Don't Bite Off More Than You Can Chew: Thai Editorial

[webfact]

EDITORIAL
Don't bite off more than you can chew
The Nation

Moves to rewrite the constitution could destabilise the government

BANGKOK: -- In politics, it's normal to face battles on many fronts. There's a difference, however, between "having to fight" and "courting a fight". If the Yingluck government, which is stubbornly pursuing its charter amendment and amnesty agendas, crumbles because it tries to bite more than it can chew, it will only have itself to blame. The Bt2-trillion borrowing plan is a tough nut to crack.

Despite its parliamentary supremacy, the government is facing what could be a formidable campaign to challenge the scheme's legality and constitutionality. In addition to that, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra's status could be under threat due to a controversial asset report and how she behaved herself during the recent Bangkok gubernatorial election. Last but not least, an international court verdict on the potentially explosive Preah Vihear Temple conflict between Thailand and Cambodia is a few months away.

In this kind of situation, political wisdom calls for any government with common sense to avoid creating unnecessary trouble. Is drafting a brand-new Constitution necessary? This question stems from a possibly trickier question: Is drafting a brand-new Constitution constitutional? The constitutional question aside, amending the current charter is a huge political risk. The issue could bring thousands or tens of thousands of people onto the street, fuel the already inflammatory political divide and aggravate existing problems that have the potential to be affected by politics. In fact, the planned charter overhaul carries such gigantic political risk that a number of analysts believe the government has only been using it to divert attention from the Bt2-trillion borrowing plan.

Speculation that the government has been using the long-delayed charter revamp plan as a decoy has subsided lately. The government and advocates of constitutional changes have seemed hell-bent on making it happen as soon as they possibly can. Prime Minister Yingluck herself has urged the Constitution Court to "end the impasse", saying the country would not be able to move forward unless Thailand has a charter that can "restore" justice.

Truth is, Thailand won't be able to move forward if the political divide runs deeper, and one way to deepen the divide is introducing constitutional changes that benefit one camp more than the other. Yingluck may argue that the present charter is already doing that, but while the present charter is not bringing protesters onto the streets, abolishing it or drastically rewriting it most likely will.

It will be hard for Yingluck to convince the sceptical portion of the Thai public who suspect that charter changes and amnesty are meant primarily to help her brother, Thaksin. And it will be hard for her government to advocate a "reconciliation" that will keep both the red shirts and the other side happy. To one side, "justice" means Thaksin is legally punished. To the other side, "justice" is punishing those responsible for the Ratchaprasong "massacre".

The government may have been buoyed by the fact that it has managed to implement one controversial agenda to another. The free computer tablet scheme has been implemented despite serious questions being asked, and so have the drastic minimum wage hike and the rice price-pledging programme. Now, the Bt2-trillion borrowing plan has cleared its first major hurdle.

Those issues, however, are within the scope of the government's democratic mandate. Although the staggering borrowing scheme may face constitutional problems, the government can argue that it concerns infrastructure and thus public interest. Whether that is a strong argument, it can soften the blow. The same can't be said about constitutional or legal plans that could positively affect the prime minister's brother. Apart from all the pressing local and economic issues, the deep South is continuing to burn and peace negotiations, or attempts to hold talks to be exact, are at a fledging stage. It's fair to ask why the Yingluck government can't wait for a better time to tackle the political divide whose many aspects may be better left untouched at least for now. If Yingluck is serious about "moving the country forward", she must rethink long and hard.


-- The Nation 2013-04-08

[chainarong]

There's also the problem that backed into a corner they will come out fighting , full of bluster, no direction and up to their ears in stupidity, this could set a dangerous precedent , from people not used to not getting their own way on their own self serving agenda's ,possibly not in the best interests of the good people of Thailand

[Thait Spot]

The man from afar is up to his ears in this

[virtualtraveller]

Following same pattern that lead to the coup, a party blithely following one very determined man who is unwilling to listen to anyone else that gets in his way for total dominance. So he pushes his luck, gets away with it once, gets bolder, pushes his luck some more, suddenly there's a political accident. And then he throws his toys and points to the spoil sport opposition and blames it all on people thwarting democracy. Sometimes the Shinwatras are their own worst enemies, they don't know when to stop pushing their luck. I doubt this govt will see out its full term without something traumatic happening, the establishment have been suffering them patiently despite this govt being an utter farce.

