Bangkok needs its own Dark Knight

Both cities are invariably corrupt and both commit miscarriages of justice. And if Bangkok is Gotham, we surely need Batman. More accurately, Batman is a symbol or a role model for ordinary people to do the right thing without anything in return. With his mask on, he is meant to represent anyone who wants to seek justice and who has moral integrity.

Recently two women from Nakhon Nayok returned Bt2 million to the bank that had wrongly deposited the money in their account. They were rewarded with people chastising them for their “foolishness”. Their neighbours told them they should have kept the money. Even the bank denounced the women for undermining its credibility. Eventually the provincial governor, in a damage-control exercise, gave the women Bt20,000 for their honesty. 

In the quest to obtain wealth, status, and a materialistic lifestyle, what have we become? We have become indifferent to injustice and corruption, even condoning them. Many recent examples come to mind, such as the violence in the South, the policemen who got away with hanging a 17-year-old boy suspected of stealing a motorcycle, and the GT200 bomb-detector scandal.

Perhaps Bangkok needs someone like Bane – Batman’s foe – who exposes the deceptions, lies and hypocrisies, who dares to tell us the truth. To be sure, I am not suggesting that terrorism is the way to bring peace, as Bane did in the film. Though I do believe that, for Thailand to become a First World developed nation, Thais must have moral integrity, stand up against injustice and be serious about stamping out corruption. This includes everyone from ordinary citizens chastising those two women to the upper echelons in Parliament.

Then again, as Batman’s Police Commissioner says, the people aren’t ready to hear the truth. To this I will add that it isn’t that the people aren’t ready as much as they don’t want to accept the truth.

Edward Kitlertsirivatana

Bangkok