Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen Calls On Thai Govt To Address Civil Participation

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NOBEL LAUREATE

Amartya Sen calls on govt to address civil participation

By Pongpon Sarnsamak

The Nation

To reduce the social gap and inequalities in society, Thailand needs to address the importance of civil participation in development as a path towards true democracy, Asia's first Nobel laureate for economics, Professor Amartya Sen, said yesterday.

Like many countries in the world, Thailand has its share of social inequalities - region, class, gender, religion, community and health - which have led to discontent and violent confrontation, Sen said.

Spatial disparities, such as the division between urban and rural areas, were among the factors that caused inequality around the world. They could provide a common basis for social discontent and must be addressed through dialogue and by systematically addressing problems together.

The second gap was the class division, which was another one of the sources of inequality in the world.

The division between rich and poor in Thailand was no smaller than in other countries in the region or elsewhere in the world. The old problem needed to be recognised.

Economic and social divisions related to class not only caused inequality in economic and social freedom, they could also lead to huge differences in health and longevity.

The third gap was gender. Though inequality between women and men may be less pronounced in Thailand in some fields than in other countries in the region, it was still very large in terms of social and economic opportunity and advancement in professional life.

The fourth gap concerned political voice. Dialogue could bring understanding of this neglected problem forward. This would make a huge contribution to the benefit of the country.

These multidimensional problems require dialogue and the participation of all parties across the political, ideological and social divide. At the same time, attempts to solve problems of inequality must also be multidimensional, Sen said.

"We have to put our heads together and identify what can be and often are sources of inequality that may be particularly important for a particular country, regionality, class, gender, community or disability," he added.

Sen was speaking at the closing ceremony of the Third National Health Assembly 2010 at the United Nations building in Bangkok. He was one of Time magazine's 100 most influential thinkers in the world for his introduction of the concept of the Human Development Index to United Nations development programmes.

He said the National Health Assembly (NHA) was an excellent vehicle for open but organised dialogue where problems were realistically and integratively considered. It was important that the participatory procedures of the NHA and its resolutions were recognised by all sectors in society, so that voices - such as that of a representative of ethnic minorities in Chiang Mai - could be heard and their problems addressed.

-- The Nation 2010-12-18

[mkawish]

Did Amartya Sen

also wisely propose as to HOW all these can be accomplished in a more grassroot practical and applicable methodologies?

Or is it just an academic issues more or less?

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Get tough wIth junta: Sen

By Manote Tripathi

The Nation

Nobel laureates says Chinese, Indian and Thai businessmen making money while Burmese people suffer

Nobel laureate Amartya Sen has encouraged China, India and Thailand to re-examine their policies on Burma, which have done little to curb the "insanely dictatorial" Burmese junta.

During his visit to Bangkok last week, the 1998 Nobel laureate in economics didn't mince words when he met Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and criticised his ineffective policy towards Burma.

"Well, I criticised every establishment and government's Burma policy. I always like to criticise my close friends such as Indian PM Manmohan Singh. I feel at home here and I'm a great admirer of Thailand, but that doesn't stop me from criticising Thailand's Burma policy. I talked to Abhisit about the problems of Thailand, of the world. I told him both India's and Thailand's Burma policies are at fault. Abhisit laughs, then says he understands why I say that.

"I'm being mean here, but I

think the Chinese, Indians and

Thais are making a lot of money

out of the Burmese people by keeping it under dictatorial hands. The suffering public is the Burmese. The gainers are the Chinese, Thai and Indian businessmen," he said.

The 77-year-old teacher of economics and philosophy at Harvard University insisted that Thailand, China and India are to blame for continuing to prop up the Burmese junta by maintaining business connections with the generals and for not doing enough in the interest of democracy. The generals deserve a harsher reaction from the world due to their never-ending barbarity and insanity, he said.

"Myanmar is a hell-hole version of old Burma," he said. "They are treating their country with barbarity, rape, murder and displacement of minority groups who continue to be pushed out of their country. It's a dreadful situation."

What's more dreadful is the regime's ongoing trade relations with many countries, he said. Thailand, India, China as well as major Western countries still keep up business connections with the generals.

"The generals have their own national interests. But protecting national interests, as it were, at the cost of the Burmese people is not the right thing to do. I will say that to China, too, if I have a chance."

Targeted sanctions against Burma, as opposed to the existing general sanctions, which he said have been ineffective, should be adopted by countries. The general sanctions have hurt the people, he said, adding he expects stronger restrictions on trade in specific sectors like armaments, gems, petroleum and garments. Financial restrictions on large transactions would also help.

"Just restrictions on areas that are of particular interest to the ruler," he said. "[Aung San] Suu Kyi could play a vital role on this [targeted sanctions] as she wants change. Then there is the question of travel by the generals and those associated with them. The Burmese leaders do want to travel overseas for medical treatment and pleasure. There has to be a sanction on overseas travel against these people."

Sen recommends Thailand and other countries in Asia and the West to join in supporting the targeted sanctions. There's no question that China is the biggest player in Burma and China needs to rethink its Burma, policies as should India, Thailand as well as Western countries with business interests in Burma, he said.

"The Europeans and Americans are very high on the tower, but they haven't withdrawn from the oil and gas trade and gems business in Burma. If the Europeans and Americans clamp down on financial transactions involving the generals and their associates, then Myanmar will be in extreme difficulty. It will work if you're willing to do it.

"You see what's happening? The Americans, British, French and Germans keep lecturing Thailand, India and China for not doing the right thing. But they don't do it either. I'm accusing the West of being a hypocrite."

Sen also proposes that Thailand and other countries work together to support the UN inquiry into the recent "badly rigged elections as well as the ongoing Burmese atrocities".

"What's the point of having an election when you cannot criticise the policy of the generals and when many in the opposition remain in jail? People vote out of fear, not out of hope," he said.

"We need a global Burmese policy. We need many voices for that to work. We need to remember that ultimately dictators will fall even though it takes a bit of time.

Read Amartya Sen's article on "10 Things We Can Do About Burma" to be published in The Nation soon.

-- The Nation 2010-12-20

[Credo]

It's good to hear someone call a spade a spade.  Conditions in Myanmar continue to get worse for the people.  I wonder how long Su Kyii will last before she's thrown back  under House Arrest?

[mkawish]

So,

after having been listening to him,

what have all these Asiatic neighboring countries done for

Burma and her citizen in particular?

Any one taking any hint or responsibility attempting to use the locals to upstage their own govt?

By providing hardwares and leaders to regain democracy for the Burmese populace?

It would be extremely interesting to see, if any has the humanitarian gut to initiate an action?