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Friday, July 31, 2009
A crack in political dynasties
Is the era of political dynasties in Thai local politics coming to an end? What happened last week in Surat Thani, when the long-reigning Thaugsuban clan was defeated in a provincial election, was telling.
Surat Thani has long been a Democrat stronghold under the clan of Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban. With his clan's business arms deep and far-reaching in this southern province, many believed it would always be the case.
Until last week, that is.
There were three candidates for the Provincial Administrative Organisation (PAO). No.1 was both a Thaugsuban and a Democrat. No.2 was a Democrat. No.3 was a maverick newcomer who has vowed to break Surat's political monopoly.
Before the election, the Surat civil society consisting of community leaders in the town and outlying villages invited the three candidates and presented their grievances caused by environmentally destructive businesses, and asked how each candidate would redress them.
The mega prawn farm industry run by a giant agro business and a political clan, for example, has annihilated the waterways and the coastal seas with polluted waste water. How to stop this?
The Ban Don Bay which supports the livelihoods of fisherfolk in nine districts, has also practically been monopolised by cockle farm investors who have divided the coastal seas into large plots as their own private property, leaving only a very small area for the fisherfolk to live on. How to return the seas to the people?
Big trawlers, meanwhile, remain a menace. They routinely violate the law by entering the coastal seas, wiping out marine life with their fine nets and giant dredges.
How to enforce the law?
Of the three candidates, only Montree Petkhum, an underdog politician in the Democrat-dominated province, turned up to shower the town hall meeting with policy promises to crack down on environment-annihilating businesses.
Not long ago, Mr Montree would never have had a chance. But he eventually emerged as the winner.
"People desperately want change," said Taweesak Sukarat, a civil society leader. "The problems are getting intolerable and the people are resentful at being taken for granted by the politicians who think they can just run our town any way they want by continuing their political dynasty."
This yearning for change is vibrating across the country, he said. "And the defeat of the political dynasty here should serve as a wake-up call for politicians elsewhere."
Despite promises from the incoming PAO boss, the Surat civic and grassroots groups remain cautious. For right after his victory, it was revealed that he enjoys close links with the Puea Thai Party, the resurrection of Thaksin Shinawatra's Thai Rak Thai.
How would it be possible for him, then, to return the sea to the people when the destructive cockle farms are part of Mr Thaksin's seafood bank initiatives?
Puea Thai is also known for being an ally of big business. How could he possibly purge the mega prawn farms and intrusive trawlers as promised?
Indeed, party politics and a change of faces do not promise any real change. Electoral politics, when reduced to mere ballot box games, ends up as a political monopoly, causing nepotism, corruption and an onslaught against the environment.
The purge of dirty businesses for political gain is also unforeseeable in Surat, said Taweesak. "We're so rich with natural resources that the money barons from different political parties can just divide the spoils among themselves without much competition and conflict," he said.
"It's the small people who suffer miserably because they can no longer use the natural environment to sustain a livelihood while nature is rapidly destroyed.
"That's why we have to monitor politicians from all parties, keep pressuring them to protect the environment and to create the kind of hometown we want.
"People's participation is the key. Real change won't happen unless we make our voices heard."
Read comment
date : 03/08/2009 time : 16:56They had not formed any policies when they came to power and they have not form any coheresive policy now-Their records show they will not be able to form any meaningful policies for eliviate Thailand's poverty nor improve
the enviromental damages that facing our land. They are what they are the party created by the bangkok elites.
date : 04/08/2009 time : 02:21
date : 04/08/2009 time : 04:44
date : 05/08/2009 time : 01:47
date : 05/08/2009 time : 12:11
date : 06/08/2009 time : 00:12
date : 06/08/2009 time : 06:43Another findings, also not so surprising, is that operations belonging to "big business" are often less environmentally damaging than those run by your average villagers.
date : 06/08/2009 time : 06:46Becareful of using word next time.
date : 07/08/2009 time : 08:19You see your stinky nepotistic politics are directly comparable to the ills of the Roman Republic period, where rich elite clans like the Metelli and Claudii stuffed the Senate with father then son then grandson, each viewing their position there as some form of birthright.
These families year on year cynically manipulated power so that the electorate of poor and uneducated masses stayed that way, poor and unempowered. They bribed, corrupted and twisted the electoral system so they always won, excluding all others. Where bribes didnt work they used rumors and gossip, or took violence on to the steets like Clodius and Milo.
These families, through their own selfishness, greed and stupidity, eventually tore the Republic apart allowing a tyrannical demagogue who manipulated the masses better than them to destroy their system and impose a nepotistic dictatorship called the Imperial system....a demagogue who was in fact a fugitive from Roman justice and refused to play the game....who came back and took what he wanted at the point of a sword.....and so the Republic died and Ceasar became a king in all but name.
Sound familiar?
When Thailand learns that Mai Pen Rai, Pu Yai, kowtowing to anyone who deems themselves better than you, and voting for someone just because they have a relative who was or is a politician is anti-democratic then you may....may....have a chance at a functioning democracy. If not...well get ready to repeat the Roman's mistakes.
Carry on, and kiss your beloved Thailand bye bye and get ready for Emperor Thaksin and his stinking closet Communist pals.
date : 07/08/2009 time : 14:51Thailand: beware the man who would be king !!
date : 31/08/2009 time : 04:13I am now worry about what's gonna happen during the next general election. The Democrat and the New Politics Party will divide the votes and lose.
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- Name: Sanitsuda
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In Thailand, similar thing can happen in the south. If the New Politics Party take away the votes from the Democrat, the Thaksin's crony could come out the winner. The Democrat better wake up and do something right now to avoid big upset. The NPSP should expand the political base to include the North and North East rather than concentrating on the south as is now. I want the Democrat not Thaksin party to form the next government.