Thailand spins in its own circle: Opinion

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STREETWISE
Thailand spins in its own circle
Achara Deboonme



BANGKOK: -- On the night of June 15, I caught a flight to Bonn, Germany, to attend a global media forum hosted by Deutsche Welle, an independent German broadcaster funded through public taxes just like Thai PBS.

It was no big surprise when I returned home on June 20. News headlines were just like five days earlier. What else could they be but the rice price-pledging scheme and luxury car foreclosures. Somehow it was like the world was moving forward, but time in Thailand just stood still.

The atmosphere in Bonn, capital of the old West Germany, was lively during the first three days of the week. Hundreds of participants at the Deutsche Well Global Media Forum filled up hotel rooms there. At the World Conference Centre, the old Bundestag building, participants from Brazil to Indonesia were engaged in a number of thought-provoking sessions.

In a country like Thailand, gross domestic product (GDP) seems to be the most tangible measurement of the country's economic wellbeing. At the forum, a discussion was dedicated to other indicators we could use to measure and ensure sustainable economic development. One session was dedicated to the role of religions in addressing the greed-driven global crisis.

Some participants would have said the forum's highlight was when Avram Noam Chomsky gave a keynote speech on the first day. Widely considered to be the intellectual father of the Occupy movement, the renowned US linguist and philosopher won loud applause from the audience when he outlined the "conspiracy theory" that paralyses today's democracy. He was offering comments up until participants boarded a cruise boat for dinner on the Rhine.

This reminded me of the appearance of Aung San Suu Kyi at the World Economic Forum on East Asia 2012 and 2013. She stole all the attention. All the photographers wanted to get a good photo of her, while reporters lined up to fire off questions.

But I would say the real highlight of the Bonn event was when Vandana Shiva, an activist from India, took the stage on the last day to deliver her speech on "Values for a Globalised World." With her powerful voice and unique charisma, she convinced the audience why we must take better care of our environment. She started her speech by describing the struggle of women near the Yamuna River against logging, only to win the battle years later after the area suffered from serious flooding. To her, the world still enjoys cheap shirts because actual costs are not taken into account. Her message is that only when all species on earth are taken care of will a real earth democracy be created. "Human rights is the derivative of the rights of the earth," she said.

The forum featured a total of 54 workshops, mostly designed to discuss how sustainability can be achieved when it comes to food and energy security as well as urbanisation. Brilliant solutions were floated, but all those thought-provoking ideas seemed so far away as soon as I arrived back in Bangkok. All the inspiration I'd gained from the three-day event was killed right after I scanned through the newspaper headlines.

Yes, the National Rice Policy Committee, chaired by Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, has conceded that the price pledging must be changed. For weeks, the Thai media asserted its role in piling up great pressure on the government to amend the pledging formula. Now that the price has been lowered from Bt15,000 a tonne to Bt12,000, the focus is on disgruntled farmers. Newspapers ran reports on planned demonstrations. One TV programme on June 20 interviewed a farmer. He said that even at the previous price, farmers benefitted little, with high costs including for pricey fertilisers. He said farmers now earn only Bt7,000 per tonne for all their hard work.

Another headline was about foreclosures on luxury cars, following illegal tariff declarations.

Soon, more news on the "white mask" anti-government demonstrations will flare up, particularly before the parliamentary session resumes in August.

At the global level, stock markets fell as the US Federal Reserve announced that quantitative easing would end in 2013, ahead of the previous expectation of 2014.

It seems that Thailand and the whole world is living so far away from the "sustainability" concept.

To be honest, how many people in the world really care about sustainability? Participants at the Bonn forum on the first day enjoyed a free flow of drinks while they were on the boat trip. Staff who manned the bar were kept busy opening bottles of wine. Here and there, the sound of breaking glass was heard. On the next day, at the workshops, they were told that some billion people still have no access to electricity.

Thailand is spinning in its own circle. I guess the world is also spinning in its own circle too.


