Chasing the right dream

One questions what is under discussion: How many political parties does Thailand need? If there are too many parties, the democratic power becomes diluted without enough concentrated political power to rule efficiently. With too few parties, power becomes too concentrated and can threaten democracy itself. In many European countries there are about 7-12 political parties in parliament. This is regulated; only parties getting a specified minimum percentage of all votes, like 4-5 per cent, are represented in the parliament.

Some letter writers refer to the US as the ultimate democracy to look to. In the US, there are practically only two parties at play. Probably too few because the interests of ordinary people become diluted within the two all-too-big parties. Corporate America supports the parties’ election campaigns and they are listened to at payback time. You can wonder why there is no Labour/Socialist democratic party in the US.

May be Thailand can borrow some ideas from some of the northern European countries where ordinary working people have by law 4-5 weeks of paid summer holidays, free public healthcare, regulated work hours and working conditions, free right to organise yourself in a labour union, free education from first school day up to the highest degree at Universities. To achieve “The European Dream”, Thailand probably needs a Social Democratic Party. Or, may be you can chase the “American Dream”, the Lotto variant.

A North Country Man