Having observed Children's Day activities on Saturday, I can't help but think we should stop organising these celebrations.
Most activities for children, especially those organised by state agencies, tend to be meaningless, failing to respond to children's pressing needs or to stimulate learning. They also induce a sense of begging and feeling thankful for handouts among Thai citizens from a young age.
Particularly this year, Children's Day seemed to legitimise the military's hefty budget — with fighter jet demonstrations at the air force headquarters that delayed about 50 commercial flights at Don Mueang airport.
Other neighbouring countries show off their air force, army and navy capabilities during some other day, such as National Day.
Like in previous years, the prime minister's chair was a major attraction.
Some may genuinely believe that sitting on the PM's chair will give kids inspiration. But looking back, we have to admit that few, if any, leaders have served as a positive role model for children when it comes to democratisation.
Back in the 1970s, Field Marshal Thanom Kittikachorn's rule came to an abrupt end following the 1973 student uprising. A short period of democratic rule under prime minister Seni Pramoj ended in a coup after the 1976 massacre.
Political intervention by men in uniform has become part of our history. Gen Prem Tinsulanonda was not elected but ruled the country as PM for eight years in the 1980s and still maintains his influence.
The general, now president of the Privy Council, had no reservations if his successors, including Gen Sonthi Boonyaratglin in the army, staged a coup and became a player in the political sphere.
More recently, Gen Prem encouraged Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha to continue his job as the post-coup premier.
Even an elected leader like Thaksin Shinawatra, who became the longest-serving elected PM in the modern history of Thailand, became overconfident and failed his supporters.
One of his notorious comments was about budget allocations — that money should not go to any region that did not vote for his party.
During Thaksin's rule, extrajudicial killings became rampant as his government showed little care for human rights.
The forced disappearance of human rights lawyer Somchai Neelapaijit, who stood up for suspects in the deep South, occurred during Thaksin's tenure as prime minister.
Mr Somchai was not the first person to have gone missing. Ten years after the lawyer's forced disappearance, Karen land rights activist Porlajee Rakchongcharoen, aka "Billy", vanished after disputes with Kaeng Krachan National Park officials last year.
Thirteen years before Mr Somchai's abduction, prominent labour leader Thanong Pho-Arn went missing following his comments about the 1991 coup led by Gen Suchinda Kraprayoon.
Even in exile, Thaksin has exploited the loyalty of the poor and the rural middle class, who form the red-shirt movement, to wage war for him. They faced a deadly crackdown by the Abhisit Vejjajiva administration in 2010.
Justice has yet to be served for incidents during the Abhisit administration, and the same goes for Gen Suchinda's bloody crackdown in 1992.
Yingluck Shinawatra is known as a puppet PM who drove the country into political crisis after her attempts to whitewash her brother through a blanket amnesty bill, which triggered widespread opposition from city dwellers. Months of political stagnation opened the way for a coup last year.
Politicians aren't the only ones mired in corruption, but civil service servants, too.
So how can our children behave well and perform their duties honourably when our leaders take turns giving bad examples on the centre stage of Thai politics?
Phu yai, the influential adults in Thai society, seem pleased to let kids submit to conformity and become non-critical.
Even those in the reform campaign are not much different from the bureaucrats and politicians who say one thing and do another.
A case in point is National Reform Council (NRC) president Thienchay Kiranandana, who promises to reach out and accommodate different aspirations for the national reform agenda. Yet he was unable to tolerate the differing view of one high-school student.
Nattanan Warintarawet, a Triam Udomsuksa School Mathayom 5 student, was invited to join a discussion with the NRC chair at TV Channel 5 on the eve of the Children's Day. Ms Nattanan, who is also secretary-general of a group called Education for the Liberation of Siam, had prepared a few questions, including how the NRC could resolve corruption given that its formation through a coup is a robbery of "one person, one vote" rights.
Mr Thienchay gave a short reply: that it's necessary to "look at the big picture".
But soon after that, Ms Nattanan was shocked when organisers told her to leave the broadcasting room because her question was deemed "disrespectful" to the phu yai.
Ms Nattanan wrote of the incident on her Facebook page, along with her comment: "Freedom of expression and free thinking should prevail in society, or we have no future."
Achara Ashayagachat is a Senior News Reporter, Bangkok Post.