Reform ideas need air to breathe

[Lite Beer]

EDITORIAL
Reform ideas need air to breathe
The Nation

BANGKOK: -- The prime minister should not be overly cautious about publicising matters under consideration

Everyone, not least Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, knows Thailand’s reform is going to be highly sensitive. Not everyone, not even him, knows how to comment properly on it. Always in the spotlight for his bold, controversial public comments for obvious reasons, Prayut has put his "thinking" under scrutiny again by asking members of the National Reform Council to stop making public statements on reform and talk less. Critics, as usual, rubbed their hands, but this time even his supporters were concerned.

To be fair to Prayut, his "directives" to the NRC must be viewed in a full context. He asked NRC members to stop talking, but what many people missed was the reason why he wants them to be quiet at the moment. He said the NRC has not even got down to work yet, but NRC members were making public remarks left, right and centre, causing "disputes", "confusion" and a "mess". His rationale might still be questionable, but it could also make his "directives" more understandable.

Regardless, as far as the reform process goes, how Prayut thinks is more important than what critics think. Those craving real reform and still willing to give him a break can only hope he was not hinting about things to come. Reform needs debate, and when ideas are formally suggested, they have to face total scrutiny. It’s understandable if he doesn’t want the people at the forefront of the reform agenda to talk publicly now, but it will be unacceptable if they are gagged in the future.

Prayut has been pleading for understanding and patience. But he also needs to understand that, if the NRC works out reform plans in virtual secrecy, Thailand’s problems that he vowed to fix will remain and probably worsen. The reform process currently is undermined by two key allegations. The first is that the final "product" could be lopsided in favour of one side more than the other. The second charge is that the National Council for Peace and Order's pre-selection of candidates for NRC seats could influence NRC decisions on key issues.

Prayut is walking a tightrope. His international efforts to prove his "sincerity" and deny that Thailand is sinking further into dictatorship have been upset by local developments. His "directives" - whether they were sincere or not - have been used as proof that he "controls" the NRC. That might be true, because it was he who staged the coup in May to begin with, but his reasons for the coup and his pleas for patience and understanding mean that the line must be drawn somewhere.

It’s up to Prayut to prove the doubters wrong. Reform ideas will be hotly debated, but it’s best to let the whole of Thailand take care of that. There are complicated and highly delicate issues like decentralisation of power, electoral systems, the relevance, the origin and structure of the Senate, and the powers and origins of the checks-and-balances mechanisms.

It will not be easy to settle these matters, but the pros and cons of each idea must be thoroughly and democratically discussed.

Various events and actions can reopen old wounds or rekindle the national divide, but this is an opportunity to end a prolonged conflict now that some unfavourable influences have been taken off the table. Mainstream politicians who could have dictated events in accord with their vested interests will be less influential in the process.

Prayut can either make the best out of that, or amplify charges that the reform was anything but democratic.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/opinion/Reform-ideas-need-air-to-breathe-30246198.html

-- The Nation 2014-10-25

[ScubaPhuket]

So Prayut or more likely his advisors have now realised that he's making too many gaffes so he's stepped off the podium & has started to use the Nation as a mouthpiece instead.

Good move. If only us stupid farangs were as trusting, controllable & afraid as his own people.

We value freedom of thought & expression sir.

[ExPratt]

If on the Morning after the next election , the first new day of a return to true Democracy , if you should hear a knock on the door and looking out of the window and see there is a mob brandishing hair clippers don't open the door. Goes for many on here actually

Difficult to respond to your piece without getting barred banned or suspended , "Prove the doubters wrong" what do you mean by doubters , Thailand's electorate's opinion and democratically elected government ? who it was decided had no say and were thrown out in a coup d'etat

Its very difficult to plead to people to be reasonable, when you've parked a tank in their front Garden

Edited October 24, 2014 by ExPratt

[kurnell]

Prayut is just as corrupt as any other leader of this country. They need somebody else to lead reforms, and likely that person doesn't exist, or won't be allowed to rule

[MaxLee]

Regardless of who rules the country, the party leaders in power do not listen to anyone, but themselves....

Edited October 24, 2014 by MaxLee

[ScubaPhuket]

He'll be off soon, he can't take the pressure, only a few months into the self appointed job & already complaining about arguments with his wife & unhappiness in his personal life, people putting 'curses' on him, asking the thai people to love him long time, trust him & believe him while they all know that he's shafting them with a gun to the back of their heads.

Joke.

I'd like to see a real ruler in thailand, elected, educated, fair & strong with the knowledge that he has the people behind him, not just the money from the elitist yellow shirts cowering so much at the thought of the dirty masses rising up against them that they need to use the force of the military to keep them in their ivory towers.

Reminds me of the French Revolution actually.

[NongKhaiKid]

How can reform breathe when held in a stranglehold ?

[chainarong]

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How can reform breathe when held in a stranglehold ?

Good point, the old school with the old school rules.

[MaxLee]

Well, then it's a guaranteed return of the Pheu Thai,....dear coup leaders,... see you again in 2 years....

[lomatopo]

Like the “Sufficiency Economy”, no one person or group seems capable of even broadly defining what “reforms” are needed or even being considered. Yes, we hear that just about every facet of life in Thailand is in need of reform, but this is really just s smokescreen.

In essence, “reforms” for the NCPO/NRC/CDC and their sponsors, the amart, consist of one simple, over-riding goal: limit or fully restrict the ability of the majority to select a national government.

Since this cannot be discussed in public, for obvious reasons, it must be couched in both secrecy and double-speak.

Ultimately the Military will get 1/3 of the elected seats, the amart 1/3 and the serfs 1/3, while the upper house will be appointed by the Military, and made up of Good People.

[noitom]

Will he be accountable a year, two or three for all these "decisive" moves?

[fab4]

The reform process currently is undermined by two key allegations. The first is that the final "product" could be lopsided in favour of one side more than the other. The second charge is that the National Council for Peace and Order's pre-selection of candidates for NRC seats could influence NRC decisions on key issues.

"Could" Who are they trying to kid? Could? The operative verb here is "Will" and that has always been the aim of the reform process........................