Rice scheme's authors should be made to pay: Thai editorial

[webfact]

EDITORIAL
Rice scheme's authors should be made to pay
The Nation

If politicians are called to account for policies that fail spectacularly, we might see fewer "populist" promises

BANGKOK: -- A political commentator on TV has suggested that the "owner" of the rice price-pledging scheme should be the one who repays the government's debt to the farmers. It was a half-joking dig at Thaksin Shinawatra, but perhaps it bears a nub worth serious consideration. Never in Thai history have politicians and decision-makers taken responsibility for damage caused by their failed policies.

The failure of the rice scheme has raised an interesting question: Should our political system prescribe clear punishment for government policies that harm the public on such a grand scale? To be fair, policies go wrong all the time. But those that the government was warned in advance would cause significant pain should be subjected to harsh assessment when they do.

What went wrong with the rice policy was not just poor implementation. Right from the start, the very concept of spending a huge among of tax money to "buy every grain of rice" at inflated prices was at best dubious. The government simply ignored the warnings and went on to implement the policy in what seemed a careless manner. When indications of massive corruption in the scheme emerged, the government waved those off too.

Rice farmers have marched to Bangkok to protest. Their representatives stormed out of Monday's talks with the caretaker government after receiving no clear answer on how it would pay them the money owed. They have now vowed to step up their protest because they have nothing to lose. Many are penniless and thus unable to plan another crop season.

To make matters worse, the damage caused by an ill-advised policy has been politicised. The fund-raising march spearheaded by anti-government protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban has helped to highlight the farmers' plight, but it was little more than a political gimmick designed to further embarrass the Yingluck Shinawatra government. Meanwhile government officials - now haunted by the overly ambitious and unrealistic rice scheme - have lost further credence by naming the ongoing protest as a key reason the rice payments are overdue.

The authorities in charge no doubt feel embarrassed by the policy's failure, but their discomfort is not enough to appease public indignation. The politicians who initiated this scheme in a blatant bid to burnish support at the polls must be held fully accountable for the fiscal and social ruin it has caused. Perhaps if they were made to pay for their ill judgement, other politicians in future will be less hasty to make populist promises that carry little chance of fulfilment.

Former Prime Minister Anand Panyarachun has said that, if the rice-pledging scheme stemmed from good intentions, it's conception suffered from poor logic. It was like a pawnshop paying Bt15,000 for a Bt10,000 wristwatch, he said. Unfortunately, unlike watches, rice rots and loses value very quickly.

In their attempts to win voter support, politicians have come up with increasingly controversial policies. The champions of such schemes might call these ideas "ambitious" or "visionary", but it is only recently that the voting public has begun learning of the inherent risks involved. The shock of the huge financial and legal peril looming over the government's proposal to borrow Bt2 trillion for a high-speed-train system hit home. Criticism was unbounded.

Thailand's desired "reforms" must cover a great deal of ground. One area that cannot be neglected is the need for measures to prevent politicians from initiating risky policies like the rice scheme.

We don't want any more lingering hangovers like the "Hopewell skeleton" - the concrete pillars erected for a Bangkok mass-transit line, still a testament to an epic political failure a decade on.


-- The Nation 2014-02-12

[TVGerry]

Yes! Politicians seem very happy to spend OUR hard earned tax on scams and schemes. If it succeeds, they take the credit. If it fails, it's our money that's lost. They'd think twice and not be so free with our tax money if they had something to lose if things turn bad. Billions lost on the rice scam. Am I going to get a tax rebate your screw up, Shinawatra?

[notmyself]

What price to avoid Shin rule?

[JRSoul]

The OP doesn't raise the subject of this government knowing that the rice pledging scheme was plagued by corruption in its earlier run, and then implementing it without remedial measures. That is not incompetence, it is negligence, or corruption when it is proved that members of this government (and their little tin god) profited from the scam.

[Thait Spot]

As I said in another post, if Abhisit and Suthep can be charged as civilians with murder then this certainly opens up some other cans of worms

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[bigbamboo]

Sadly for her and for Thailand this will be Yingluck's political legacy.

[tomyummer]

Yes, the politicians that made the plan should be held accountable and punished as well as the citizens who voted them in. So, well, I guess that's that.

[Thai at Heart]

Define populist....

[mightyatom]

Define populist....

In layman's terms it means a political maneuver to harness the support or the vote of the masses by pitching them via pre-election policies against the rich minorities. Basically to create this Robin Hood type facade.

I had to use layman's terms because there are a lot of red farangs on TVF who seem to confuse 'populist' with 'popular', even though the term populist has its roots in 'population'. rather than 'popular'.

