OPINION

PM's moves a concern

Re: "Prayut wields ever more power", (BP, July 8). Thais should be very concerned with the increasing consolidation of investigative agencies, such as the Public Sector Anti-Corruption Commission, under the Office of the Prime Minister, for power is addictive and can easily be misused for personal/partisan ends.

With the PM having so much power, who shall guard us against our guardians? Thaksin and Yingluck were prime ministers, and are wanted for corruption. PM Prayut didn't move DPM Prawit to an inactive post while the latter was being investigated for flashing 21 ultra-expensive watches, and the National Anti-Corruption Commission head didn't open the investigation files to the media.

As Montesquieu noted, "Every man invested with power is apt to abuse it. To prevent this abuse, it is necessary … that power should be a check to power". Might the courts rein in the high and the mighty? Unlikely; for example, Red Bull scion Vorayuth, wanted for the 2012 hit-and-run killing of a cop, is still on the run and the arrest-on-sight "red notice" for him has disappeared from Interpol's website.

Might parliament provide such a check? But all 250 senators were appointed by the prime minister, and his party is one of the largest in parliament. Besides, in the recent jockeying for cabinet posts, I saw little, if any, interest in matching the most qualified person for each post.

So, who shall guard us from our guardians?

Army stunts nation

Re: "Not a class thing", (PostBag, July 9).

Vint Chavala should look to the democracies of New Zealand and the Scandinavian countries, which are all doing nicely. And if he truly thinks that there is nothing more to human life than economics, technology and state education, more accurately known as propaganda, he has a sadly impoverished view of what it is to be a human person.

Those things are certainly important, but once a full stomach is provided, most people think that other things matter a lot, like being respected as individuals with hopes, plans, self-awareness and the like: even Chinese aspire to such. It is respect for these aspects of being a person that make democracy the best of all forms of government, however imperfect, fragile and dependent on constant vigilance.

Thailand has failed for decades because its army generals plotting unearned political careers abhor those good morals that found democracy. The collateral damage of the repeated coups has not only stunted Thailand's political growth, but has retarded economic growth, prevented effective education, and nurtured the pervasive corruption and violence that are the goals and examples set by coups.

Norway sets example

Re: "Not a class thing", (PostBag, July 9).

Using the name I was given by my son's friends when I took them swimming as kids, I will certainly answer Vint Chavala's question that he posed for me. Norway, followed by Iceland and Sweden.

Unlike that giant with a one-party system led by the communist party and the military, where activists and human rights defenders continued to be systematically subjected to monitoring, harassment, intimidation, arrest and detention, Norway offers genuine human rights and free speech, a good standard of living and great health care.

Having been so long under a similar system of military dictatorship with a lack of freedoms and detention for citizens who criticise the system, Vint appears to have forgotten what true democracy brings.