Marc Saxer has never been shy to voice his opinion. Tonight the resident director of Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) — and sometimes-contributor to the Bangkok Post — will launch his book, In The Vertigo Of Change, at the residence of the German ambassador.
Marc Saxer.
The event tonight will also be a farewell party to Saxer, after 199 months in Thailand.
In The Vertigo Of Change is a book on, according to Saxer, "how to resolve Thailand's transformation crisis". It has been translated into Thai from Saxer's articles that shared a core concept of "renegotiation of the social contract through empowerment of the marginalised and powerless people and reassurance of the middle class to protect and foster democratisation in Thailand".
Trained in law and political science, Saxer, 41, who is relocating to New Delhi next month, walks his readers through the idea that Thailand "has to overcome the transformation crisis [and] to modernise the political order that moves away from the Middle Income Trap with better education, infrastructure and other public services".
Saxer believes that strong democracy cannot be sustained without eradicating corruption and breaking the patronage links which are deep-rooted in Thai society. But the way forward is to empower the poor and the powerless to speak up and bargain.
"Give them resources so they can determine their destinies without relying on the handouts from local or national politicians," he suggests, noting that those who seek change for "a peaceful, just and prosperous Thailand" need to introduce a platform of democratisation to transcend the red-yellow paralysis "through communication and dialogue among differing political nodes".
It is imperative that the people consider themselves as stakeholders in the governance of parliamentary affairs. Also, to prop up the new "conversation", Thais need to reduce or give space to the voice of the radicals and extremists from all sides, he notes.
The book is available for free at openworlds.in.th, or contact info@fes-thailnd.org.
