One Way Out
It’s pretty obvious by now that Thailand has become a de facto ungovernable state and society. One does as one pleases under the pretext of freedom and democracy. The higher up the less accountability, but even the good man John Q. Public thinks of himself first. You’d be stupid to not follow the example of your leaders. Be honest, get screwed. Fight for justice – where to start?
Yes, there are courts and prominent people get convicted for corruption, political offenses, defamation, etc. You actually know of anyone serving a prison term? Bail’s the magic word and if your nightclub burns down and dozens of people die, do not worry. Time is on your side. You’re defaming your nemesis? Just repeat the affront again and again until it becomes the truth.
Elections? Rule of law? A. would never accept that B. gets what A. deserves, and A. does what it has to do to claim what’s rightfully A.’s, while B. starts copying A. and keeps on ignoring honor and respect and common sense until everyone wishes for C., but C. soon turns out to be just another A. while everyone is suing everyone and even Cambodia and Laos start surpassing the once proud kingdom.
Yes, both have 3G, and what a powerful metaphor that is, those hinterlands boasting themselves of faster communication networks than the neighboring kingdom whose wealth once was based on the exploitation of its neighbors. Grand old hegemonist Thailand keeps on living in the past while ignoring the present and therefore avoiding the future; as if the future is something deeply un-Thai. 3G debacle, anyone?
3G stands for the “farce” Thai politics have become, for the “almost immovable bureaucracy, ineffective regulators and amazingly obstructive government ministers,” the Bangkok Post opines.
Too much damage has been done to the kingdom over the past years, but nobody is able to name names, and as long as the blame game drags on without anyone being able to name names and pointing the finger at the core issues and working on sustainable solutions Thailand teeters on the brink of a failed state with still lots of sunshine and great people and food, which is why the whole circus can go on and on without ever really leading to Judgment Day.
The only option to get over the collective state of paralysis is to detract from the real issues and step up propaganda, brainwashing and nationalism, even 3G nationalism. Sing until you’re hoarse and repeat mantra-like those god-given values again and again and real Thainess shall descend upon you – Thaiwhat? There you have it. A plastic nation, a static nation, a nation where everyone is someone’s puppet with no vibrancy left but only artificial rituals and plagiarism brought to perfection.
The logical consequences would be an open class struggle, liberation politics and, maybe, a victorious civil society. But that’s textbook science. Thailand’s current regressive reality is all-embracing, leaving you with only the options of ignorance, selfishness and whitewashing to bear the sad evolutional descent.
And as there’s such a vast supply of cheap, undereducated, disenfranchised labor the Sanohs and Chavalits and Sondhis and Sanans and Chalerms and Chamlongs and Banharns are here to stay and old equals new and some day the Thaksins will return.
And one day, depending on the events at play, some sort of social chemical reaction will ensue. The agents at play will determine the series of reactions. It’s bare physics, stupid. The more artificial Thailand and Thai society have become at that stage the more ugly the reaction.
Everything will find its balance again, especially in a grossly unbalanced Thailand.
Until then you may want to practice the virtues of ignorance.
Brutal but unfortunately spot on.
Nicely written. Seems “you don’t understand Thailand” and “it wasn’t me, it was them” are the first things said whenever someone mentions Thailand’s slow march to stagnation.
… Duhmerican’t thinking! Logical?
What is it in the Duhmerican’t psyche that yearns for strife? Starting wars of conquest all over the planet and hoping to get one started soon in Iran. Leave these nice people alone. They don’t want Duhmericas stinking warmongering ways!
What has Thailand’s strife got to do with the U.S.?! Thais would be the last ones to ask outsiders for guidance or help. You hate America bosunj and that’s fine. You love Thailand and that’s fine too. Just don’t mix up the two when judging from your ivory tower.
Indeed, Greg, “It’s Somebody Else’s Fault” might as well be the national motto of Thailand. What future is there for a country or culture where blamestorming is the highest intellectual achievement?
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Fully agree. History shows that scenarios such as exist in Thailand (no, Thailand is not unique and Thais are not unique, they are the same as everyone else but lazier) inevitably result in class conflict, bloodshed.
In Thailand it just takes longer because of the “devil’s chair” which is supported by the four great pillars of laziness, apathy, inertia and fear.
The end result cannot be in doubt, it is only a question of timing. I have been blogging this for more than a year now, happy to see that others are coming to exactly the same conclusions about Thailand and its increasingly bleak future.
