Time has come for charter that upholds democracy

The governments over the last six years have been a continued failure, pursuing self-interest, corrupt practices and economic incompetence at the expense of the people and the country as a whole. 

Thais refer to the UK as the “Mother of Democracies”. While it is politically stable it does not have a written constitution because democracy has evolved over centuries and is intrinsic. The whole system is democratic but if the latent principles were distilled and written down, they would form the basis for a sound constitution for any democracy. Drawing up a charter for democracy to be approved by those with vested interests particularly in this unstable plutocracy is nonsensical. 

Many in Thailand, even now, claim the country to be a democracy. To establish that as fact, it must have a constitution that embodies all the principles of democracy as a datum for all future governments. The principles of democracy would become the paramount law, the legal structure, within which governments must work regardless of their political persuasion. Failure to comply would render any government illegal. 

Once such a constitution is established, the vote would then become a democratic vote rather than simply a vote as it is now. 

To turn an entrenched plutocracy into a working democracy would be a metamorphosis but there is no other way. Reform piecemeal would result in a muddle and retrogressive confusion. Thailand must bite the bullet and adopt a democratically-written constitution and go through the pain of establishing it. Its time has come. History shows us the alternative. 

J C Wilcox

Bangkok