OPINION

A pack of perilous prophecies

Re: "Thailand's prospects for 2017 and beyond", (Opinion, Jan 6).

Thitinan makes an excellent forecast ​about​ the future of ​Thai democracy.

But let us not beat around the bushes any more. The new charter is aimed at minimising the role of politicians and a civilian government. It has been proven time and again that in Thailand an elected government can be forced out anytime by the military and their paymasters. The new experiment in democracy where selected officials will rule over the elected ones is a recipe for disaster. Any public mandate through the ballot box or elections will have little meaning as long as the military has the upper hand.

Calling for democracy in Thailand is like the story of the "boy who cried wolf". In coming years, we will see a new creed of politicians rising from the ranks of coup makers who will ​try to give some semblance of democracy to appease Western countries, nothing more. By the end of this decade, the new era of deceptive democracy will come a full circle. The consequences of creating ​such a​ deliberate deception will be more catastrophic for the nation.​

The holiday period is over once more, and the death toll has reached a 10-year high.

The authorities still come out with the same old cliches about stricter driving tests, harsher penalties, confiscating licences and vehicles and so on. But none of this will have the desired affect without a major change in attitude of the people who use the roads.

Ratanawadee H Winther in her Jan 5 article states that "the first step to correct the course begins with a new attitude", then goes on to detail a number of ways in which a new attitude at the top level would improve the situation.

The majority of Thai people are kind, caring people, but as soon as they get behind a steering wheel or astride a motorbike the "I don't care, me first" attitude takes over.

You can make the driving test as strict as you like and make the penalties for breaking the rules as harsh as you want, and make it more difficult to get a licence without proper training. All these are necessary but people will still drive without licences, will still break the rules of the road, and will still drive without consideration for other road users and pedestrians, and it's all down to the attitude of "I don't care, me first".

But who's going to change that attitude? It has to start at a very young age, and who's going to teach the youngsters to have more respect for the law and other road users? The same people who are causing the accidents today.

So sadly, I can't see anything ever changing.

Re: "The decline of Pattaya", (PostBag, Jan 7).

Has Pattaya gone to the dogs as your correspondent claims? The UK magazine Holiday categorised Pattaya as one of the 10 worst vacation hot spots in the world, chastising it for awesome crime, filthy waters, transvestite muggings, unspeakable debauchery, trash in the streets and so on. Yet today Pattaya is an international city receiving record numbers of visitors who can enjoy top-class restaurants, malls, hotels and entertainment facilities to rival the best in Asia. In effect, Pattaya has become a victim of its own success and not of its failure.

According to a Jan 7 news report, "Hemp growing limited to state agencies until 2021", the cultivation, sale and possession of hemp or ganjong (ganja) has been officially approved but it will be at least four years before the general public can get involved.

Good and bad news. The good news is the government has finally waxed reasonable in allowing ganja to be grown in Thailand. The bad news: they are ensuring the rich get richer while the poor get poorer.

A bit of recent ganja history. A few years ago, voters in Ohio, USA, were allowed to vote on whether to allow ganja to be grown there. Most Ohio voters were in favour of the proposal. However, they voted it down. Why? Because the right-wing Republican governor put in a stipulation that, if it was approved, only VIP rich people could grow it via government-controlled auctioning off of limited concessions.

That's similar to what Thailand is proposing, except without any auctions. Thailand is allowing ganja farming, distributing and possession only to well-connected, already rich people.

What about Thai farmers or Thai individuals who want to grow it? Thailand's leaders are telling them to shut up and be happy with watching from the sidelines. Will the government allow regular Thai people to express their ideas or vote? Ha ha ha. Voting is as common in Thailand as glaciers.

Do as you are told and accept that VIP rich Thais will control everything to do with money, and I haven't even mentioned the super-rich folks who control beer and liquor.

Great political failures have emerged at the end of 2016. Barack Obama during his campaign offered hope to the Americans. They received the biggest letdown and disappointment in recent US political history. In Myanmar, Aung San Suu Kyi was elected with a ray of hope for all in that country. She too is a big disappointment, unable or unwilling to do anything for the Rohingya minority there.

Charismatic political leaders have all but disappeared. The last one in my opinion was Pierre Elliot Trudeau, unappreciated at home but recognised as a world statesman abroad. Where are those with the stature of the Roosevelts, the Churchills, the Ben-Gurions, the Mendez-Frances of our time? As the song says, "Lost and gone forever, oh my darling Clementine".