Thai scholar dubs reform efforts ‘a failure’

[webfact]

Scholar dubs reform efforts ‘a failure’

CHANNIKARN PHUMHIRAN
THE NATION 

 

BANGKOK: -- POLITICAL CRITIC and scholar Thirayut Boonmee yesterday described the country’s reform efforts as a failure and called on the state to cooperate with educational institutions to promote serious reform.

 

He said the root causes of all the problems still persisted and would have repercussions in the next couple of years. 

He said anti-corruption agencies liked to project an image of being hardworking, but they had achieved no concrete results.

"[The state] has to be determined to overhaul the whole system, not just a little here and there," he said.

The need for national reform was cited as the main reason for overthrowing the civilian government in 2014. The military-installed government promised to lay out the reform plan before returning power to the people and bringing back democracy.

However, many critics have expressed dissatisfaction over the government's reform works, saying little progress has been made.

Despite this, a new Nida poll revealed 60.80 per cent of the 1,250 people surveyed nationwide believed General Prayut Chan-o-cha should stay on as PM post after the next election. 

They reasoned he was decisive, straightforward, and was able to keep order, including reducing conflicts.

Nearly one-third of respondents (32.89 per cent) said he should become PM as an outsider nominated through a mechanism provided by the new constitution.

Suriyasai Katasila, a scholar at Rangsit University, said that the outsider PM issue was undermining reform efforts and could cause another conflict.

However, he said a growing number of people were discussing the idea of an outsider PM because people still did not trust politicians.

In a related development, legislators have been looking into whether the Interior Ministry should be responsible for staging elections instead of the Election Commission (EC).

However, National Legislative Assembly vice president Peerasak Porjit said he believed the EC as a central agency should continue doing the job.

But he added that the situation should be assessed constantly to determine if the EC was fulfilling its job or whether it required extra authority to work effectively.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/politics/Scholar-dubs-reform-efforts-a-failure-30294526.html

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2016-09-05

[The stuttering parrot]

It's Monday so it's the weekly joke poll. The poor old general has dropped to only 80% down from 93% and is just clinging on.

Maybe the reason it's slow going on reform is to keep using this as an excuse to hold onto power as long as they can and to keep churning out propaganda like this every week.

[Somtamnication]

Better run, those olive coloured vehicles are revving their engines. 

[z42]

The  AA team will no doubt be sniffing around after this slanderous outburst. And these farcical NIDA polls do always raise a laugh, and also a little bit of dread, are 60.8% of them really that stupid to think that Prayuth is the best candidate to be next PM because he can "keep order". Well when you have the feudalism, the bloated military machine and their backers, and the all powerful section 44 in your back pocket it is hardly surprising. I despair at this place sometimes

[colinneil]

Anti- corruption agencies like to project an image of  being hardworking.

Yes this is true very hard working covering up all the rampant corruption

[SABloke]

The  AA team will no doubt be sniffing around after this slanderous outburst. And these farcical NIDA polls do always raise a laugh, and also a little bit of dread, are 60.8% of them really that stupid to think that Prayuth is the best candidate to be next PM because he can "keep order". Well when you have the feudalism, the bloated military machine and their backers, and the all powerful section 44 in your back pocket it is hardly surprising. I despair at this place sometimes

To be fair the question was probably: "Do you think Prayuth or a piece of dog faeces should be the next PM?"

40% still prefered the turd.

[yellowboat]

Reform and reconciliation have been spewed from day one.  Neither will happen as the military violated the people's write to vote.  Also we all know that the real aim of the coup was to marginalize a powerful political family and hand their power to the inbred, Thai elites.  The good general can talk all he wants.  It is just talk.

[gandalf12]

1 hour ago, z42 said:

The  AA team will no doubt be sniffing around after this slanderous outburst. And these farcical NIDA polls do always raise a laugh, and also a little bit of dread, are 60.8% of them really that stupid to think that Prayuth is the best candidate to be next PM because he can "keep order". Well when you have the feudalism, the bloated military machine and their backers, and the all powerful section 44 in your back pocket it is hardly surprising. I despair at this place sometimes

The figue of approval is based on around 600 people, hardly representative in a country of over 60 million

[rkidlad]

"He said anti-corruption agencies liked to project an image of being hardworking, but they had achieved no concrete results'

 

Ah, that's the same as the people who work in my office in Bangkok. They usually do nothing Monday to Thursday and then complain on Friday about how busy and tired they are. 

