The controversial audio tape of what appears to be Deputy Defence Minister Yuthasak Sasiprapa and Thaksin Shinawatra engaging in a supposedly naughty conversation may be grabbing all the attention right now, but let’s not forget yesterday’s news, the rice pledging scheme, just because there’s a fresh, sexy headline.
Whistle-blower Supa Piyajitti, deputy permanent finance secretary. Warned of the risk of corruption at every stage of the rice pledging scheme. (Bangkok Post file photo)
It’s sad, comically tragic and laughably ridiculous in fact, the way the rice pledging scheme has been viewed by the public. It exposes the weak-mindedness of society, how tribal loyalty and colour-coded prejudices cloud good-old common sense and democratic decency.
People have tried to make this about ammart versus prai, the Democrats versus Pheu Thai, the old elite versus the new elite and one colour versus another. They have done a very good job of muddling the issue in fact. But that shouldn’t be the case, and doesn’t have to be.
What is at the heart of the issue is pure and simple, corruption. Is the scheme ripened with lies, cover-ups and funny numbers among others, all tantamount to corruption in one way or another? Or is the scheme transparent and honest, built on the foundation of needed populism and wearing the white hat of good governance?
From the government-to-government deal that never was, the secrecy and hiding of facts and figures, the numerous news reports unearthing evidence of missing rice and rotting rice, the middle-men who have been blacklisted yet were able to profit from the scheme, to the whistle-blowing by deputy permanent secretary for finance Supa Piyajitti, her transfer, reinstatement and then the subsequent investigation into her credibility by the Pheu Thai government.
None of this means that the Pheu Thai government is guilty of corruption, or of any cover-ups. All of this however does mean that there is enough probable cause for a full investigation by an independent committee. A government investigating itself isn’t exactly independent. That’s all – an earnest and genuine investigation on behalf of the people of Thailand.
It’s good that four rice millers are being charged with embezzlement. But the possibility that state officials and politicians might be involved should not be ignored and warrants a full scale investigation. Again, by an independent body, as the art of making scapegoats is too well practiced in Thailand.
If there’s corruption, then prosecute the wrongdoers, but if there isn’t any corruption, then good for the Pheu Thai government.
Police count sacks of pledged rice at a warehouse in Ayutthaya’s Wang Noi district in October 2012 after 11,000 tonnes of grain vanished from a warehouse in Nakhon Ratchasima province. (Bangkok Post file photo)
This ought to be something all Thai people from both sides of the political divide and those in between can agree on. Despite those polls that say a majority of Thai people don’t mind corruption, I am of the opinion that in truth the ordinary man and woman on the streets would rather not have the corruption.
Sure, a subsidy scheme need not be profitable, and can even incur losses. Of course, poor farmers need help. Yes, for everyone else to pitch in and help the poor is a charitable thing to do. But the issue here is corruption, and we need an investigation and an answer.
How the controversial scheme plays out will determine the path of Thailand in the foreseeable future. So far, the way it has been playing out, one thing is visible and clear: the Thai people will choose tribal allegiance and colour-coded factions over transparency, honesty and good governance any day of the week, and twice on Sunday.
This, of course, would make my opinion of the ordinary man and woman mentioned earlier quite wrong.
Why? This is because instead of demanding an independent investigation to prove or disprove the accusation, one side has already called the accusers a bunch of military coup-supporting, fascist dictators trying to undermine democracy – and that’s the end of the conversation.
Many of them indeed would support a military coup. Many would want Thailand to be ruled by some sort of so-called benevolent dictatorship. Many are actually trying to undermine democracy.
But the conversation doesn’t end there, because none of this changes the fact that the rice pledging scheme needs to be fully investigated by an independent committee.
As long as supporters of the Pheu Thai government continue to blindly defend its practices and policies, while lashing out at any criticism of the government, guess what, Thailand doesn’t need a military coup, or fascism, or its democracy undermined.
This is because the blind tribal loyalty and colour-coded obedience will guarantee that corruption and abuse of power, and the exercise of unchecked power, will flourish anyway. This scenario would hold true in any country and under any government.
Therefore, it makes Thailand same-same but with different faces at the top, that’s all. And so democracy in and of itself would be undermined, without any help from the tanks, the invisible hand, the yellow or multi-colour shirts and the Guy Fawkes masks.
Rise up and be better. Thailand needs you. Democracy needs you. A full and independent investigation into the rice pledging scheme, that is what is at stake. Support it. Demand for it. Leave the colour-coded politics in the closet and think of the country first.
If we can’t differentiate between fighting for democracy and fighting for a political party, or a cult of personality, then democracy in Thailand is nought but a sack of rotting rice that only rats are willing to nibble on.