The gathering of some 3,000 health workers, including dozens of faculty deans, at the Ministry of Public Health on Tuesday to give moral support to public health permanent secretary Dr Narong Sahamethapat is a rare phenomenon given the traditional submissiveness of officialdom to governments in office.
The gathering was in response to Sunday’s grenade attack on the house of Dr Narong in the Chaeng Watthana area.
Luckily, no one in the house was injured although the permanent secretary was not at home at the time.
But the grenade, believed to have been fired from an M79 launcher, punched a hole in the concrete wall.
Clearly, the attack was an act of intimidation against Dr Narong for his open defiance of the Centre for the Administration of Peace and Order (Capo).
He boycotted last week’s meeting of ministerial permanent secretaries organised by Capo to make sure that they toe the government’s line.
In a speech to his supporters, Dr Narong said the grenade attack was actually intended to create fear among senior government officials so they will not come out to express their views openly under the democratic system.
He told his supporters they should be prepared to criticise the Yingluck Shinwatra government for its failings, and show open defiance of Capo, if they did not agree with its edicts.
Dr Narong’s boycott of last week’s meeting was not his first act of defiance against the government and peace-keeping mechanisms such as Capo.
The doctor was instrumental in a recent campaign against corruption when hospitals and health offices across the country put up huge banners at their premises with a common message which reads “No to Corrupt Government”.
Although putting up such banners is an act of free expression, it is also provocative under the present climate where the colour-coded political divide is huge.
Hence, anything which is politically sensitive should be avoided.
After all, there are many other ways for health officials to express their opposition to corruption.
Dr Narong made some valid points in his brief speech to his supporters concerning the role of bureaucrats.
He said civil servants should serve as a pillar in looking after the country by putting the public interest as their top priority, not the vested interests of politicians.
Bureaucrats should keep themselves grounded to serve the needs of ordinary people, he urged.
This is not only the duty of government officials, but also politicians.
Instead of threatening to fire Dr Narong for his outspokenness, Capo director Chalerm Yubamrung should realise that eradicating corruption and serving the public interest are indeed common ground where they can work together to strengthen democracy, transparency, and move the country forward.
Dr Narong may have a vision for the role of civil servants in shaping the country’s future.
But this is easier said than done as civil servants and the bureaucracy will have to undergo major changes to be more responsive to the needs of their real paymasters, the taxpayers, rather than their political masters.
Many government officials may have valid complaints against political interference.
That Dr Narong’s outspokenness receives so much support reflects the extent of frustration in officialdom.
But the bureaucrats also have work to do to be accountable to the public.
Top-down policies imposed by officialdom account for many public grievances, giving rise to concerted demands for bureaucratic reform.