

Anyone who owns a company here has to be aware of the issues surrounding tax liability both personally and corporately.

[stumonster]

IT if you start up another country/race bashing topic you might get some action.

discussion of a reasonable topic does not seem to elicit any interest.

though trying to have a discussion of politics and social ethics in thailand, it would be very hard not to stray into dangerous territory.