Business, student and labour leaders spell out evils of controversial bill
The amnesty bill has led to widespread protests in Bangkok and other provinces, as well as political deadlock for the ruling Pheu Thai Party.
Business, student and labour leaders here offer their views on the controversial bill.
“Thailand will suffer significantly if the amnesty bill is enacted because it will hurt the country’s long-running efforts to reduce corruption,” said Bantoon Wongsila-chote, chairman of the Board of Trade’s sustainable-business committee.
“Now, we have the Bt2-trillion infrastructure spending bill pending in the Senate, as well as the Bt350-billion water management law. It is likely that corruption and bribery in these projects will increase if the amnesty bill becomes law.
“This is because people will take our anti-corruption law for granted, since they would expect punishment and other consequences to be forgiven. The international community will not take Thailand seriously any more as far as countering corrupt practices is concerned,” he said.
“According to the amnesty bill, corruption and related cases from 2004 to this year will be all be dropped as the pro-Thaksin [Shinawatra, ex-PM] proponents concluded that these cases were pursued illegitimately by the post-2006 coup governments.
“In my opinion, the Yingluck government and ruling Pheu Thai Party should take into account the public interest as far as the negative impacts of this controversial bill are concerned.
“The country will be in more trouble if this bill is enacted. On the other hand, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra should focus on developing the country for long-term benefits, such as boosting our competitiveness among all 10 Asean countries and reviving our export sector, which is growing only 1 per cent this year,” said Bantoon.
“Next year, we will lose the GSP [Generalised System of Privileges] tariff privileges on exports to the European Union, a major market, so we should prepare for more challenges on this front,” he added.
Chalisa Thammawong, leader of Thammasat University’s student association, said: “The government has to listen to the people’s voice. If it wants to go ahead with the amnesty bill, the bill must benefit only those people who joined pro- and anti-government demonstrations [in the past], but not those who had committed wrongdoing under the anti-corruption law.”
“Corruption cases must not be dropped as a result of the amnesty bill. The government must be firm in meeting the people’s requirement on this crucial issue,” she insisted.
“I think the government would do better to focus on further improvement of the education sector, which is the key ingredient in national development and further increases in national competitiveness,” she added.
Charlie Loi-soong, head of Thailand’s labour relations group, said: “This is a big lesson for the government, which should have learned that majority rule will not work if what you are doing is wrong in the public’s eyes.”
“The government and the prime minister must also stop publicity stunts, especially in view of Prime Minister Yingluck’s excessive overseas trips.
“She has travelled abroad too much and should spend more time working in Thailand. This is one reason why the economy has worsened in the recent past.
“Regarding the amnesty bill, I think a prime minister should show his or her responsibility when there is a major mistake such as what has happened here.
“In principle, the damage is done, so the prime minister should consider resignation or dissolving the House to pave the way for a general election,” he said.
