Not thinking things through

Instead of raising productivity first, which would have led to higher incomes because people had more output from the same input, she upped the minimum wage by as much as 40 per cent by simply legislating it. Economics 101 teaches that suddenly increasing demand without a rise in supply leads to – surprise, surprise – higher prices, and that’s precisely what’s happened.

Other countries have repeatedly shown that putting your money into educating yourself and your family is one of the most profitable long-term investments you can make, and yet Thai governments have time and again ignored the top-to-bottom reform that we desperately need, despite steadily dropping O-Net scores and international rankings.

To give the poor a sustainable rise in their standard of living, Yingluck needs to focus on the long-term effects of her policies. She has the most stable government in ages, and a feeble, fumbling opposition. She thus has the rare luxury of being able to focus on the long term. For example, her adviser Olarn Chaipravat noted, “Our [education] system is all about one-way communication. Students have to memorise textbooks in order to pass exams, but they never learn to think.” She should stop rotating education ministers with the seasons, and choose one with the vision to teach administrators and teachers how to think, question and analyse. Hold him accountable for achieving both short- and long-term mileposts, publicly posted and transparent, with our rankings in international exams as key performance indicators. Post the O-Net scores of all public schools on the Internet, so parents will know what they’re getting, and let school fees be market-driven, so administrators can meet the high costs of a quality education (while having enough financial aid for 50 per cent of each incoming class available).

Above all, though, have vision.

Burin Kantabutra

Bangkok