When elected governments here are in a position of strong popular support and actually have power, they never act on the important issues but rather engage in deal making. All their strategy is focused only on buying allegiance in the military and appeasing the elite while blaming the absence of reform progress on an all powerful adversary. When they are weak they then realise that all the deal making couldnt save them from their eventual demise and a pitiful ending. Whoever wants to escape this vicious cycle will have to face demilitarization head on and opt for a living and humanistic charter like the 1997 Peoples Constitution while reforming the judiciary and the independent organizations that had been instrumental to the destruction of Thai democracy. Whats clear is that Puea Thai Party is not that pro-democratic force that would adopt this priority. But whats not clear is who can fill the democratic vacuum with new life and energy when all we see is a totally zombiefied population of ideal-less conformists and consumers. Max thinks that this time leadership potential has to be tapped from the working class of Thai society without the usual overkill of military, police, academics, business tycoons or career bureaucrats. All of the later have not enough juice because they are too old, are too long in that defunct system or have too much at stake which limits their degrees of freedom. And whoever that is will have to work as a team in a totally un-Thai way and drop all hidden-agendas, Pi-Nong and Puh-Yai, zero-sum face-saving and one-man show competitive thinking. After all the democratic side is so weak in this country because of the lack of solidarity and empathy. The question is - so whos that group?
Posted on: Fri, 26 Sep 2014 07:17:46 +0000