OPINION

Yes, point fingers

Mr Punlop Saejew of the Chiang Mai Tourism Council, opining on the third wave of Covid, says that now is not the time to be pointing fingers (BP, April 12). Well, I for one beg to differ. Now is exactly the time to point fingers. Now is the time to shame and punish.

The appallingly selfish, irresponsible and, often, illegal behaviour of those "hi-so" paragons of self-regard and entitlement and their cavorting and pleasure-seeking over recent weeks have likely triggered a chain of events that will lead directly to deaths and further economic collapse.

Mr Punlop's wrong-headed statement, while probably well-intentioned, is emblematic of the dysfunctionality of Thai social and political ethics, where deployment of virtue-signalling cliches such as "we did our best", "honest mistake", "give him a chance" or, in this case, "now's not the time for finger pointing" serve as deflections and pretexts for inaction and impunity. This malaise within Thai ethical consciousness has contributed to endless coups d'etat, organised criminality within the political and bureaucratic establishment, a shamefully corrupt business environment, grotesque social inequality and a stunted sense of social morality.

Point the fingers and keep pointing until the culprits are exposed and held accountable.

It was the Bangkok Post's own Bernard Trink of Niteowl fame who coined the phrase now used by all those fans of his. TIT: This Is Thailand.

How appropriate as I read the April 11 report "Infected politicians should face probe". Mana Nimitmongkol from the Anti-Corruption Organisation of Thailand, (ACT), calls on numerous government authorities to be investigated for negligence in enforcing the law. The question of why needs to be asked.

In 25 years I am yet to see one errant driver pulled over by the police while I see someone every five seconds ignoring every road rule in the book. Likewise, how many have been arrested for the current arson in the North affecting the health of hundreds of thousands?

I could go on and on but I think you get my drift. Why has Mr Mana decided to call corruption on this situation alone while ignoring all the others? Political interests perhaps? Only when every law passed by the lawmakers is upheld 100% can Thailand go forward. Sadly only a modern education system can change things and those who benefit from the current status quo are the only ones who can do that. So looks like TIT for a long time yet.