By the way, anyone else think it strange that we have had no updates about HMK? This is day 3 of the great silence, and I wonder why …
(BD: What’s your blog Rich?)
Rich, that’s a good analogy, the four pillars of laziness. I would agree, but … well, I guess I’m an optimist deep down. While I would say there are plenty of Thai-created anchors keeping Thailand from achieving its full potential, I don’t think the country will be totally frakked because of them. I can see some serious short-term problems, but much like other countries who have gone through them, I think the end result will be a big improvement. Just wonder how long it’ll take to get there …
There’s a very thin line between love & hate, failure & success Greg. Current Thailand makes you all angry and sad. Thailand had all the pride and successes. What’s carelessly squandered doesn’t come back that easily. But where’s that and what’s that catalyst for political process?
A healthy economy may play an important role in a peaceful transition. Unaddressed poverty, an unaccountable power clique and growing resentment though only increase the pressure in the cooker.
BangkokDan
Like many other foreigners, I have been wondering about what is happening here for a long time. Many of the more unsavory aspects of Thai society are surprisingly visible. If you have an inclination to find out things then, unlike the Western countries that many of us hail from, Thailand is surprisingly transparent. It takes only a very small effort and a little reading to become more informed on things like corruption, state terror, refugee/border issues or salacious gossip. Acquiring a sense of outrage at the way things are done here is much easier than it would be in a Western society where the media is inhibited by libel laws and the disgraceful behavior of those in power is far better disguised by spin and propaganda. There is little need for such subtleties here and I think if we understand why the Thai people are so complacent in the face of outrageous behavior by their leaders we can begin to understand how utterly hopeless the task of reforming this system really is.
One thing that has become obvious to me is that to survive and thrive in Thai society at any level requires a total lack of trust and a willingness to accept feudal status and serve a patron. To establish even a modest degree of financial independence the necessary supplement to some kind of skill or education is the willingness to lie, cheat and steal. Without these abilities no Thai person has any possibility of upward mobility. The culture of subservience demands that those of lower status deceive, maneuver and manipulate their way to the next level. The ambitious must accept that high social position is a function of the ability to instill fear. Depending on the power structure involved this may mean that status is a function of the person’s known propensity for violence and the fear it inspires. Unscrupulous people succeed in Thailand. If these people successfully network with those of a similar inclination then their own positions become more secure, albeit only temporarily. The shifting alliances of Thai politics reflect that reality. Of course the higher up you go the more blood will have to be spilled. This process creates a senior leadership that normally depends on intimidation to assert its authority.
Despite the rhetoric of recent reformers and self professed moderates there is no evidence that this pattern has changed. And given the primitive levels of political consciousness amongst the supporters of the various political groups its not surprising that the modern movements unconsciously model their organizational structures on this feudal pattern. Unfortunately this seems to mean that the politicized masses on all sides of the current struggles are at the mercy of their leaders. If a history of violence and the ability to instill terror is a key characteristic of Thai leadership then their followers hopes of a better future are doomed from the start by a social system that raises only those who have little or no scruple. Paradoxically, if as I have suggested, the Thais themselves are aware that the key to a modest level of social success is to accept feudal status and trust none but yourself, then I suspect, and many Thais I know assume, that the active supporters of the various groupings are looking for personal advantage also. A movement will not succeed in garnering serious support if it doesn’t offer at least the possibility that its followers will benefit as individuals.
I’ve always thought that the enlightenment and rise of rationalism provided the foundation of the major progressive social changes that we now enjoy in the West. But the rational and open discussion of ideas is not something that Thai people show much interest in. Whatever their personal feelings or views, the social and economic risks of being different are too high to risk open discussion without trust and there is very little trust in Thai society at any level I think. Thainess, unity and that old favorite nationalism are all ways to smother any kind of open discussion of ideas. The rote learning education system, the adoption of Thai Buddhist beliefs as a national standard for loyalty, and the creation of a thriving consumer culture which values conspicuous consumption seem to produce a similar effect. How many times have Thai people told you not to think? I know this is a very familiar phrase to me. In Thailand thought crime isn’t just a matter of committing lèse majesté. It’s disagreeing with your teacher, boss or social superior no matter how ridiculous their views are.
If you have a Thai society bereft of ideas, rewarding barbarous behavior and demanding unconditional subservience then the pattern of robber barons in perpetual struggles for power is likely to continue for some time to come …
Thailand certainly sports a dysfunctional political system, but this dysfunctionality, in my mind, does not characterize all aspects of Thai society. If this situation is really as intolerable and untenable as you suggest, why do you stay?
