A breakdown of Brexit
On Thursday, the British will be making the most important decision of their lifetime in the EU referendum.
Despite polls showing the Leave and Remain factions running 50/50, the coverage from the Bangkok Post's international news agencies has been almost entirely pro-Remain, and worse still, has contained much spurious information. To set this right and bring into light the other side of the argument, I shall pose some simple questions.
Would Thais be prepared to have 75% of their laws made by unelected, unsackable bureaucrats in Kuala Lumpur? Would they be happy with an Asean Supreme Court based in, say, Phnom Penh, striking down verdicts by the Thai Supreme Court?
Thailand currently restricts immigration to a maximum of 100 persons per country per year. Would Thais be happy to accept 630,000 immigrants per year (the UK's gross figure for 2015) and have no ability to control or restrict that number?
Perhaps I should address similar questions to your chosen news agencies -- Bloomberg, The New York Times, Washington Post -- all of which represent the American liberal left. Would America hand over the major part of its governance to an unelected bureaucracy in Mexico City? UK's Remain faction has run a negative campaign dubbed "Project Fear" based on fanciful and heavily criticised economic forecasts.
Last week, the Chancellor, George Osborne, even threatened to punish voters with an "emergency budget" to raise taxes in the event of a Leave vote, despite the fact that there is a two-year grace period under EU Article 50 before the exit actually takes place.
But the main Brexit issues are far more weighty than economics. They are issues of sovereignty, of culture, of the British way of life, of diminishing green spaces and quality of life in the cities. I trust these concerns strike a chord with your Thai readers. It comes down to who runs your country.
I am British and I want my country back.