Thai Politics Makes Us Lag Behind

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Politics makes us 'lag behind'

By Tulsathit Taptim

Half-truths have been the order of the day when it comes to the 3G debacle. Every comment or argument looks good on its own, but only because it does not provide or reflect the complete picture.

When Information and Communications Technology Minister Chuti Krairiksh yesterday tried to soften the blow of the Supreme Administrative Court's ruling in favour of an injunction on the auction of licences for third-generation wireless broadband, he seemed to be talking sense, if only superficially.

"I can guarantee that Thailand is not lagging behind," he said. "To lag behind or not is not measured by whether a country has 3G, but by other factors put together, like scientific and medical progress."

That appears to be a good statement. To begin with, none of the critics who are crying so loudly about Thailand being left behind by Vietnam or Laos will be willing to migrate to either country. Thailand is more advanced than them in many ways and is capable of catching them up when 4G - the newest telecom technology set to materialise on a different platform - fully presents itself.

However, Chuti has missed a key point. A lot of people are not upset by Thailand's failure to embrace 3G, but by the manner in which the nation has let the technology pass by. We are not lagging behind because we don't have 3G, we are lagging behind because we don't have the maturity to deal with technology logically, rationally and selflessly for the greater good.

Laos and Vietnam have their own shortcomings, but Thais envy them because they have somehow been able to cut through political nonsense when it comes to something important like 3G. Granted, Thailand's situation is probably far more difficult.

Oddly, the constitutional requirement that our telecom sector be liberalised has both complicated our politics and been complicated by our politics.

Even disruptive politics is bearable if it involves understandable forces. Environmental concern, rural conflicts, public-health worries or national-security threats can delay questionable projects for years or simply derail them. None of these has anything to do with why the country's attempt to welcome 3G is doomed.

The Supreme Administrative Court cited "legitimacy" to uphold the previous injunction on the 3G auction. Is the injunction like chemotherapy treatment required to prevent cancer from spreading? That is debatable. Are we right that we are "lagging behind"? Maybe or maybe not, but we definitely have the right to be upset.

We feel we are lagging behind because what has bogged down the 3G technology is cut-throat politics driven by greed and corruption. We are lagging behind because consumers' interests have not really played a key role in determining when we should adopt the technology, despite everyone's claims to the contrary.

When wrong things happen for the right reasons, people will try to understand them. But when things happen for the wrong reasons, even if they are "right" or "legitimate", they are harder to cope with. The sarcasm, mockery or direct insults that people involved with the 3G saga have had to face until now have to do with missed opportunities as well as knowledge that it could have been much different if only the people who mattered had been a little less selfish.

Sure, we can live without 3G. The question is how much longer we can live with this kind of politics, in which vested interests of certain groups do not just trample on constitutional will but also exploit it and use concern for consumers to manoeuvre things for themselves. Chuti is correct in saying that having no 3G is not a measure of lagging behind. But the reason is.

-- The Nation 2010-09-24

[Hardback]

I'm guessing that the vast majority of (rural)Thais don't know about or even care what 3G is, and local politicians can also say that thwarting it means saving jobs and keeping revenue etc. So, it will turn out in their favour. As for the urbanites who are more keenly aware of the issues at sake it is a cause for much shame...but will they finally admit that this can be traced back to the 2007 constitution or the 2006 coup they so heartily supported?

[RKASA]

I'm guessing that the vast majority of (rural)Thais don't know about or even care what 3G is, and local politicians can also say that thwarting it means saving jobs and keeping revenue etc. So, it will turn out in their favour. As for the urbanites who are more keenly aware of the issues at sake it is a cause for much shame...but will they finally admit that this can be traced back to the 2007 constitution or the 2006 coup they so heartily supported?

Yes they do - Bangkok is not Thailand, most of Thailand is outside of Bangkok and so are most of the people in Thailand. Being told for ten years you can't have a phone line because one generation of wireless or the next is coming is getting to be a sad song. In fact at this point it is pure BS anyway. We still don't have ether that works and we care. The problem has is and will always be State enterprises like ToT and CAT which don't care about us, and from the angle of your guess work - I guessing you don't really know that much about us ether.

Your going to find that the most upset people over this are the rural left behind, we don't have adsl and other things to drop back on - not even 2g., we have been put off again and again by stories of 3g or what ever and its the solution. I have a s--- Sat connection because I can afford to waste 2400 a month on a 80k service that is supposed to be 512k.

We have taken hundreds of application into ToT for phone service requests from people in this town for years. We should have had phone service ten years ago. We not only care - we are pissed and totally fed up with lame excuses. There is no reason they can't get off their collective ass and hook us up in a week.

The point being the vast majority of people are under served and disregarded. They are also vary aware of the disproportional services granted to the already well served areas.

This issue will cost this government, it is time to get in the bully pulpit and do something.

PS no one is using buffalo out here anymore, you need to get out more. (humor)

[tomyummer]

What the country should be embarrassed about is the constant state of government planning, or rather, lack thereof, whenever it decides to do some project or implement some program. It's a disgrace how they waste our tax money and time in the process of being so 'wishy washy' and incompetent. Absolutely no research, strategic planning or feasibility studies, let alone checking for conflicts of interest within agencies or legalities. Such a darn shame.

In Thailand it's always 'do first and think later'.

[asiawatcher]

"... We are not lagging behind because we don't have 3G, we are lagging behind because we don't have the maturity to deal with technology logically, rationally and selflessly for the greater good."

This says it all!

[whybother]

There isn't enough red shirt news, so there is 5 threads going on the 3G fiasco ...