Edited February 12, 2014 by mightyatom

[worgeordie]

Those that created this rice scheme,that will most likely

cost the country billions of Bht in loses ,will never repay

a penny, they will never admit it was a complete failure,

or even say sorry for the mess they have gotten the

country into, it will be business as usual.

regards Worgeordie

[chainarong]

Nothing about this made sense , unless you have the budget money set aside you are gambling with the nations assets , the PTP have a bad habit of dropping projects into the arena, only to find that they cost 2.2tn Bht (Maybe), the high speed rail project (One of many) is a high maintenance problem after project completion, it is doubtful that Thailand has the full resource's to carry out this important part of the rail system , the PTP is a total failure in management of projects , they even failed the flood mitigation programme , yes the rice scheme is another PTP failure and heads should roll starting with the Ministers concerned and department heads.

[noikrit]

Everyone knows who the "Author" is ........and where he is .........

[Artisi]

Everyone knows who the "Author" is ........and where he is .........

And laughing all the way to the bank, so why should the "Author" give a second thought to the problems of Thailand other than how to further increase his own wealth at the country's expense.

[dru2]

Nothing about this made sense , unless you have the budget money set aside you are gambling with the nations assets , the PTP have a bad habit of dropping projects into the arena, only to find that they cost 2.2tn Bht (Maybe), the high speed rail project (One of many) is a high maintenance problem after project completion, it is doubtful that Thailand has the full resource's to carry out this important part of the rail system , the PTP is a total failure in management of projects , they even failed the flood mitigation programme , yes the rice scheme is another PTP failure and heads should roll starting with the Ministers concerned and department heads.

Yes, but... Don't forget Yingluck set aside a budget to design lunch boxes for the high speed trains. Can't be all bad, eh?

[Artisi]

Nothing about this made sense , unless you have the budget money set aside you are gambling with the nations assets , the PTP have a bad habit of dropping projects into the arena, only to find that they cost 2.2tn Bht (Maybe), the high speed rail project (One of many) is a high maintenance problem after project completion, it is doubtful that Thailand has the full resource's to carry out this important part of the rail system , the PTP is a total failure in management of projects , they even failed the flood mitigation programme , yes the rice scheme is another PTP failure and heads should roll starting with the Ministers concerned and department heads.

Yes, but... Don't forget Yingluck set aside a budget to design lunch boxes for the high speed trains. Can't be all bad, eh?

Well hope they were better than the ones the fugitive designed and delivered, seems they weren't

acceptable.

Edited February 12, 2014 by Artisi

[nong38]

Yes! Politicians seem very happy to spend OUR hard earned tax on scams and schemes. If it succeeds, they take the credit. If it fails, it's our money that's lost. They'd think twice and not be so free with our tax money if they had something to lose if things turn bad. Billions lost on the rice scam. Am I going to get a tax rebate your screw up, Shinawatra?

Politicians the world over are the same.

Its easy to spend other people's money, if it were their own they would be much more careful.

[mightyatom]

Yes! Politicians seem very happy to spend OUR hard earned tax on scams and schemes. If it succeeds, they take the credit. If it fails, it's our money that's lost. They'd think twice and not be so free with our tax money if they had something to lose if things turn bad. Billions lost on the rice scam. Am I going to get a tax rebate your screw up, Shinawatra?

Politicians the world over are the same.

Its easy to spend other people's money, if it were their own they would be much more careful.

Only in the real shitty places in the world i would agree, but not in the fully developed democracies. No way are politicians like this.

If it were their own money? It probably is all their money now.

[Bignose]

I don't believe there is a newspaper in the world that does not have a slanted (and more often decreed) political bias, it has been mentioned previously by several posters that the Nation has it's preferred party. That may be true but this is certainly an excellent article which should generate some serious thought and discussion.

The concept of ministers paying compensation for failed policy will never be any more than that, a concept! Government members will never be held personally liable in any country for costs of this nature, it is not practicably possible. Even where there is corruption and malpractice it is often too hard to prove and recovery to hard to execute (the present situation is ample evidence of this) What may indeed be needed is a fundamental change to how the Thai government's carry out their duties, who monitors the progress and effectiveness, and who ultimately can call the sitting government to account (in real time) and prosecute the corrupt parties. I believe the present situation cannot continue as it is, the present government understands the political system perfectly, they have the knowledge, contacts, money and a willingness to use them all to get what they want, no matter what the cost to the nation. The important fields where governments are supposed to act, education, social reform and welfare will have to take a back seat, a well educated population might not be so easy to manipulate in the future!

As an expat living in this beautiful country it is not for me to tell Thais how there country should be ran, I am a mere grateful guest who is genuinely appreciative of being allowed to live here. Why do I post on this forum then? Probably because it saddens me to see the injustice of the current situation, it saddens me to see the blatant disregard and contempt shown by an elected few to the people who entrusted them with the governance of their country, and who still pay there wages!!!

Hopefully the reasoned and articulate comments on this (and other) forum can contribute to the debate and help bring about an increased awareness and call for change.

[ratcatcher]

Sadly for her and for Thailand this will be Yingluck's political legacy.

It may well be her epitaph too.

[soalbundy]

Yes! Politicians seem very happy to spend OUR hard earned tax on scams and schemes. If it succeeds, they take the credit. If it fails, it's our money that's lost. They'd think twice and not be so free with our tax money if they had something to lose if things turn bad. Billions lost on the rice scam. Am I going to get a tax rebate your screw up, Shinawatra?

