If all ministers were required to be ‘honest and ethical’

[Jonathan Fairfield]

THAI TALK

If all ministers were required to be ‘honest and ethical’

Suthichai Yoon

The Nation

BANGKOK-- The Constitution Drafting Commission (CDC) has adopted a new resolution: Cabinet members in the government after the next election must “possess honesty and ethics”.

Isn't that obvious? Is such a clause necessary at all? If this provision is included in the charter, won't it signal that ministers in the previous Cabinet were not in fact chosen on that basis?

No, I don't expect to get an official explanation from CDC members. They have bent over backwards to draw up a new set of rules that will earn the trust of the public. In other words, the new constitution should ideally set the bar higher than in the past so that politicians will regain the confidence of those they are supposed to serve.

The exact wording of the new provision is of particular interest. In naming the 34 other Cabinet members, the prime minister is required by the new charter to make sure that he picks only people "with an established reputation for honesty and ethics".

That would be a big departure from tradition. Quite a large number of Thais have written off politics as dirty, corrupt and hopeless, because Cabinet members have often been chosen for reasons quite separate from their merits or ability to get things done in the job.

Financiers of political parties were paid back with Cabinet seats. Loyalty was considered more important than ability. Money, not meritocracy, was the name of the game. Prime ministers couldn't have cared less about the principle of putting "the right man in the right job".

It wasn't unheard of for Cabinet posts to be handed to shady and suspicious characters, giving the lie to the public oath to "work honestly and selflessly for the benefit of the public".

Ethics is another controversial issue when it comes to laying down qualifications for those named to senior political positions. Very few of those chosen to run ministries or government agencies take the question of "proper behaviour" seriously. In fact, most of them would be hard-pressed to stipulate what constitutes a "conflict of interests".

The term "accountability" doesn't have a clear-cut Thai equivalent. Transparency has never been a serious concern for political appointees. The much-hyped Freedom of Information Act has never been seriously implemented to provide the public with access to state information that is crucial to the monitoring of officials' performance.

The charter drafters are apparently trying to reverse the trend and put the country on a genuine "road of reform". Is this too idealistic? Can anybody be sure that with the new general election, we will be embarking on a new era of clean, honest, transparent and effective politics?

Nobody can offer that guarantee, of course. But the same clause also specifies that the public can lodge complaints against any proposed Cabinet members whose backgrounds are less than respectable. That will, for the first time, empower the public to play a role in rejecting rotten elements from gaining access to high office.

The new provision will only be the beginning of a fresh attempt to clean up politics. Together with another clause banning anyone found guilty of corrupt practices from running for public office, this new requirement

for background checks on Cabinet members should add new impetus to the country's "political reform" agenda.

But we are still a long way from revamping our political system to the point where it attracts "the best and the brightest" to embark on a new movement to edge out the corrupt elements in politics.

Yet without genuine reform in the country's education system, that dawn of a new era is still not around the corner.

Can we afford to wait another generation?

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/opinion/If-all-ministers-were-required-to-be-honest-and-et-30275548.html

-- The Nation 2015-12-24

[Pimay1]

Needle in a haystack comes to mind.

[NongKhaiKid]

First step is to get words like honest and ethical etc into the Thai dictionary then into vocabulary, then common usage.

After this lengthy process comes the even lengthier and more difficult, perhaps impossible, task of getting politicians etc to actually practice what they happily preach but it's just like the traffic laws, for others to obey .

[Basil B]

I thought a degree in creative writing was must for all Thai politicians and bureaucrats...

[Somtamnication]

Parliament would be empty!

[aussiesteve63]

First step is to get words like honest and ethical etc into the Thai dictionary then into vocabulary, then common usage.

After this lengthy process comes the even lengthier and more difficult, perhaps impossible, task of getting politicians etc to actually practice what they happily preach but it's just like the traffic laws, for others to obey .

I think ethics need to be taught at primary school age,A recent survey of school children found that bribery and corruption was ok if they benefited from it so where's the ethics in that. It makes sense to start reprogramming at a young age so hopefully Thailand will be a better place in 20 years

[ezzra]

The operative word here is " REQUIRED " not must, not mandatory, not obligatory, but Required....

so it is up to the individual to decide whether he/she is going to adhere to the requirement or not..

Good luck with it Thailand, as we all know where it will all ends...

Edited December 23, 2015 by ezzra

[ramrod711]

The term "accountability" doesn't have a clear-cut Thai equivalent.

Huh, who would've thunk it.

[hansgruber]

Ok get ready everyone. Be honest and have ethics in 3... 2.... 1....

[phoenixdoglover]

Forget about whether you can find honest and ethical ministers. With criteria like this, the opposition will be primed to challenge numerous ministers, and the government will be dragged into endless recrimination. This will be the natural and deserved outcome.