[whybother]

What the country should be embarrassed about is the constant state of government planning, or rather, lack thereof, whenever it decides to do some project or implement some program. It's a disgrace how they waste our tax money and time in the process of being so 'wishy washy' and incompetent. Absolutely no research, strategic planning or feasibility studies, let alone checking for conflicts of interest within agencies or legalities. Such a darn shame.

In Thailand it's always 'do first and think later'.

If it's always 'do first and think later', then there is no 'government planning' to be embarrassed about, is there?

[tomyummer]

What the country should be embarrassed about is the constant state of government planning, or rather, lack thereof, whenever it decides to do some project or implement some program. It's a disgrace how they waste our tax money and time in the process of being so 'wishy washy' and incompetent. Absolutely no research, strategic planning or feasibility studies, let alone checking for conflicts of interest within agencies or legalities. Such a darn shame.

In Thailand it's always 'do first and think later'.

If it's always 'do first and think later', then there is no 'government planning' to be embarrassed about, is there?

Well, in this case it's "let's have a 3G auction....then the day before (after months of anticipation), sorry...it's not legal, we can't have one". That's not embarrassing?

How's this one? Let's build an airport, then add all the adequate number of bathrooms later and make fixes that were not anticipated, including a shoddy runway. Not to mention some of the local carriers moving back to Don Muang because of inconveniences.

Or, let's put in an express card for the freeway, only to find out after all the anticipation, that the software doesn't work. That was version 2.0 which lasted, what, one month? Version 1.0 lasted a few years? Now let's see how version 3 goes.

Must I mention the Thai Elite Card? Bangkok Fashion Week?

And it is hilarious that TRUE has had 3G for some while now, so how in the legal world did they get it if licenses are supposed to be auctioned off?

[tomyummer]

An answer to my own question:

Advanced Info Service (AIS) has already launched 3G service on a commercial trial basis using the 900-megahertz frequency granted by TOT. Total Access Communication (DTAC) and TrueMove have each launched 3G service on a non-commercial trial basis using the 850MHz band granted by CAT Telecom.

[rubl]

What the country should be embarrassed about is the constant state of government planning, or rather, lack thereof, whenever it decides to do some project or implement some program. It's a disgrace how they waste our tax money and time in the process of being so 'wishy washy' and incompetent. Absolutely no research, strategic planning or feasibility studies, let alone checking for conflicts of interest within agencies or legalities. Such a darn shame.

In Thailand it's always 'do first and think later'.

To me 'do first' implies we would have it by now. Maybe not standard, maybe inferior, but we'd have it. What you may mean is 'talk first, talk a lot, and let's be happy'

[selftaopath]

Enjoyed your article and would like to comment on something you wrote:

Chuti is correct in saying that having no 3G is not a measure of lagging behind. But the reason is.

Many agree, and would suggest the “reason” can be traced back almost to infancy of Thai individuals. Question: Do parents, teachers, monks teach personal responsibility allowing an individual to experience consequences for their chosen behavior?

I hear so often that Thais love Thailand. Sorry I can not see this in actions.

If Thailand wants “different” it MUST do different.

[selftaopath]

I'm guessing that the vast majority of (rural)Thais don't know about or even care what 3G is, and local politicians can also say that thwarting it means saving jobs and keeping revenue etc. So, it will turn out in their favour. As for the urbanites who are more keenly aware of the issues at sake it is a cause for much shame...but will they finally admit that this can be traced back to the 2007 constitution or the 2006 coup they so heartily supported?

Yes they do - Bangkok is not Thailand, most of Thailand is outside of Bangkok and so are most of the people in Thailand. Being told for ten years you can't have a phone line because one generation of wireless or the next is coming is getting to be a sad song. In fact at this point it is pure BS anyway. We still don't have ether that works and we care. The problem has is and will always be State enterprises like ToT and CAT which don't care about us, and from the angle of your guess work - I guessing you don't really know that much about us ether.

Your going to find that the most upset people over this are the rural left behind, we don't have adsl and other things to drop back on - not even 2g., we have been put off again and again by stories of 3g or what ever and its the solution. I have a s--- Sat connection because I can afford to waste 2400 a month on a 80k service that is supposed to be 512k.

We have taken hundreds of application into ToT for phone service requests from people in this town for years. We should have had phone service ten years ago. We not only care - we are pissed and totally fed up with lame excuses. There is no reason they can't get off their collective ass and hook us up in a week.

The point being the vast majority of people are under served and disregarded. They are also vary aware of the disproportional services granted to the already well served areas.

This issue will cost this government, it is time to get in the bully pulpit and do something.

PS no one is using buffalo out here anymore, you need to get out more. (humor)

I totally agree w/ you Rkasa. TOT will only allow 20 internet connections in the village we live. There are approx. 300 houses and more being built daily. They do not want to do much for customers and are glad to hoard all or most of their profits. Interesting how TOT can offer Satellite internet connections IMMEDIATELY for the fee of Bt 2,500.

People in rural Thailand are feeling increasingly frustrated. They also feel they really don't have any representation from so called "leaders." In America when people felt they were taxed w/out representation they showed their displeasure w/ actions. I despise T.S. and don't like most of the "red shirt" rhetoric, but I'm understanding some of their frustration.

And in my book, LOS stands for Land of Scams or Lack of Sanctions.

[hammered]

Tulsie has been doing some every good editorials and opinions recently.

Things are changing in Thailand now with more and more people questioning the decisions of politicians and that can only be good for the future. Now however, those making the decisions (polticians and their handlers) and those in the entrneched psotions of status quo are resisitant to any change and that spreads right across the political field. Chnage will come but it wont be quick