OPINION

PM needs 'good' pals

Re: "PM must put friendship aside in graft fight," (Opinion, Dec 14).

I agree with Wichit Chantanusornsiri that Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha must get tough against those in his government who are allegedly involved in graft, regardless of his ties with them.

For those who are close to the leader but are corruption-prone or a graft risk, the PM has no choice but to cast them away.

Even though it is good to have close friends to work alongside you, those "friends" must be "good" people -- not the ones that the majority of people recognise to be extremely bad.

May I elaborate further on Asda Jayanama's "Elaborating on Surin", (PostBag, Dec 13).

1. "Former premier Thaksin Shinawatra's decision to nominate Surakiart Sathirathai as Thai candidate for the UNSG position" came after an Asean Foreign Ministers Meeting in Kota Kinabalu where one of the foreign ministers suggested that then foreign minister Surakiart should try for the job. Dr Surakiart asked for my advice. As Permanent Secretary for Foreign Affairs at the time, I advised him to go for it as it would raise Thailand's international profile.

He said he would discuss the matter with premier Thaksin which he did after our return from a BIMSTEC Ministerial Meeting in Chiang Mai. He told me premier Thaksin gave him the same advice as I had done. That was how the process of the Thai government's nomination of Dr Surakiart as candidate for the UNSG started.

2. Surin was the choice of the Selection Committee appointed by the Thai MFA, of which I was a member, to find a Thai candidate for the Asean secretary–general position. He was the best candidate to emerge after interviews. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs forwarded the name to the cabinet for approval. The minister of foreign affairs at the time was the late Nid Pibulsonggrarm.

By then I was Adviser to the Office of the Principal Private Secretary to His Majesty the late King.

Re: "Ambassadorial gripes", (PostBag, Dec 12).

David James Wong is surely out of order in directing some distinctly undiplomatic language at the US ambassador to Thailand, whom he accuses of seeking to impose "America's brand of democracy" here. Although I am a British citizen, I feel compelled to come to the defence of the ambassador, who I am sure is far too busy with more important tasks to respond to such nonsense. After all, the US and other Western governments have merely been calling for a return to democracy in Thailand, which is exactly in line with the military junta's own oft-stated objective. Mr Wong's observation regarding the type of democracy that the ambassador would like to see in Thailand is of course his own assumption. I am sure that Mr Wong is a man of many talents, but I doubt if mind-reading is one of them.

The failure of the US to attend the latest Climate Change gathering in Paris could possibly be explained this way. The delegates' aim is to determine the source(s) of finance required to inhibit future global change in temperatures which is most admirable. To me it is somewhat analogous to a Westerner entertaining a future with an Asian woman whereby, after the gloss has gone, in many cases the family has a continued expectation that they will enjoy a higher standard of living without reciprocating.

In a global context, maybe "Uncle Sam" has become sick and tired of being the expected main contributor given the president's catch-cry which is "to make America Great Again". Just a thought!!

I noted the picture in Dec 14 Post showing our prime minister squeezing the knee of our deputy premier. Even more interesting were two jewel-studded rings and an expensive looking watch (not the one now topical) worn by our deputy PM. Wonder if they were declared in his list of assets?