Kudos to governor for honesty

Bank of Thailand Governor Prasarn Trairatvorakul responded with candour to your sensitive question of his fear over not complying with the government’s pressure. Unlike most Thai bureaucrats and politicians who would come out with meaningless and woolly answers, he is the first person to be this frank: “If I say no, that would be a lie.” His answer made my day, and he followed up with the bonus of revealing that another governor who complied with the government was eventually sacked anyway. Since then, that governor has never walked tall. Now, in my book, Prasarn will always walk tall, either at Bangkunprom or jogging in a park.

This interview is invaluable as an example in keeping one’s pride, and worth more than all the time one spends attending anti-corruption, ethics and governance seminars as conducted by all those do-gooders, and anyway, mostly sponsored by or under the umbrella of government ministries.

Songdej Praditsmanont

Bangkok