For real change, we must grasp the concept of reform
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WITH the National Reform Council (NRC)'s term being cut short by an amendment in the interim charter, there's one big question on everybody's mind - will any major reforms actually materialise and guide the country toward a brighter future?
However, with NRC’s term so badly disrupted, few people expect to see much accomplished. Yet, placing the high expectation of reforming Thailand’s deeply rooted problems on the NRC’s shoulders alone might have been a flaw from the very beginning.
We all know that Thailand’s fast-pace development has been beneficial for some and not so beneficial for others – creating a gap in society that has been widening over time.
This gap in one of the most deeply rooted problems, and the NRC seems to have recognised this, as its chairman Thienchay Kiranandana and first vice chairman Borwornsak Uwanno have been pointing this out since the council first convened on October 22 last year.
They have been calling for support from the public, explaining that this is the one point that needs to be changed. Yet, as time goes by, the job appears to have been left implicitly on NRC’s shoulders alone.
For several months, NRC members have been putting their heads together to come up with proposals to tackle the country’s fundamental problems, such as centralised power and widening income gap to name a few.
A few days ago, Thienchay told The Nation that there have been several logistical problems that have hindered progress – a major one being long-winded parliamentary procedures.
He explained that the concept of reform was much like academic work – it needed in-depth study, research and critical analysis of problems as well as the creation of a new body of knowledge to help resolve problems.
Instead, he pointed out, NRC has been tied up with parliamentary procedures, which has hardly given them any time for forge ideas together to formulate “a best and most delicately crafted reform plan”.
Another, perhaps the most critical, problem the professor has been facing is the lack of a thorough understanding of the term “reform” and the general lack of determination or political will to solve the country’s problems.
As a result, so-called reforms have been implemented in a disintegrated manner by different agencies. Then there’s the problem of vastly different versions of the reform plan being put forward by the government, the National Legislative Assembly and the NRC.
If NRC’s proposals were implemented, then they would tear down several political structures in the Kingdom – a move few appear to want despite having absolute power.
Thienchay said he would be very disappointed if nothing changed and long-standing structures are not torn down and rebuilt under this absolute power. He said it was imperative for the NRC to do what it can, even though it hasn’t been given much power to change and has been more or less an advisory body.
In order to ensure real change, the task at hand is to correct misunderstandings about the concept of reform and actually becoming serious about implementing changes if we want a brighter future for our country.
After all, as Thienchay said, we all need to work together, not just leave everything in the hands of the reform council.