-- The Nation 2013-06-25

[NongKhaiKid]

No, Thailand is doing just fine and the rest of the world is spinning into a mess.

As the proud mum said at the army pass out parade " look, everyone is out of step but our Johnny ! "

[winstonc]

an interesting article,well written ,,,,not nuch more to add really,,,,,

[NongKhaiKid]

an interesting article,well written ,,,,not nuch more to add really,,,,,

The problem here is always trying to change perceptions and only those who are a little more wordily wise see the reality.

[bigbamboo]

Yep, just another groundhog day at the trough!

[Thai at Heart]

I think the writer should do the right thing and not bother to attend such utterly hypocritical meetings.

[gerrythepoet]

When two circles meet and overlap you have an intersection with a common interest. A Venn diagram comes to play. There is meaning in the article, it is surprisingly well written for the Nation and it seems to glow with a contrite heart.

[bigbamboo]

It's hardly surprising that the country's de facto leader Thaksin is keeping a very low profile just now considering his current performance:

His party has managed to lose two eminently winnable elections.

He has single handedly ruined Thailand's pride and joy, it's previously unsurpassed rice industry.

His government's record of corruption and incompetence means no one will lend the money required for his grand mega projects.

His government's lack of transparency will soon result in a credit ratings downgrade.

He's even managed to anger his own supporters by reducing the rice pledging handouts.

Never mind a reshuffle it's a few aces he needs to produce from somewhere and they are in very short supply in Thai politics.

Edited June 25, 2013 by bigbamboo

[Pib]

The laws of physics and behavior are different in the little Thai universe.

[A Member]

It's hardly surprising that the country's de facto leader Thaksin is keeping a very low profile just now considering his current performance:

His party has managed to lose two eminently winnable elections.

He has single handedly ruined Thailand's pride and joy, it's previously unsurpassed rice industry.

His government's record of corruption and incompetence means no one will lend the money required for his grand mega projects.

His government's lack of transparency will soon result in a credit ratings downgrade.

He's even managed to anger his own supporters by reducing the rice pledging handouts.

Never mind a reshuffle it's a few aces he needs to produce from somewhere and they are in very short supply in Thai politics.

A very nice summary.

[samjaidee]

I think the writer should do the right thing and not bother to attend such utterly hypocritical meetings.

Would you care to elaborate as to why you think a meeting such as this is hypocritical?

Do you really believe that all the people attending this meeting are pretending to have moral standards or opinions that they to not actually have?

Living in Asia has made me more cynical but that cynicism is based on the experience of living here. Your apparently cynical view of this meeting is based on what?

[Bellweather]

I think the writer should do the right thing and not bother to attend such utterly hypocritical meetings.

Would you care to elaborate as to why you think a meeting such as this is hypocritical?

Do you really believe that all the people attending this meeting are pretending to have moral standards or opinions that they to not actually have?

Living in Asia has made me more cynical but that cynicism is based on the experience of living here. Your apparently cynical view of this meeting is based on what?

It's hard to tell directly from the article but did the author indulge in the freebies and then imply criticism of the others who did too ?

[Vinny1967]

I'm not sure why everybody blames Thaksin for the state of the country.It's been like this for about 20 odd years now.Thailand has it's head so far up it's ass that it will take a major rethink and reorganization of thai politics before this country starts moving forward again.

Thailand has this perception that it's the jewel in the asian crown.They have this notion that nobody can touch them.Well the thai people better wake up because it won't be long before the neighbouring countries start overtaking them.I predict that many of the larger companies,like car manufacturers will soon shift all operations to Burma,where employment will be cheaper.

[Briggsy]

Everything in Thailand is subsumed to the never-ending battle for naked power and immense wealth as a tiny section of society, literally less than 50 family dynasties, hold on to it and try to amass more. Any other debate or topic is drowned out by this.

Think behind every major story in the Thai press and it is always there.

[MikeOboe57]

The laws of physics and behavior are different in the little Thai universe.

