EDITORIAL
Rushing democracy is anything but 'wise'

BANGKOK: -- The delayed election schedule draws a predictable reaction from Washington

There are two ways to look at American government "concern" over Thailand's leisurely "return to democracy". Perhaps Washington has zero faith in our military regime and thus assumes that, the sooner Thais get back to the ballot boxes, the better. Either that or it hasn't been following the Thai crisis closely and is merely reading from its pro-democracy manual when reacting to reports that a general election is unlikely to take place until 2016.

Make no mistake: Thailand needs democracy. It’s the only way to go. But if the country’s inability to hold an election next year prompts the US to use such biting words as "unwise" and "unjustified" - as reported by Reuters - we're clearly not getting much sympathy. Thailand already had one election nullified earlier this year amid simmering political strife. America must consider the possibility that Thailand wants to make sure that doesn't happen again.

Again, make no mistake: If our government tries to delay the election beyond a reasonable timeframe, all criticism will be justified. For now, though, it would do Washington no harm to reread reports about the high tension, bombings and murders in broad daylight that marred the run-up to the election last February.

The prelude to that vote might have been viewed differently in America, but people here were under extreme stress, and threats of a wider violence and even a civil war were real.

The United States is entitled to withhold faith in the Thai government. A large portion of the Thai public must harbour doubts too, if not outright mistrust. However, it if for the people of Thailand to decide exactly when an election should be held. "Unwise" and "unjustified" are strong words that should be used only by observers who have genuine, unbiased knowledge of the situation. To call our vote delay "unwise" is tantamount to saying an election sooner would be "wise" even though more innocent children might die in political violence.

Our leaders are entitled to delay the next election by three or four months if that will help ensure the prudent mapping out of the country's new political system. Reforming the system is an excruciatingly delicate matter and cannot be rushed. It will also take time for citizens to absorb and embrace the ideals laid out in the new constitution.

Recent history has shown where hasty reform leads, with the worst example being the amnesty bill touted by the Yingluck Shinawatra administration as an essential step toward reconciliation.

Everyone here agrees that democracy deserves a chance, but democracy has its own time and place. Poor timing can render democracy unrecognisable.

The military government has to be watched, and criticism from the West will keep the self-installed rulers on their toes. The jury is still out as to whether the generals' pledge to reform Thailand and return it to democracy will hold true. While "the jury" weighs its verdict, though, judgmental words like "unwise" and "unjustified" are to be avoided.

It would certainly not be wise to rush an election, only to end up back at Square One. Our circumstances warrant a slow but sure approach. Launching an election campaign when thorny issues remain unsettled would put every hope at risk, including the return to democracy.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/opinion/Rushing-democracy-is-anything-but-wise-30250748.html

-- The Nation 2014-12-27

"However, it if (sic) for the people of Thailand to decide exactly when an election should be held."

So just when do "the people" get to decide?

"However, it if (sic) for the people of Thailand to decide exactly when an election should be held."

So just when do "the people" get to decide?

Could it be when those in power decide for them ?

Is poor translation at play here? The word 'unwise' is hardly a scathing put down..

Elections won't happen until the current red purge is completed! (That's my reading of it, anyway!)

Old uncle sam still teaching democracy

Good article The Nation with a good understanding of the past mayhem, present readjustments requirements and future hopefulness. Best advice is take on board the ramblings of lowly rated democracies like the USA with a grain of salt to their lack of understanding of the current thai situation and also understanding that diplomacy is not an American government strong point, and hold tight to the course of reform that has been set regardless of the short term economic pain. That pain is still less than what would have been entrusted on future thais under the Shinawatra criminals.

Edited December 27, 201411 yr by Roadman

Elections would gave gone ahead legally and within the constitution however the yellow shirts led by sutep took upon themselves to deny the thai people the vote by blocking and bullying them because they know they will get hammered at the polls.

Sutep earlier let the cat out of the the bag by owning up to be in cahoots with the general by using the protests as a staging point for the coup.

Make no mistake the thai people will tolerate this only until the next poll and the yellow dems will be decimated especially if abhisit is at the helm.

"However, it if (sic) for the people of Thailand to decide exactly when an election should be held."

So just when do "the people" get to decide?

The argument is always the same and also a false arguement.

The excuse is always the people are not ready for democracy etc etc since there is no such thing as a people that are ready in a society for any major change that comes to pass it is a false argument. There are always some who will never be ready or disagree, the first reason is the intended failure of successive governments to make the people more ready and lift up the standard of education to the masses, the second reason is those in control do not wish to give up the power they wield and will do everything in their power to maintain their status quo rather than have it diluted.

