Problems put down to social disparity
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Democrat Party MPs led by Khunying Kalaya Sophonpanich yesterday sought advice from social critic Dr Prawase Wasi on the country's reforms and how the charter-amendment crisis can be solved.
Prawase said the root of the problem was that Thailand was had the worst social disparity in Asia, adding that he agreed with former PM Anand Panyarachun that the country’s centralised administrative power was making it weak.
He warned that if the problem continued, Thailand would face the risk of becoming a failed state. “Massive corruption would lead to more coups. So we must decentralise the administration and strengthen the people,” he said.
Instead, he said, the country needs a triangular model, consisting of a committee, a network and an assembly that allows full public participation in the reform process. He said the reforms could not be carried out effectively by political parties because of conflicts of interest and public opposition.
Meanwhile another ex PM, Banharn Silapa-archa, welcomed the move to set up a People’s Assembly Reform for Thailand (PART) by 45 civic groups alongside the reform committee initiated by Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra.
He said it was good to have many people joining together to find solutions to the country’s problems, adding that he would not ask PART to team up with the government’s reform committee.