 

Right, time to take a photo of the staff in the office pointing at a diagram. 

 

 

[Squeegee]

He's not a good general, he's a very naughty boy.

[sanukjim]

First LOS needs to get rid of all of these phony so called (International Schools).Also take over the rest of the schools in the country installing ligament principals answering only to the government. Then go to the UK or the EU and hire a real Professor of Education with the knowledge of administration of schools and their systems to install his own systems of requirements for educators and teachers. In about five years with no  involvement from the elite and privileged ( an impossibility) there might actually have a beginning of a true education system here.until then LOS will just stumble on with their systems of graft and the policy of can not fail any student.

[debate101]

As others have so often, rightly, pointed out, many polling outfits in LoS, including NIDA are "first figure out what result you want, and then work backward from there to get it" organizations. I suppose you could call it Thai-style polling.

 

The survey samples are unrepresentative of the population as a whole because they largely poll in Bangkok and other urban centers. The rural population is "off the map," so to speak. Survey questions are almost always written to be leading. The pollsters will offer a fixed variety of responses, some of which overlap in meaning, and often attach only one, pre-determined, rationalization for each response. I wouldn't be surprised if a variety of techniques are employed, and the one survey with the best or "correct" results is the one reported.

 

As far as "reform efforts" go, some scholars who apparently drank the military cool-aid still seem to misinterpret what the word means. To them, it means improvement in the functioning of the country's institutions. To the military/elite, it means smashing people's power and public participation in said institutions.

 

Seriously, there was some Democrat academic (Ittara-something?) going on about it the other day, basically saying to the junta "Okay, guys. We can start the real, progressive reform now, right?" You've all succeeded in giving total, unchecked power to a small group of military men and you're surprised that they're going to do whatever they want with it? I'm not sure what to say anymore.

[dcpo]

I think Yingluck would have been able to keep order just fine if the military had been backing her rather than hindering her. Also, it's a bit rich for (loosely defined) 'Yellow shirts' to praise the military for restoring order when they (the Yellow shirts) were the ones initiating the last round of disorder in the first place. I seem to remember at the time a lot of Yellow shirt supporters talking earnestly about how important the right to protest was. That went right out the window the exact moment 'their side' got a nose in front though.

[Lupatria]

Monday! Field day of the propaganda-panda. Now after my brain got washed, where can I hang it to dry without fear it gets stolen? 

Edited September 5, 2016 by Lupatria

[Sphere]

Quote

 .....was able to keep order....

 

Only a few bombs explode now and then.....and to borrow a term from another decisive, straightforward leader "unfortunately, some people died....".

[HowardV]

This article says they overthrew the civilian government in 2014.  I'm sorry, but I was here.  It was in 2010, and it wasn't due to corruption.  It was due to total chaos - fires, bombings, riots, snipers, people hiding in temples, entire areas losing electricity and cell phone service.

[williamgeorgeallen]

55 minutes ago, HowardV said:

This article says they overthrew the civilian government in 2014.  I'm sorry, but I was here.  It was in 2010, and it wasn't due to corruption.  It was due to total chaos - fires, bombings, riots, snipers, people hiding in temples, entire areas losing electricity and cell phone service.

20 coups. it is just a power struggle. the events you mentioned were just excuses to size power. system is flawed here with the minority not being able to hold onto power in democratic elections. need to get a system like the west where the powerful own both political parties.

[elgordo38]

This man must be silenced. Maybe charge  him with truth agitation. Its lucky that intellectuals are few and far between or this country would be in real trouble. I guess he did not like the PM's road map. We are getting a new international school here in Chiang Mai impressive edifice. I hope what goes on inside is just as impressive. Opening 2016-2017. All you teachers get your applications in early.