The criteria should be simple and objective. Something like: a minister must not be convicted of a felony crime within the past 10 years, nor of a misdemeanor crime within the past 2 years. Then list the types of crimes in each category.

But I engage in fantasy. The Thai charter drafters are following through on the "good people" idea, which ultimately is determined by a self selecting group of elites. (See Senate)

[wirat69]

First step is to get words like honest and ethical etc into the Thai dictionary then into vocabulary, then common usage.

After this lengthy process comes the even lengthier and more difficult, perhaps impossible, task of getting politicians etc to actually practice what they happily preach but it's just like the traffic laws, for others to obey .

I think ethics need to be taught at primary school age,A recent survey of school children found that bribery and corruption was ok if they benefited from it so where's the ethics in that. It makes sense to start reprogramming at a young age so hopefully Thailand will be a better place in 20 years

Sorry, ethics can only be learned at Grandmother's knee. Any theoretical "teaching of ethics" merely identifies the Rules to be aware of in decision making.

As Secretary of the Law Society for 15 years, and a Company Secretary for much longer, experience tells me that few can identify their own breaches of ethics, as indicated in the Opening Article. The incompetent do not have the skills to identify their incompetency; only the competent have the skills to identify incompetency

The larger question, however, would be who is to determine whether a candidate is "honest" and "ethical"... can those terms be defined? Can those terms have their measure defined?

The child who cheated in a school essay might still become a Cabinet Member?

The child who said "Daddy is out" to a telephone caller might still become a Cabinet Member?

I do not think that Cherry Trees grow in Thailand quite the same as they do in Washington!!

[Tatsujin]

Why do Thai's have such a hard time writing laws/codes/charters that are simple, clearcut, and with no ambiguity, loopholes, grey areas. It's not like there hasn't been enough time to think things through logically and then to put that down into some clear, simple rules. Oh wait, logic, that's where it all falls down, every time.

[gandalf12]

I thought a degree in creative writing was must for all Thai politicians and bureaucrats...

Applies throughout the world not just in Thailand

[spidermike007]

Well, this brings up an interest topic for discussion. I am fairly jaded at this point in time, when it comes to politics. Not just Thailand. Especially in the US. I am not as familiar with European politics. My guess is that there may be certain countries, such as some of the Scandinavian countries, that have some ministers and politicians who are fairly noble, and relatively honest, and possess a sense of ethics. But, this is a worldwide issue. How many politicians at a national level, anywhere in the world are honest and ethical? My opinion, is that there are horrendously few. Of course, a system like they have here in Thailand, where there is no deterrent, where politicians are rarely punished, nor called out on their nonsense, encourages even more dishonesty, and even a greater lack of ethics. So, when they propose another one of their hollow promises, like usual, they refuse to address the root causes of the problem. That would be far too adult an approach for the goons. And jawboning is becoming their specialty.

The all talk, and no action administration.

[Somtamnication]

The term "accountability" doesn't have a clear-cut Thai equivalent.

Huh, who would've thunk it.

Neither is there an equivalent to "conflict of interest".

[trogers]

Should this occur, we are at the end of days...

[klauskunkel]

Maybe PM Songwriter should make another chart topper about the character and work ethics of Ministers and MPs. I think it would go well with 'Old McDonald had a Farm' as a structure...

Old Prayuth had a government, E-I-E-I-O

and on this government he had a Finance Minister, E-I-E-I-O

with straight and true work here, and all numbers in the black there,

here straight'n true, there all in the black.

Everywhere in the black, black.

Old Prayuth had a government, E-I-E-I-O

[keithathome]

Surely the root problem is that Thailand only started its' march to democracy with Rama 5. Before that it was purely a system of patronage.

The democracies which we respect have evolved over a lot longer time than that, and even they started in the same way: by gradually eroding the "rights" of the ruling bodies, eventually becoming democratic. BUT even in our beloved democracies WE still pay more than lip service to the patronage system do we not ? (the old school tie ?)

Give Thailand a chance, give them time. Our democracies did not spring to life fully formed and even with the help of modern media and the examples around it will take time to change from patronage to democracy.

[MZurf]

First step is to get words like honest and ethical etc into the Thai dictionary then into vocabulary, then common usage.

After this lengthy process comes the even lengthier and more difficult, perhaps impossible, task of getting politicians etc to actually practice what they happily preach but it's just like the traffic laws, for others to obey .

"First step is to get words like honest and ethical etc into the Thai dictionary..."

Oh, they're there, they're just not in use - very much like many of the laws in the Thai judiciary system.

[tomross46]

Honest politician, is an oxymoron.

[billd766]

Parliament would be empty!

Would anybody notice or even care.

The upside to that would be the saving on salaries.

[connda]

It will occur when the patronage system dissolves and pigs fly.

[BlindMagician]

If they are viewed as honest and ethical, it just means they have been too slippery to be caught yet.