Winds of change are howling.
Finally, the interim charter is unveiled and sets the tone for the future. It is tilted heavily against politicians, political parties and aims to curb populist policies. This is the overall framework. But the reform process should not just focus on the politicians. It should also focus on the role of bureaucrats and government officials.
If Thailand is to change for the better, the key rests on whether or not there is enough foresight and determination to implement genuine reform in the areas outlined in Section 27 of this interim charter.
Under this section, the National Reform Council (NRC) is to study and recommend reform in politics, state administration, laws and judicial procedures, local administration, education, the economy, public heath and the environment, mass communications as well as social issues.
I am struck by key words of the section saying that the underlying objective of the reforms is to establish efficient mechanisms to prevent and suppress corruption and efficiently, effectively, fairly and rigorously strengthen law enforcement. It all sounds good on paper. There is hope and high expectations. Reforming the bureaucracy requires government officials to look at themselves and change. Many therefore, myself included, remain deeply sceptical.
Even before the interim charter was unveiled Gen Prayuth Chan-ocha, head of the National Council for Peace and Order, moved swiftly to initiate police reform. And it started at the top by creating a new body — the National Police Policy Commission — to oversee and prevent political interference in the appointments of top officers. Critics say that this is not enough and that decentralisation is the path to take.
None of the above goes deep enough. If police reform is to genuinely take place, we need to get rid of the hypocrisy on the ground. The fact is that many, if not the majority, of the rank and file in the 230,000-strong force regularly and systematically turn a blind eye to crime and take bribes — using the money to line their pockets and, ironically, to fight crime.
Gambling is the primary and regular source of revenue for local area police to who provide protection, turn a blind eye or provide tip-offs of impending commando raids. Entertainment venues are another regular source of revenue, although not as lucrative as gambling. It’s no surprise that each crackdown only lasts a short while. If it’s prolonged, the sources of revenue are cut off.
With predicable regularity, officers pinpointed for not doing their job in cracking down on gambling dens are transferred to inactive duty for one month pending an investigation.
After a month, they are back to where they were before. Or, if it is close to annual reshuffle time in October, they are transferred to another precinct. And so the culture of transferring the problem from one area to another continues.
You cannot really blame the rank and file police. They are underpaid. They have to pay for their own pistols and ammunition. Little or no funds are allocated for the necessities of investigation into crimes such as petrol, food or overtime for police teams on stakeout.
Top officers get the first and biggest bite from bribes whether it is from gambling, prostitution, drug trafficking, human trafficking, contraband or smuggling. That’s why there is so much lobbying and payments being made near annual police reshuffle time.
Junior police officers see and know how the system works and have no choice but to resort to wringing a few hundred baht in traffic bribes because they are at the bottom of the food chain.
Police reform is just one aspect that requires real change. Gen Prayuth has identified other areas the National Reform Council must tackle. If they are serious, don’t just scratch the surface. They must dig deeper.
At the moment, all eyes are pinned on the sins and shortcomings of politicians and the political party system. And rightly so — they deserve it — but there is the other side of the coin. Corruption also exists within state, local administrations and the bureaucracy. As things stand at the moment, and in the foreseeable future, the buck stops at the bootstraps of Gen Prayuth. Dig deep, general, and prove the sceptics wrong.
Pichai Chuensuksawadi is editor-in-chief of Post Publishing. Contact him at pichai@bangkokpost.co.th.