[Locationthailand]

Let them fail. Another coup? Great, the country is going nowhere fast as the PTP and Shin clan continue to weave their tentacles into every little loophole of governance, law and banking, to continue to feather their nest towards abject dictatorship on their messiah's return on the passing of the most revered patriarch. They are just biding their time...

[siampolee]

The problem with biting off more than one can chew is the adverse reactions that follow such an event.

One tends to vomit and the ensuing mess is very unpleasant.

The resultant vomit as a result of the current P.T.P. (Parasites and Ticks Party) maladministration gorging themselves on the second course of the charter amendment menu is going to be extremely unpleasant as it will consist of the Thai people and their feelings regarding this meal.

We have already witnessed the orchestrated sponsored violence intended to overthrow a government and we are now witnessing a determined effort to gorge themselves on the course of absolute power for the head chef, politically and financially by his team of kitchen hands.

The bitter bile of the head chef is indeed a toxic ingredient in this unpalatable meal that is being served up to the people of Thailand, the people are going to reject this meal and the remedy to cure this gorging is going to be a very unpleasant one.

Indeed a bitter pill to swallow as people take to the streets as before then of course the military may well be involved.Indeed the head chef and his kitchen hands have poisoned the Thai people with the presentation of this menu and the courses that have been so far consumed as aperitifs are proving to be a nauseous diet..

Already the symptoms of nausea are showing yet the head chef and his kitchen hands continue to prepare and serve up this obnoxious tainted meal and to hell with the consequences.

It is going to take a lot more than a dose of Milk of Magnesia to cure this digestive problem.

[aussiebebe]

What's the issue here? The government were elected by a majority and they are supposed to operate under a military-backed constitution? I can't fathom the editorial; in a country where the king appoints all the country's judges and insults to the monarch are criminalised, changes to the constitution through democratic avenues are the least of Thailand's worries.

[chainarong]

Let them fail. Another coup? Great, the country is going nowhere fast as the PTP and Shin clan continue to weave their tentacles into every little loophole of governance, law and banking, to continue to feather their nest towards abject dictatorship on their messiah's return on the passing of the most revered patriarch. They are just biding their time...

At the end of the day the only possible course of action will be another coup LT.They're up to their old tricks again, never learned from history

[Chang_paarp]

What's the issue here? The government were elected by a majority and they are supposed to operate under a military-backed constitution? I can't fathom the editorial; in a country where the king appoints all the country's judges and insults to the monarch are criminalised, changes to the constitution through democratic avenues are the least of Thailand's worries.

The constitution was put together by a bunch of appointed and elected people, then ratified by a referendum.

The judges are appointed by the government of the day and ratified by the monarch. They have a bad habit of actually reading the law and interpreting the words of the laws not they the vested interests want them too.

The current crisis is being brought about by the desire to change a constitution that has been ratified by a referendum. I think, once the proposed changes have passed parliament and senate they will need to go to a referendum to be ratified by the populace as parliament and the senate do not have the authority to alter the constitution. This part is being ignored as many think it is a mere rubber stamping of their desired results. It will be interesting to see the outcome of this.

[billd766]

There is an old Chinese proverb or curse saying "May you live in intersting times".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_you_live_in_interesting_times

Sadly that is where I think Thailand is heading on a ship without a rudder.

[PeaceBlondie]

"The government were elected by a majority." PT 47%,

[ThailandNoob]

What's the issue here? The government were elected by a majority and they are supposed to operate under a military-backed constitution? I can't fathom the editorial; in a country where the king appoints all the country's judges and insults to the monarch are criminalised, changes to the constitution through democratic avenues are the least of Thailand's worries.

The constitution was put together by a bunch of appointed and elected people, then ratified by a referendum.

The judges are appointed by the government of the day and ratified by the monarch. They have a bad habit of actually reading the law and interpreting the words of the laws not they the vested interests want them too.