The masses are never the engineers of change it is always a key few that ignites any movement, the people merely get behind a movement and provide the numbers later as it grows. Certain well educated individuals and groups understand this very well and continue to reset the rules, constitution etc and goalposts. Rather than let a change run its course and go through the necessary mistakes and growing pains and get to the learning phase Thailand always resets at the first hurdle.

As a nation ​it cannot move beyond because TPTB refuse to make the sacrifices necessary to progress.

A very good Thai documentary called paradoxacracy and Thai history since the first coup through to present day, its available in both Thai and with English subtitles. An interesting watch and points of view from some well respected Thai academics and historians deals with this again revisited paradox about readiness, freedoms, democracy and the Thai people.

However, if, and, but, and because. Thai tripe. Why don't these Thai writers just face the fact that using the US as a reference point should be done with reality. The US is merely applying the same standards for its views to Thailand as it does to every other country. Thais perceive themselves to be a "special" case unlike other military unelected governments around the world. Thais are not a special case. They are a second rate nation with a dour self appointed military general as its PM. No matter what the Thai rationalization for this as necessary to head off civil war or whatever mumbo jumbo they dream up it is what it is.

Elections would gave gone ahead legally and within the constitution however the yellow shirts led by sutep took upon themselves to deny the thai people the vote by blocking and bullying them because they know they will get hammered at the polls.

Sutep earlier let the cat out of the the bag by owning up to be in cahoots with the general by using the protests as a staging point for the coup.

Make no mistake the thai people will tolerate this only until the next poll and the yellow dems will be decimated especially if abhisit is at the helm.

sure they would have lost the polls, because they don't have enough money to do the vote buying like the man in Dubai.

Regardless of what time frame you place on democracy in Thailand it will never come , whilst the military wont relinquish power the status quo will remain , the gapping hole in this democracy frame work sits with the senior head of state, until this area has a indirect input into the affairs of state ( Like UK) Thailand's Democracy besides freedom of speech is just that Thai Democracy.

People still can't move on from the old vote buying routine when it's proved that all sides were doing it and it still had little effect on the outcome of elections.

It's pretty simple really just have an election put up a Shinawatra as a candidate and sit back and watch the yellow dem and junta get thrown out on their ears

Elections would gave gone ahead legally and within the constitution however the yellow shirts led by sutep took upon themselves to deny the thai people the vote by blocking and bullying them because they know they will get hammered at the polls.

Sutep earlier let the cat out of the the bag by owning up to be in cahoots with the general by using the protests as a staging point for the coup.

Make no mistake the thai people will tolerate this only until the next poll and the yellow dems will be decimated especially if abhisit is at the helm.

sure they would have lost the polls, because they don't have enough money to do the vote buying like the man in Dubai.

utter nonsense and yellow brainwashing and you should know better

However, if, and, but, and because. Thai tripe. Why don't these Thai writers just face the fact that using the US as a reference point should be done with reality. The US is merely applying the same standards for its views to Thailand as it does to every other country. Thais perceive themselves to be a "special" case unlike other military unelected governments around the world. Thais are not a special case. They are a second rate nation with a dour self appointed military general as its PM. No matter what the Thai rationalization for this as necessary to head off civil war or whatever mumbo jumbo they dream up it is what it is.

The US, the EU and Australia have all said the same thing.

I guess the US which has massive investments in Thailand and thus provides a force in the economy, who is Thailand's #2 buyer of its exports, and who has a treaty to defend Thailand should be proud to be the only one mentioned.

If the coup was genuinely about restoring peace and trying to bring the country back together.....this criticism would likely not happen and assistance would be offered.

However......the US and other countries have a complete handle on why these events took place...including the organised lead up by the PDRC....

Elections would gave gone ahead legally and within the constitution however the yellow shirts led by sutep took upon themselves to deny the thai people the vote by blocking and bullying them because they know they will get hammered at the polls.

Sutep earlier let the cat out of the the bag by owning up to be in cahoots with the general by using the protests as a staging point for the coup.

Make no mistake the thai people will tolerate this only until the next poll and the yellow dems will be decimated especially if abhisit is at the helm.

sure they would have lost the polls, because they don't have enough money to do the vote buying like the man in Dubai.

Still clinging on to that last straw you are holding?

Too bad that you have never taken the effort to actually read up on it and instead just keep repeating the same old stuff that has been proven incorrect for years already. Especially painful as there are audiofiles available of the "yellow-shirt-camp" admitting they bought votes, and respectable universities (Harvard i believe it was) have researched the impact of vote buying and concluded the impact was minimal.

