THIS IS THAILAND
A Week in Review: June 26 - July 2, 2010
Papering over the Cracks...
People who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones because they might end up having to paper over the cracks. Welcome to the wonderful world of Thai politics. Read our week in review here...
A man who still denies living in a glass house threw a few more stones last week. Hiding behind one of his aides, Thaksin continued his personal vendetta against the Thai government – this time by attempting to discredit the government’s roadmap to reconciliation in the eyes of the United States.
However, the US Congress came out overwhelmingly in favour of the Thai government by voting 411-4 to pass a resolution supporting the roadmap, renouncing the violence that has become an integral part of the reds’ tactics, and encouraging both sides to resolve their differences peacefully and democratically.
Despite the vote of confidence from the US, the Thai government has been coming under increasing pressure through legitimate political channels within Thailand for its spending of late. While deputy PM and chairman of the Centre for the Resolution of Emergency Services (CRES) Suthep announced that he would justify the 2 billion baht spent on the CRES since March 11 by making the details of the budget public, there was no immediate defence of spending on the army’s latest white elephant – an airship which is intended for reconnaissance in the deep south but which is unable to fly high enough to avoid being shot down by a rifle.
Meanwhile, well aware that they will need to win more votes at the next election, the government extended the policy introduced by Samak Sundravej to provide the poor with free bus and train travel as well as free electricity for the next six months.
A “6 days, 63 million opinions” project was also launched to give all citizens the chance to phone a hotline to share their opinions and suggestions. PM Abhisit and members of the cabinet were among those taking calls.
Even though the first day was beset by technical problems, 2,000 calls were nevertheless made, mostly from Thailand’s troubled north-eastern and far southern regions.
The government also approved the appointment of 20 academics who had been selected to sit on a police reform panel with the goal of bringing about an “efficient law enforcement agency that is more accountable to the public,” – a task akin to making pigs fly.
The whole world saw the utter ineffectiveness of the Thai police force during the recent troubles when they failed miserably to protect law-abiding citizens and property from red shirt protestors.
And as soon as the protests ended, it was back to the real police business of extorting money from drivers and bar owners. But is this situation so surprising? Thai police officers receive such low salaries that they are forced to look for external revenue streams, and they receive such poor training that, even if they join the force with honourable intentions, they are soon sinking in a sea of apathy.
It is clear that the Thai police force is in need of such a complete overhaul that it could surely only be achieved by disbanding the current force and starting from scratch with a well-paid, and well-trained professional law-enforcement agency.
Yet despite the enormity of the situation, the police reform panel is under directions to implement changes that will have limited impact on the structure of the police force with no sweeping or abrupt changes and no major overhaul.
Where major surgery is required, they are being directed to apply cheap cosmetics.
And it isn’t only the police force that is badly in need of reform. It was well publicised that up to 88% of secondary school teachers in Thailand recently failed exams on the subjects they were teaching. In response, the government has approved a budget of 4 billion baht to be spent on new teachers over the next few years.
Currently, to supplement their meagre salaries, many teachers offer private tutoring. It has been reported that, in many schools, only the basics are taught during class time and so students who wish to do well are forced to take extra classes in the evenings, on weekends and during the holidays. As these extra classes are an extra expense, it only serves to perpetuate the class divide by denying the children of less well off families the opportunity of a decent education.
There is no doubt that the standard of teaching in Thai schools needs to be improved, and offering a higher salary might help make the profession more attractive and reduce the need for extra tutoring, but the teachers are just one part of a problem that includes the curricula, testing, and facilities.
Law enforcement and education are two of the cornerstones of an effective modern democracy. Thailand needs to do more than just paper over the cracks.
Paul Snowdon – July 3, 2010
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Have your say...
Tom Stone
03 Jul 2010, 08:02
I couldn't agree more Paul, 5*
Getting rid of the low level corruption and improving the education at a
national level will pave the way for serious improvement.
I don't think simply upping salaries will be enough, there needs to be some
way of policing the police with long prison sentences and fines as a
penalty for corruption.
Teachers are a different matter, they can be reviewed on their students
success rate from exams, if they don't reach a certain level with their
students they should get blacklisted (after a warning or two).