The current crisis is being brought about by the desire to change a constitution that has been ratified by a referendum. I think, once the proposed changes have passed parliament and senate they will need to go to a referendum to be ratified by the populace as parliament and the senate do not have the authority to alter the constitution. This part is being ignored as many think it is a mere rubber stamping of their desired results. It will be interesting to see the outcome of this.

The constitution was forced onto the Thai people at gunpoint, and ratified by a referendum where the military made it clear that they would impose another one of their choosing if the Thai people voted no to it.

Judges have a bad habit of interpreting laws in ways that favour the vested interests that appointed them.

I totally agree with you that these changes should be put to a referendum (except this time the military should step back and not flex its muscles to tell people which way to vote). However I believe that they will be approved by a strong majority of the Thai population. Why else did people vote in a "clone" of Thaksin as Prime Minister if not in the hope that she would make these kind of changes?

[backtonormal]

Let them fail. Another coup? Great, the country is going nowhere fast as the PTP and Shin clan continue to weave their tentacles into every little loophole of governance, law and banking, to continue to feather their nest towards abject dictatorship on their messiah's return on the passing of the most revered patriarch. They are just biding their time...

Another coup advocator . You just dont get it. Thailands on the economic rise, just ask those who matter from other major economies, and you and your facist clan want to take us back to the dark ages. You call for coups like it ordering another beer. There is no more bloodless coups, next time its civil war and nobody wants that, except maybe you. So much cr4p from one keyboard..is it possible

[backtonormal]

"The government were elected by a majority." PT 47%,

100 more seats than Dems and only formed a coalition to cushion some defectors who get them offers you cant refuse from higher places. Magaret thatcher once won an election with about 35% of the electoral vote. next

[khunken]

What's the issue here? The government were elected by a majority and they are supposed to operate under a military-backed constitution? I can't fathom the editorial; in a country where the king appoints all the country's judges and insults to the monarch are criminalised, changes to the constitution through democratic avenues are the least of Thailand's worries.

The constitution was put together by a bunch of appointed and elected people, then ratified by a referendum.

The judges are appointed by the government of the day and ratified by the monarch. They have a bad habit of actually reading the law and interpreting the words of the laws not they the vested interests want them too.

The current crisis is being brought about by the desire to change a constitution that has been ratified by a referendum. I think, once the proposed changes have passed parliament and senate they will need to go to a referendum to be ratified by the populace as parliament and the senate do not have the authority to alter the constitution. This part is being ignored as many think it is a mere rubber stamping of their desired results. It will be interesting to see the outcome of this.

The constitution was forced onto the Thai people at gunpoint, and ratified by a referendum where the military made it clear that they would impose another one of their choosing if the Thai people voted no to it.

Judges have a bad habit of interpreting laws in ways that favour the vested interests that appointed them.

I totally agree with you that these changes should be put to a referendum (except this time the military should step back and not flex its muscles to tell people which way to vote). However I believe that they will be approved by a strong majority of the Thai population. Why else did people vote in a "clone" of Thaksin as Prime Minister if not in the hope that she would make these kind of changes?

Ah, another history re-writer.

People forced at gunpoint to accept the refendum: absolute rubbish. The appointed government of the time mandated no campaigning either for or against & the referendum was probably the cleanest in Thailand's history. No vote buying. no red-shirt intimidation & no populist promises.

Currently, judges of important counts - such as the CC & Admin Court - are standing between a 'do what we like because we got (bought?) the most votes' party and what is good for ALL people in the country.

Why did people vote for Yingluck? No, it wasn't anything to do with the constitution, but rice subsidies, first car subsidies, first house subsidies, free bus & train rides & so on. The constitution is being amended to suit PTP & ultimately their dear leader.

Constitutions are for the people, by the people - except in countries with a low level of democracy.

[BrianCR]

Let them fail. Another coup? Great, the country is going nowhere fast as the PTP and Shin clan continue to weave their tentacles into every little loophole of governance, law and banking, to continue to feather their nest towards abject dictatorship on their messiah's return on the passing of the most revered patriarch. They are just biding their time...

At the end of the day the only possible course of action will be another coup LT.They're up to their old tricks again, never learned from history

If any of us learned anything from history it's that history never teaches us anything!