Having faith in Thai government is as wise as paying Beach Road hooker in advance.....

the bottom line is 'we are not ready for elections yet, until we have put right the wrongs and cleaned up the mess sanctioned by the past governments.' I ask you with hat in hand, how can we go forward with life as it was in the past? we were like the blind leading the blind across a busy intersection,

""Unwise" and "unjustified" are strong words that should be used only by observers who have genuine, unbiased knowledge of the situation."

Oh, the irony meter is off the charts with this zinger.

They act like the average American off the street are shooting off at the mouth. American military and diplomatic observers have done their homework and aren't prone to willful ignorance in these matters. The average Thai is denied access to the truth and routinely lied to by the elite. [sigh.]

This political broadcast was written and spoken by The Nation on behalf of the NCPO and the PDRC

Poor timing, not ready for democracy, vote buying, Thai style democracy etc etc. Real cop out excused 18 times over. Always work as reasons when a coup is needed. Repeating this over and over again is insanity and still hope for an answer. Ludicrous and the yellow buying all these reasons whole sale. Allow democracy to flourish and mature and voters will learn the power in their hands to kick out the corrupt governments and bad policies. Look no further than Indonesia which thankfully have their last coup in the '60s and a dictator kicked out by people revolution and now basking in a people choice President, political stability and economic growth. What Thailand need is for the establishment to take their greedy hands off the state affairs, accept that coups are outdated and subscribed to the people mandate.

What I fail to understand is why delaying elections makes the political situation any safer.

Isn't it the opposite? Pressure mounts and could erupt.

Also, I don't believe that this coup was motivated by the violence going on in the streets. If so, why no coup in 2010 when there was much more violence? And why did the violence in the South with daily fatalities never trigger a coup?

Isnt a political system to represent the interests of the greatest number it can? To do the greatest good it can. Who says a democratic system does this? China's comments that the US is interventionist is absolutely true. The US's interventionist policy under the auspices of democracy, especially its military interventionist policy of invasion, has taken more civilian lives throughout history than any other political system, far from doing the greatest good. I havent seen China do this, nor does history show China having killed so many innocents or invaded anywhere as near as many countries. The truth of who is really representing the interests of the greatest number of people is there ... if we bother to look instead of read. We are 7 billion people ... not just a couple hundred million ... and most of us do not want war imposed on us by any government system. I wouldnt rush into democracy in its current practice either. Look at America, its gone from In God We Trust to now In Guns We Trust. imo.

Perhaps the American government concern should be the state of their own "democracy" before they worry about governments in other countries.

The current govt could have easily (and still could) have an election by Oct 15 like they once said...then slipped to Feb 16...and won't surprise me a bit that they slip it some more. It's just feet dragging to stay in power longer in order to more firmly entrench their new laws/policies.

Lets put this straight over 250 years ago the US decide to be a Democracy so if fought a war against the British aided the French To become independent of British rule The british with a better Army and Navy were beaten by a bunch of farmers and shop keepers.

When America loses voting papers so they cant be counted they are hardly the nation to stand up for Democracy. In Thailand

One thing that is essential for democracy is for the people to understand that the majority are the victors not "this is fixed as it doesnt suit me" attitude.

the bottom line is 'we are not ready for elections yet, until we have put right the wrongs and cleaned up the mess sanctioned by the past governments.' I ask you with hat in hand, how can we go forward with life as it was in the past? we were like the blind leading the blind across a busy intersection,

Rumble. you are dead right.... " we were like the blind leading the blind".. and that is why Thailand is NOT ready for the ballot box. Thailand needs clever smart and "honest" business peoples to lead this country. Not the shambles of present politicians that we all know so well.. ie, Chalerm .. who could not tie his shoelaces... Yinluck.. too worried about how she looked... Thaksin, trying to bribe everyone always...

Almost to the man, the last government did not have a person with a real University degree. Bought degrees and stupid degrees every last one of them. Pigs to the trough the whole bunch. Almost No MPs attend the house.. unless ordered by Mr T. Too busy with their many Mia-nois . And wine-tasting parties... Can Thailand not find some scholars/businesspeoples to lead this wonderfull country along an honest path.

Until that can happen the Junta will stay put... not the best for sure , but at present the only path to follow. Where are the young people of Thailand.. Time for them to stand up and be counted. Thailands smart,clever young peoples have gone overseas to study and DON'T want to return... Don't want to come back to this cesspit of corruption and prostitution.. And can anyone blame them... Rant finished... Good day to all TV posters...

I agree 100% with the OP's (The Nation) last paragraph.

Democracy with rampant corruption be damned, seek a better way for the sake of all Thai peoples, especially the underprivileged and uneducated.