Alien Thoughts
2 Jun 2014
At last, an international survey result that the nation can take some comfort from.
Every time you see a survey comparing various national attributes, the score for Thailand is often disappointing. Corruption? – persistently high, no matter whose government is in power. Press and media freedom? – disappearing without trace. Economic inequality? – a regional embarrassment. English language proficiency? – don’t ask.
25 May 2014
In these troubled times it may be wise to give the biting satire a rest.
The average Prachatai reader will of course have no problems in understanding the gist of a typical Harrison George article. But one fears that in the bowels of an army base somewhere, there toils a poor recruit who has been told to check on the Prachatai English website. And no one can guarantee that he enjoys the same level of sophistication.
20 May 2014
Depending on which message of gloom you read, the country is moving off the map, at a dangerous crossroads, down a cul-de-sac and into a quagmire. All at the same time.
But have no fear, Senate Speaker Surachai Liangboonlertchai has found an escape route.
12 May 2014
Drafting a reform package seems to be the new game in town that anyone can play.
And I’m anyone. But unlike politicians, I learn from experience.
Everybody else’s reform proposals have quickly been shot down in flames, like Abhisit’s and Suthep’s as far as you can understand it. And I think that’s because they all incorporate one basic flaw that makes them totally unrealistic: they expect other people to do something different from what they are already doing.
5 May 2014
Anyone who has glanced at the best-seller lists recently might be forgiven for thinking that we’ve suffered a 150-year time warp. Topping the charts is a hefty tome entitled ‘Capital’ by a European political economist.
26 Apr 2014
Maj Gen Dr Rienthong Naenna, creator and leader of yet another anti-lèse majesté movement of outraged citizens, has run into some initial flak in his patriotic endeavours. And I don’t mean being on the wrong end of a strongly worded editorial from the Bangkok Post. That just proves you’ve fallen off the lunatic fringe of the anti-government, anti-democracy, anti-anything-remotely-connected-with-Thaksin movement, which was blindingly obvious anyway.
20 Apr 2014
Readers may already be aware of the Rights and Liberties Protection Department of the Ministry of Justice, a government agency that performs such sterling work as helping victims of crimes, arranging compensation, and giving legal advice when rights have been violated (more often than not by other government agencies). Far less well-known is a parallel organization, the Duties and Responsibilities Enforcement Department.
16 Apr 2014
The latest attempt to remove Acting Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra over the transfer of former, and now re-instated, National Security Council Secretary-General Thawil Pliensri has run into some legal wrangling.
The Supreme Administrative Court found that the transfer of Sec-Gen Thawil, shortly after the Yingluck administration took power, was illegal. Thawil argued that it was motivated by the patron-client system and “if the patronage system stays strong, how can civil officials be counted on to do their jobs correctly?” he argued.
7 Apr 2014
I trust you were as shocked as I was to read the outrageous ‘Gridlock makes losers of us all’ column by Atiya Achakulwisut in last Tuesday’s Bangkok Post. It being April 1, I momentarily suspected it was an April Fool spoof, but it seems I was sadly mistaken.
In a single article she carelessly junked the Post’s carefully crafted paeans to the bravery, statesmanship and personal sacrifice of Suthep Thaugsuban. These puff pieces have for months laboured to overcome his legacy as a corrupt provincial wheeler-dealer with a lightning quick eye for the main chance.
31 Mar 2014
Following the decision of the suddenly even-handed Election Commission to call for a re-run of the Bangkok governor’s election, political office holders around the country are looking over their shoulders and wondering if a similar fate will befall them.
23 Mar 2014
Friends of Thai Democracy are becoming increasingly anxious as the search for its whereabouts or any trace of its remains now enters its third month.
17 Mar 2014
As the good people of Crimea go to the polls, the leaders of the democratic west (as they like to think of themselves) reject the vote in advance and even threaten punishment for voting.
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