There is nothing better than a little perspective. Perhaps a few years in China, Vietnam, Cambodia or Indonesia might change your mind about Thailand’s place in Asia. Is it really so grim?
Thailand remains a fantastic place if you have no interests whatsoever in this place, but if you got kids here who need schooling, if you’re concerned about your neighborhood, if you’re an investor or care about society as a whole the situation is unfortunately not as positive as some years ago.
Thailand was a safer, stronger, happier place in the late 90s. A more open society, an engine of the region, a respected society.
Today, wherever you travel, people ask you first about the situation in Thailand. Now even in peaceful times, ahead of the Asean summit in Hua Hin, we’ll have the ISA again in Bangkok starting October 15th.
The ISA is meant to be a last resort.
Previously a most harsh tool the ISA has become daily routine. That is serious Jarrett.
Again, being sad and angered by the current state of affairs is no reason to leave the place. If I wouldn’t care I’d leave.
BangkokDan
This post and the comments made me feel totally and utterly depressed. I had to reread many times to calm down.
Everything that is said here is important, true to the point, and should be said by Thai politicians, civil servants and educators, university students and it would be nice to include businessmen but that would be asking for too much!
What really depresses me is that I need to find this source of information in an English language blog by friends of Thailand and not in the workplace, at parties, in the toilets, and more importantly on the official media channels.
Jaded: rationalism and enlightenment is only something we read about and hunger for or tastes in a foreign language or another country!
chdarat, thank you for the “friends of Thailand,” spoken by a Thai as you are.
If you publish such thoughts in Thai media those “friends of Thailand” would most probably be denounced as traitors and enemies of the state.
Truth though is people who care about the issues voice the issues.
Your kind words disarm those readers who recommend to better leave the place if one’s depressed and complaining.
It’s not complaining. It’s the helplessness of these many “friends of Thailand” to witness the slow fall of the kingdom and there’s so much you want to do about but at the same time there is nothing you can do about.
Again, the bliss of ignorance is one way out.
BangkokDan
Yes Dan, ignorance is bliss but playing at being ignorant is no longer an option for most us and yet again choice is not ours but something that has been bestowed on us!
Friends of Thailand is the only lifeline for most of us here. You are mirrors that reveal hidden truth that some of us stubbornly refuse to see.
The thing that is so hard for outsiders to see is that we Thais live in Neverland and are never allowed to grow up.
I realize very clearly that this is serious, Dan, and I admire your honesty and dedication here. But I also think that Thailand is not some hopeless enterprise, and recently there has been a bit of (heartfelt) hyperbole in your commentary.
It would be nice to offer some substantive ideas about how to improve the situation in Thailand, rather than simply bickering about all the problems that exist here. The opposing parties and political shapeshifters have that under control already.
It’s clear that there are fundamental problems within the Thai polity – everyone knows that. But there’s far too little discussion directed at how people might fix them.
Rather than assuming the mantle of helplessness, nay, victimhood, perhaps its more mature to ACCEPT what is and devote our precious energies to areas that we can have a positive impact.
Jarrett and bosunj, good advice, why don’t you start by suggesting how we can shift this gloom?
You truly make my day chdarat.
Now that’s an easy one Jarrett. The many most urgent tasks have been mentioned again and again. There’s hardly any magic to Thailand’s problems as the problems are so obvious.
Stop back room dealings and shadow plays, respect the constitution (don’t blame the constitution!), assure the courts’ independence, imprison lawbreakers whatever their names, get rid of ridiculously easily available bail for more serious offenses, find a transparent PM who’s not instinctively covering the army (Rohingya) and who walks the talk, prosecute the airport occupiers and the red mob, and have elections; elections that we all know won’t be clean on either side but will be a referendum on the state of the nation.
From what I furthermore hear from business and diplomatic circles is that institutionalized corruption has reached new levels since 9/19. Five percent cuts were the norm pre-coup, now it’s twenty percent upwards because of a complete lack of checks and balances.
The abuses are obvious, but so are the solutions.
As a foreigner you’re powerless. Take good care of your family, that’s it. In more matured societies foreigners could run for public office.
Imagine that here.
Even though outside advice could be utterly needed, that’s a neoimperialistic and arrogant stance.
Still, make people accountable. Everyone. And half of the problems are solved.
BangkokDan