The content in this page ("Who dunnit?" by Harrison George) is not produced by Prachatai staff. Prachatai merely provides a platform, and the opinions stated here do not necessarily reflect those of Prachatai.

Who dunnit?

One aspect of the Tak Bai inquest that I ignored last week concerned the judges who gave the verdict. Press reports described them as ‘youthful’.
 
You see, in many judicial systems, getting to be a judge takes a while. Normally you first have to prove your worth as a lawyer and then, in riper years, with a proven reputation for mature judgement, you may ascend to the bench.
 
In Thailand, you just have to pass the exams. People choose judging as a career in the same way they choose lawyering or school-teaching or dentistry. And at much the same age.
 
A similar thing happens in the education system where educational supervisors can come straight out of faculties of education, with no real experience of teaching under their belts at all.
 
In a society where age is such a crucial component in relationships that two people meeting for the first time have to indulge in a bout of discreet personal probing to find out who calls who ‘phi’ and who wais first, this leads to some bizarre situations, where eager but inexperienced 23-yr-old supervisors are supposed to ‘advise’ grizzled old schoolmasters close to retirement.
 
So the smooth cheeks and un-furrowed foreheads giving judgement in Songkhla last week are not necessarily fast-track legal eagles who have risen through the ranks due to an early brilliance in the profession.
 
One wonders therefore why they were sitting in the case.  I mean, judges, unlike the rest of the government bureaucracy, can soldier on till they are 70 and are not required to retire at 60. So there are lots of older judges knocking about.
 
And in a case of national importance, one that has attracted international interest, and one that risks a serious stain on Thai jurisprudence, you would not have thought that this was the place to take a chance on youthful exuberance and enthusiasm. Rather than allocate the case list on the normal principle of Muggins’ turn, one might have expected a more judicious judicial decision.
 
Or maybe they did that already.
 
One of the more subtle levers of control in Thai social structures is choosing the person. 
 
In a system where individual irresponsibility is a powerful force (how many places do you know where you can get away with excuses that begin with ‘khikiat’ or ‘I couldn’t be bothered’?), then giving orders and expecting them to be obeyed isn’t the best way of getting things done. 
 
So if you want a certain outcome, don’t worry too much about what to tell someone to do.  Give careful thought to deciding who that someone shall be. If you get that right, you might not even have to give any orders.
 
There are many important and largely unanswered questions concerning the Krue Se mosque massacre in 2004. Was it necessary to storm an isolated and surrounded building using heavy weapons? Were some of the 32 people inside shot in the head with their hands tied? Why, when ordered to seek a peaceful resolution however long it took, did the officer in charge decide to do the opposite?
 
But there is another important and unanswered question. Who decided that Gen Pallop Pinmanee should be the commanding officer at the scene? His track record and reputation is hardly unknown. He has publicly admitted, with more than a little pride, to his involvement in extrajudicial executions. Under other jurisdictions he could be serving a lengthy sentence behind bars.
 
He was even well past retirement age, dammit.
 
With someone like that on the case, you know what’s going to happen. You won’t of course know exactly what he will get up to, but you can bet your house it will be bloody and brutal.
 
Now consider the case of the rented NGV bus deal for Bangkok. Pushed and pushed again by a political faction whose reputation for creative contracts is legendary, this deal, they claim, will not only give Bangkok commuters such a good service they will all vote for Bhum Jai Thai, it will clear the BMTA’s chronic and crippling debts.
 
The problem is that, with the skimpy data provided to the public, it’s hard to add the numbers up.
 
Now it could be a squeaky clean deal that will do everything it says on the tin. But couldn’t we, like, double-check? 
 
Now there is a state agency, the Auditor-General’s Office, which the taxpayer pays to have exactly the expertise to crunch the numbers. It has even been suggested that the Minister of Communications could simply post the business plan on the Ministry’s website and let any financial analyst with the free time and the yen to trip up the government (I am led to believe their numbers are legion) scrutinize the figures for free.
 
But the Cabinet has decided otherwise. The deal will be given a going over, but by the National Economic and Social Development Board.
 
Now there are some lovely people over at Sapha Phat. But they’re not exactly forensic accountants. They’ve been given a task outside their regular remit.
 
I wonder why.
 
Or rather, who.
 
 

About author: Bangkokians with long memories may remember his irreverent column in The Nation in the 1980's. During his period of enforced silence since then, he was variously reported as participating in a 999-day meditation retreat in a hill-top monastery in Mae Hong Son (he gave up after 998 days), as the Special Rapporteur for Satire of the UN High Commission for Human Rights, and as understudy for the male lead in the long-running ‘Pussies -not the Musical' at the Neasden International Palladium (formerly Park Lane Empire).

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