Of course, that is why "water-pushing-machines" work very efficiently here and nowhere else in the world.

[gohmer]

Good article. Too bad there's not many in this forum who can understand it. There's always the stooge that brings it back to blaming Thaksin. It was said above, "the people voted". That is right, the people voted. Nowhere in the Democratic manual does it say that you have to vote for the best, smartest, or whatever. You vote for who you want. If the majority votes for Thaksin, or his proxy, then they get their turn at the wheel. If they screw up, the people will vote for someone else next time. The key point, is they get to vote and you stooges that keep complaining about the results need to just <deleted>.

Back to the article. The most brilliant part of the story was where Vandana Shiva talked about valuing everything. This is not new, but it really needs to get traction. In 1992, a Professor from Australia and an Economist from World Bank wrote a book called "Valuing the Earth". You can actually buy it for $1.99 on Amazon. It is a great education on how messed up our current economic model is and how most of the worlds problems could be solved by simply proper valuation. I'm from the state of Oregon in the US. I can give you a perfect example of this. Back in the '70s and '80s, Oregon was the #1 timber producer in the US. 50% of the entire state, which is the same exact size as New Zealand is owned by the government with vast stands of mature and "old growth" timber. Huge timber companies also own vast swaths of timber lands. The timber companies would bid on the cheaper government timber at auctions and save their own for a rainy day. When the timber companies logged the land, they would do this in a clear cut fashion leaving nothing but stomps, even on the side of steep mountains. When the rains came, the dirt washed into the creeks, streams, and rivers, silting over vast stretches of native Salmon and Steelhead spawning grounds. This nearly drove this major fishery into extinction. The fishing industry was decimated the price of Salmon in the stores went up 3, 4, 5 fold, and thousands upon thousands of people in the fishing industry lost their jobs. The Oregon coast became a stretch of rural poverty as a result of this.

Now, the price of wood was kept cheap because the timber company didn't have to price into their product the cost of the destruction to the fishery and other costs associated with the destruction of wildlife habitat. If they did, the price of houses would have gone up; therefore causing people to build smaller, more energy friendly homes. This would have also caused the timber companies to change the fashion in which they harvested the timber so that they didn't have to pay for the destruction of the environment. Oregon would have had two prosperous industries instead of just one.

The best thing that could happen to Thailand is that they abandon an outdated political model of the parliamentary system. It does not allow for proper checks and balances and is not responsive enough to its citizens. But good luck with that one.

Edited June 25, 2013 by gohmer

[Briggsy]

The best thing that could happen to Thailand is that they abandon an outdated political model of the parliamentary system. It does not allow for proper checks and balances and is not responsive enough to its citizens. But good luck with that one.

Very good post.

The 1997 constitution attempted to do precisely what you stated. It introduced numerous checks and balances and entities which would enforce this. However it was swiftly emasculated and sidelined by a variety of methods by the ruling party and other entrenched vested interests.

One needs to go deeper than the political processes and legislation and look at Thailand's culture. A more perfect example of a country run along the lines of a patronage system would be hard to find. So, in order to introduce checks and balances one needs to dismantle or, at least, suppress the influence of the patronage system. And as you also stated, good luck with that one.

[Thai at Heart]

I think the writer should do the right thing and not bother to attend such utterly hypocritical meetings.

Would you care to elaborate as to why you think a meeting such as this is hypocritical?

Do you really believe that all the people attending this meeting are pretending to have moral standards or opinions that they to not actually have?

Living in Asia has made me more cynical but that cynicism is based on the experience of living here. Your apparently cynical view of this meeting is based on what?

Flying on a freebie to Europe to learn about poverty in the developing world.

Couldn't they have teleconferences? Did she plant a few trees to offset her carbon for the plane?

[animatic]

It's hardly surprising that the country's de facto leader Thaksin is keeping a very low profile just now considering his current performance:

His party has managed to lose two eminently winnable elections.

He has single handedly ruined Thailand's pride and joy, it's previously unsurpassed rice industry.

