OPINION

Sorry the hardest word

Re: "Elections, corruption and Thai democracy" (Opinion, Feb 16).

With our suspected game-hunting construction billionaire seemingly given a temporary get-out-of-jail card by the Thong Pha Phum Court in Kanchanaburi, the NACC's apparent reluctance to push General Rolex for more information over his ambiguous explanation of the million-dollar watch collection, the ex-police chief who thought it OK to borrow 300 million baht from his massage parlour mate, and many other such instances of improper behaviour by those who ought to know better, one thing that strikes me about powerful people in Thailand is -- to quote Sir Elton John -- "sorry" seems to be the hardest word.

Why can't these people hold their hands up and admit the truth?

"It's a sad, sad situation," only just begins to sum up the judicial approach to the haves and have nots in this country.

Would the prime minister please step forward and bring about some level of law and order for all, not just the wealthy and well-connected?

It is only more obvious now that this government that seized their nation from the Thai people has been morally bankrupt since May 2014.

The military politicians seized power by overthrowing the central pillar of the Thai nation, the civil constitution that bestows legitimacy on every other Thai institution.

These politicians have for nearly four years now set about their personal agenda of corrupting the rule of law to ensure the persistence of their own self-serving control, contradicting every pious claim to care for democracy. No, there never was any time when this government was not morally bankrupt.

The academic is, in contrast, spot on that "democracy in Thailand requires the strengthening of its democratic institutions that are so shoddy and woeful".

This blight has plagued Thai politics and society for decades, correlating strongly with the long repetition of military coups against the nation. Other nations have also suffered corruption and other abuses resulting from "shoddy and woeful" institutions, but given the opportunity, those systemic weaknesses in their democratic institutions could be and were corrected: Thailand has never been allowed that chance to develop. The best effort to date was probably the 1997 constitution, which was ditched by another coup.

Khun Thitinan's opinion piece chimes with the editorial of the same date, "Don't abuse Section 112", in which the editor of the Bangkok Post editor is also too generous.

The reality is that, abused or not, the existence of Section 112 of the Thai criminal code as it is is anti-democratic. You cannot have a healthy democracy when such censorship denies a voice and enforces ignorance on matters of national importance.

If the constitution allows a law such as 112 to exist in its current form, that shows the constitution itself to be "shoddy and woeful", as Thitinan puts it. Such a flawed constitution fails to protect even the most basic of democratic principles.

To so render Thais ignorant on the wide swath of Thai affairs that may not safely be researched, discussed or otherwise known with any confidence by Thais captive to domestic media is to truly be "morally bankrupt".

In City Hall's effort to reduce the smog level in Bangkok, it has "urged motorists to turn off their engines after parking". Leaving your engine on is called "idling", and in other global cities, with less of a smog problem than Bangkok's, idling is an infraction subject to a fineor the suspension of one's licence.

Here, however, idling while parked is a common practice; the drivers' air-conditioned comfort more important than the effect on air quality of idling emissions. At a Makro supermarket parking lot, I have observed diesel pickup trucks idling for up to half an hour!

The BMA would also like to encourage more cycling. However; venturing on the roads with a bicycle in Thailand is especially intimidating because of having to share the road with drivers hidden behind their tinted windows. Cyclists intending to make a turn cannot make eye contact with an oncoming motorist; nor does the motorist have the opportunity of giving the cyclist a hand signal to wave him on or to warn him to wait.

Again, in many other countries in the world, tinted windows are illegal, as they dangerously prevent communication between road users.

This week I had a growth removed from my face by a dermatologist at a private hospital in Bangkok. The staff were helpful and the dermatologist was very professional and I left the hospital one and a half hours after I arrived.

The medication required was a small tube of antibiotic cream for which I was charged 606 baht. My local pharmacy sells the same cream at 110 baht. Charging six times more is extortion.

Unless the government regulates the price that hospitals can charge for drugs, we will end up with overpriced medical supplies like in the US, where a saline drip which costs a dollar to produce costs the patient $100 when it is administered.

There is a clear correlation between the level of democracy and corruption. And there is a clear correlation between the level of corruption and the level of economic and social standards in a country. Simply think of Switzerland and Thailand.

People who cannot see this, think that military governments are good recipes for sound economic and social development of countries, and maybe even believe in the 'friend-stories' of various generals may finally also qualify for being labelled as buffoons.

When I was a young lad in high school in the 1960s, a well-known media personality addressed our assembly of 1,000 students. His message was very powerful and still stays with me in my septuagenarian years.

"One minute, one day, one photo of exposure for a misdeed in any form in the mass media worthy of mention will not be forgotten by society members. Actually, it will be used against you for years to come".

Many of the top bureaucrats have fallen from grace from all types of misdemeanours in my 10 years of stay in this country. Let there be more in the newspaper!

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