It isn't YOUR hard earned tax money, it's the governments money. When you earn money you have a tax debt to the government. If "your" tax money was well spent do you think you would personally be better off than if it was wasted ( on an aircraft carrier without aircraft, leasing submarines they don't need, blimps that don't work to name a few examples) At least the billions spent on the ill thought up rice scheme flow,through spending,back into the community ensuring the jobs of factory workers producing fertilizers,motorbikes,mobile phones,cars, bricks and cement,you name it.

Do you think that if any of the many ill thought up schemes would cease that your tax bill would go down ? conversely do you think that because of the rice scheme your tax bill will go up ? I don't think so.

You are puffing hot air,you are not personally affected. The EU has found that due to corruption the European Union is losing 120 billion Euro's a year, multiply that by 44. Same Same but different.

[pipkins]

Still plugging away at their final hope of a Coup of some sort.

Just counted and there are TEN threads covering this!.

I think the Authors of the editorial Opinions should be punished for this. Couldn't one of them think to chase down all these armed militia on the streets?

Couldn't one rice scheme expert op ed writer be assigned to counting the sheep at Asoke and Silom anymore. They don't need to be able to count very well to see it is well short of 6 million

[fiercesnake]

Ahh but none of you should be concerned. As previously reported Ms. Yingluck is making more money than ever personally and I'm sure her brother wouldn't be going backwards.

I'm sure she will be prepared to help out the poor as recently it was suggested we should be nominating her for a Nobel Peace Prize due to her extreme concern for the plight of others!

The real question is, "Will the rice farmers continue to vote for these scammers and touts in suits???"

[HannahD]

Implement a one-time wealth tax on high net worth individuals.

[Pakboong]

This was a smart play for the minority party if it ever expected to make up a 15 million vote deficit. It seems to be working. Any government should be able to inflate its currency when it needs to. The USA does it on a daily basis as does most of the rest of the world. Problem is, privately owned central banks and clearly the Thai banks are all controlled by the opposition. It is a tough choice between the Wall Street bankers who back Yingluck and her brother and the wealthy ethnic Chinese who have ruled this country for at least the last half century who will always be a democratic minority here. I prefer the Chinese who have done a decent job of it. No telling what would happen to this country if the Thais should regain control. It would certainly not be the country that attracted us here in the first place.

[Ulic]

It is never going to happen but I do like the idea. In the mean time bring in the forensic accountants follow the

money and fully prosecute those who benefited illegally from this program. Make the guilty serve time in jail.

Lifetime bans from politics at all levels.

[tominbkk]

Yes! Politicians seem very happy to spend OUR hard earned tax on scams and schemes. If it succeeds, they take the credit. If it fails, it's our money that's lost. They'd think twice and not be so free with our tax money if they had something to lose if things turn bad. Billions lost on the rice scam. Am I going to get a tax rebate your screw up, Shinawatra?

Agreed.

I'm happy to pay taxes, just wish that they could/would spend it on good causes. Makes me mental sometimes.

[Scamper]

Excellent article. Indeed, the 2 trillion baht proposal that now has emerged for a high-speed railway between four provinces - at a time when the regular trains and train routes need a serious upgrade - simply emphasizes how all this has got out of control. And to be sure, there is always a strong graft factor enveloped in these invariably round figure estimates. The country can no longer afford corruption and lack of transparency. The era of requesting the delegation of huge amounts of money without any detailed indexing and accountability for where it goes has come to an end.

[belg]

who dunnit? who dunnit ?

it was the buttler, aka puppet yingluck with the rice bag

[mikemac]

Still plugging away at their final hope of a Coup of some sort.

Just counted and there are TEN threads covering this!.

I think the Authors of the editorial Opinions should be punished for this. Couldn't one of them think to chase down all these armed militia on the streets?

Couldn't one rice scheme expert op ed writer be assigned to counting the sheep at Asoke and Silom anymore. They don't need to be able to count very well to see it is well short of 6 million

Just counted and there are TEN threads covering this!.

Lucky you only had to count to ten, fingers and thumbs cover that !

What's the matter ? Got something to hide, something not quite right in PTP HQ ?

Seems to me that whenever attention is drawn towards another PTP scam/hoax/lie/ripoff/crisis the best you miserable losers can do is bring up the subject of a coup, like that is going to magically dissolve all PTP's sins.

Piss weak and pathetic, the lot of you.

[soalbundy]

Yes! Politicians seem very happy to spend OUR hard earned tax on scams and schemes. If it succeeds, they take the credit. If it fails, it's our money that's lost. They'd think twice and not be so free with our tax money if they had something to lose if things turn bad. Billions lost on the rice scam. Am I going to get a tax rebate your screw up, Shinawatra?

Agreed.

I'm happy to pay taxes, just wish that they could/would spend it on good causes. Makes me mental sometimes.

money is like manure, it only does any good if its spread around