His government's record of corruption and incompetence means no one will lend the money required for his grand mega projects.

His government's lack of transparency will soon result in a credit ratings downgrade.

He's even managed to anger his own supporters by reducing the rice pledging handouts.

Never mind a reshuffle it's a few aces he needs to produce from somewhere and they are in very short supply in Thai politics.

Aces? Hitting aces assumes that anyone can get it over the net, and that seems to be less than a handful who even could.

But that handful has baggage like steamer trunks to carry in their arms, let alone lift a racket and take a swing.

Thaksin should be keeping a low profile, because none,

not one of his inititatives has come to fruition,

not without horrible knock on effects that will be felt into the future.

Even the Japanese with manufacturing plants to save, won't make loans,

for this water project, because they can see the defaults coming.

That's quite damning.

Edited June 25, 2013 by animatic

[animatic]

The best thing that could happen to Thailand is that they abandon an outdated political model of the parliamentary system. It does not allow for proper checks and balances and is not responsive enough to its citizens. But good luck with that one.

Very good post.

The 1997 constitution attempted to do precisely what you stated. It introduced numerous checks and balances and entities which would enforce this. However it was swiftly emasculated and sidelined by a variety of methods by the ruling party and other entrenched vested interests.

One needs to go deeper than the political processes and legislation and look at Thailand's culture. A more perfect example of a country run along the lines of a patronage system would be hard to find. So, in order to introduce checks and balances one needs to dismantle or, at least, suppress the influence of the patronage system. And as you also stated, good luck with that one.

Until the 'kow tow culture' is well and truly diminished, there is little hope that the removal of the mindless need of making and saving face at all costs,' via profits and backhanders and subjugating the poor, will let this country breath freely for all in the future. Feudalism is not dead, it is here in full strength and measure.

And don't for a minute imagine the carrot that Thaksin has waved in front of the poor, or the Red Shirts calls for their mis-understood 'democrazy' version of democratic processes are what this diminishing actually must be.

When you can only be content when you are richer, better housed, or have the better cellphone and car than anyone else you know, then there is ALWAYS someone above you, and you must always bow lower to them and you will ALWAYS FEEL lower than them.

In this cultural situation you can never be actually happy.

This is the cultural root of Thailands political problems.

Edited June 25, 2013 by animatic

[yoshiwara]

I'm not sure why everybody blames Thaksin for the state of the country.It's been like this for about 20 odd years now.Thailand has it's head so far up it's ass that it will take a major rethink and reorganization of thai politics before this country starts moving forward again.

Thailand has this perception that it's the jewel in the asian crown.They have this notion that nobody can touch them.Well the thai people better wake up because it won't be long before the neighbouring countries start overtaking them.I predict that many of the larger companies,like car manufacturers will soon shift all operations to Burma,where employment will be cheaper.

Thaksin is a part of the problem not the solution. Re the car industry why not research Japanese investment plans rather than pulling rabbits out of your hat?

[Baerboxer]

Good article. Too bad there's not many in this forum who can understand it. There's always the stooge that brings it back to blaming Thaksin. It was said above, "the people voted". That is right, the people voted. Nowhere in the Democratic manual does it say that you have to vote for the best, smartest, or whatever. You vote for who you want. If the majority votes for Thaksin, or his proxy, then they get their turn at the wheel. If they screw up, the people will vote for someone else next time. The key point, is they get to vote and you stooges that keep complaining about the results need to just <deleted>.