[Dap]

"The government were elected by a majority." PT 47%,

Never was/were that good at math.

[ThailandNoob]

What's the issue here? The government were elected by a majority and they are supposed to operate under a military-backed constitution? I can't fathom the editorial; in a country where the king appoints all the country's judges and insults to the monarch are criminalised, changes to the constitution through democratic avenues are the least of Thailand's worries.

The constitution was put together by a bunch of appointed and elected people, then ratified by a referendum.

The judges are appointed by the government of the day and ratified by the monarch. They have a bad habit of actually reading the law and interpreting the words of the laws not they the vested interests want them too.

The current crisis is being brought about by the desire to change a constitution that has been ratified by a referendum. I think, once the proposed changes have passed parliament and senate they will need to go to a referendum to be ratified by the populace as parliament and the senate do not have the authority to alter the constitution. This part is being ignored as many think it is a mere rubber stamping of their desired results. It will be interesting to see the outcome of this.

The constitution was forced onto the Thai people at gunpoint, and ratified by a referendum where the military made it clear that they would impose another one of their choosing if the Thai people voted no to it.

Judges have a bad habit of interpreting laws in ways that favour the vested interests that appointed them.

I totally agree with you that these changes should be put to a referendum (except this time the military should step back and not flex its muscles to tell people which way to vote). However I believe that they will be approved by a strong majority of the Thai population. Why else did people vote in a "clone" of Thaksin as Prime Minister if not in the hope that she would make these kind of changes?

Ah, another history re-writer.

People forced at gunpoint to accept the refendum: absolute rubbish. The appointed government of the time mandated no campaigning either for or against & the referendum was probably the cleanest in Thailand's history. No vote buying. no red-shirt intimidation & no populist promises.

Currently, judges of important counts - such as the CC & Admin Court - are standing between a 'do what we like because we got (bought?) the most votes' party and what is good for ALL people in the country.

Why did people vote for Yingluck? No, it wasn't anything to do with the constitution, but rice subsidies, first car subsidies, first house subsidies, free bus & train rides & so on. The constitution is being amended to suit PTP & ultimately their dear leader.

Constitutions are for the people, by the people - except in countries with a low level of democracy.

Who is re-writing history here? You say that "The appointed government of the time mandated no campaigning either for or against"? And yet the military junta made it clear that if the constitution was rejected, they would impose one of their choosing and that there would be no elections. To me, this sounds a lot like intimidation, dictating terms to the Thai people from behind the barrel of a gun.

What about ISOC sending hordes of door-knockers across the country so that "people wouldn't be tricked into voting against the constitution"? Couple that with a draconian law banning criticism of the proposed constitution (which the general Thai people had little input in making, as the body that created it was appointed by the junta) on pain of a decade in prison, and I fail to see how you could call the process clean.

Yes a lot of Pheu Thai's policies were simply designed to get votes. All political parties that want to win democratic elections do this to some extent, even in the West. That is the price we pay for democracy. But what is the alternative? History shows that whenever an unelected elite seize power, even if they claim to have done it for the sake of benefiting the masses (by making more long-sighted decisions or for similar reasons), in the end, they only end up benefiting themselves. Look how military spending ballooned under the junta for an example. While I think Yingluck went overboard with the tablet PCs, I don't see why Thailand needed to spend money expanding its air-force, which is already more advanced than that of any of the surrounding countries. As Winston Churchill said, democracy is the worst form of government, except for all of the others.

You're assertion that it is possible for a country to "have a low level of democracy", implying that the people of a country can be incapable of deciding what they want and therefore need to be leave the decision making up to their betters, is the exact same line of reasoning used by fascists to justify their actions. Since you seem to believe that the military has some sort of divine right to influence politics, I would suggest that you move to Burma. Except that the way things are going, maybe soon there will be more freedom there than in Thailand.

[MichaelJohn]

Reading the comments here show me that the farang community is as strongly divided as the Thai people over Thai politics!

[BrianCR]

Reading the comments here show me that the farang community is as strongly divided as the Thai people over Thai politics!

Yes, quite true but, most have no idea what they are talking about!