Back to the article. The most brilliant part of the story was where Vandana Shiva talked about valuing everything. This is not new, but it really needs to get traction. In 1992, a Professor from Australia and an Economist from World Bank wrote a book called "Valuing the Earth". You can actually buy it for $1.99 on Amazon. It is a great education on how messed up our current economic model is and how most of the worlds problems could be solved by simply proper valuation. I'm from the state of Oregon in the US. I can give you a perfect example of this. Back in the '70s and '80s, Oregon was the #1 timber producer in the US. 50% of the entire state, which is the same exact size as New Zealand is owned by the government with vast stands of mature and "old growth" timber. Huge timber companies also own vast swaths of timber lands. The timber companies would bid on the cheaper government timber at auctions and save their own for a rainy day. When the timber companies logged the land, they would do this in a clear cut fashion leaving nothing but stomps, even on the side of steep mountains. When the rains came, the dirt washed into the creeks, streams, and rivers, silting over vast stretches of native Salmon and Steelhead spawning grounds. This nearly drove this major fishery into extinction. The fishing industry was decimated the price of Salmon in the stores went up 3, 4, 5 fold, and thousands upon thousands of people in the fishing industry lost their jobs. The Oregon coast became a stretch of rural poverty as a result of this.

Now, the price of wood was kept cheap because the timber company didn't have to price into their product the cost of the destruction to the fishery and other costs associated with the destruction of wildlife habitat. If they did, the price of houses would have gone up; therefore causing people to build smaller, more energy friendly homes. This would have also caused the timber companies to change the fashion in which they harvested the timber so that they didn't have to pay for the destruction of the environment. Oregon would have had two prosperous industries instead of just one.

The best thing that could happen to Thailand is that they abandon an outdated political model of the parliamentary system. It does not allow for proper checks and balances and is not responsive enough to its citizens. But good luck with that one.

I guess were just so lucky to have a presumptive and opinionated genius like you on the forum to explain all this to us.

I presume you also advocate your own country abandoning an outdated political model? Why don't you go back and occupy Wall Street or start an environmental tea party?

The world is full of stories about governments and big business screwing the environment - do you really think they'll all change? Not while there are massive gaps in standards of living, human rights, consumer greed, corruption and poverty.

Have a look at the results of the last election here and see what "size" the majority the current government got. Here's a tip - check what % of eledgible voters voted, and then what % of those that voted actually voted for PTP. Now see if the numbers reperesent a majority to you.

Edited June 25, 2013 by Baerboxer

[Baerboxer]

I think the writer should do the right thing and not bother to attend such utterly hypocritical meetings.

Would you care to elaborate as to why you think a meeting such as this is hypocritical?

Do you really believe that all the people attending this meeting are pretending to have moral standards or opinions that they to not actually have?

Living in Asia has made me more cynical but that cynicism is based on the experience of living here. Your apparently cynical view of this meeting is based on what?

Flying on a freebie to Europe to learn about poverty in the developing world.

Couldn't they have teleconferences? Did she plant a few trees to offset her carbon for the plane?

You are right. But environmentalists are like politicians and religious zealots - they want to lay the law down, but the rules don't apply to them!

Nice food and wine on the Rhine, comfy hotels - and let's talk about saving the world. Wonder how much ever gets implemented following one of these conferences?

Imagine telling Yingluck she can't charter any more planes or travel so often because of her carbon footprint !!

[Noistar]

It is convenient for the Thai version of democracy, that Thailand sees everything as Thai and non-Thai. They do not appear to be part of anything, just 'Thailand'.

As soon as something can mimic the Thai obsession of me, me, me, money, money, money, it's like a Thai woman wanting a Farang.

Thailand is very keen to be part of ASEAN, but this appears to be based on the assumption that Thailand remains intact. The realisation that Thai professional employment would be at risk was not fully appreciated.

Economically, proficient business leaders will benefit Thailand, but Thai culture firmly states that ability is not a good reason to be given a senior job.

I read that Thailand has reassured the people with a 'don't worry, we'll limit the number of non-Thai professionals'.

Is there anything (positive) that Thailand can give the world? The world sees Thailand as an opportunity to expand its business. Thailand sees the rest of the world as a dumping ground for its exports and is scared stiff of the 'invaders'.

Mind you, why worry? Until the Reconciliation Bill is forced on the country, globalization of Thailand isn't even on the radar.

Humblest opinion etc.

[phupaman]

Hi All.

Individual persons owning Political parties.

Standard of polititians education.

No immunity for anyone.

Amassive clearout in the RTP at the top. Should be priority for any new Government.

Also although Charlerm declares himself a super sleuth, how is it he fails to connect the near fatal attack on the young Dem Lawyer Ramet, and the murder of this wealthy man Ekkayuth i is it just coincidense that they both issued Law suits against the Chief of police??.

[rametindallas]

I think the writer should do the right thing and not bother to attend such utterly hypocritical meetings.

Would you care to elaborate as to why you think a meeting such as this is hypocritical?

Do you really believe that all the people attending this meeting are pretending to have moral standards or opinions that they to not actually have?

Living in Asia has made me more cynical but that cynicism is based on the experience of living here. Your apparently cynical view of this meeting is based on what?

Since a large part of the conference centered on when counting the cost/benefit of successes, one should factor in the damage to the Earth, the hypocrisy comes from flying in jet aircraft and staying in hotels and otherwise unnecessarily consuming resources when the whole conference could have been done over Skype or something similar. The same hypocrisy Global Warming Conferences are famous for considering the number of private jets in attendance. Hell, Dr. Thaksin runs the entire government over Skype. Correct me if I am off-base here, Thai at Heart.

[rametindallas]

I'm not sure why everybody blames Thaksin for the state of the country.It's been like this for about 20 odd years now.Thailand has it's head so far up it's ass that it will take a major rethink and reorganization of thai politics before this country starts moving forward again.

Thailand has this perception that it's the jewel in the asian crown.They have this notion that nobody can touch them.Well the thai people better wake up because it won't be long before the neighbouring countries start overtaking them.I predict that many of the larger companies,like car manufacturers will soon shift all operations to Burma,where employment will be cheaper.

I wouldn't say Thailand's neighbors are beacons of freedom, democracy, or economic excellence.

[rametindallas]

Everything in Thailand is subsumed to the never-ending battle for naked power and immense wealth as a tiny section of society, literally less than 50 family dynasties, hold on to it and try to amass more. Any other debate or topic is drowned out by this.

Think behind every major story in the Thai press and it is always there.

Fascinating to watch, isn't it? The corruption in the U.S. is way worse but you can't see it easily. In Thailand it is open for even the casual observer to see. Thai politics is better than any serial television show I have ever watched.

[kimamey]

I'm not sure why everybody blames Thaksin for the state of the country.It's been like this for about 20 odd years now.Thailand has it's head so far up it's ass that it will take a major rethink and reorganization of thai politics before this country starts moving forward again.

Thailand has this perception that it's the jewel in the asian crown.They have this notion that nobody can touch them.Well the thai people better wake up because it won't be long before the neighbouring countries start overtaking them.I predict that many of the larger companies,like car manufacturers will soon shift all operations to Burma,where employment will be cheaper.

We are often told that the Democrats haven't won an election for 19 years. For a lot of that time the government has been either under Thaksin's premiership or has been one of his proxies.

Not sure if that helps but I just noticed the similarities in the number of years.

Your other points are certainly valid.

[PeaceBlondie]

Yingluck Shinawatra is attended Regina Coeli College, a private girls school, at the lower secondary level and then Yupparaj College, a co-ed school, at the upper secondary level.^[12] She graduated with a BA degree from the Faculty of Political Science and Public Administration, Chiang Mai University in 1988 and received a MPA degree (specialization in Management Information Systems) from Kentucky State University in 1991.

Abhisit Vejjajiva, he attended Eton College and was known as "Veggie" amongst his peers.^[20][21] Abhisit earned a bachelor's degree in philosophy, politics and economics (PPE), first class honors, and a master's degree in economics from St John's College, Oxford. Thailand, he received a bachelor's degree in law from Thailand's Ramkhamhaeng University, and taught at Chulachomklao Royal Military Academy^[23] and Thammasat University Faculty of Economics.^[24] He is fluent in both his mother tongue and the English language, He at 20.