THURSDAY, March 28, 2024
nationthailand

Korn an exception to the rule

Korn an exception to the rule

Re: "Cabinet ministers have indeed resigned in the past", Letters, September 1.

Korn Chatikavanij’s correction of a misstatement and the editor’s subsequent apology do not diminish the editorial’s excellent observations on horse-trading over ministerial posts. Khun Korn’s suggestion that The Nation might be adopting the “intellectually lazy habit” of painting all politicians with a broad brush seems a harsh response to what was a single slip of the pen. 
Yet, coming from Korn, it was understandable. He is one of the very few exceptions of probity and honour in Thai politics. His laudable though failed attempt to introduce a property tax to replace the archaic 1932 Household and Land Tax remains, in my mind, a shining example of political excellence. But the presence of a few good men like Korn does not expunge the overwhelming dirtiness of Thai politics. Witness the final days of the government in which he served, when one minister show the audacity to push for the sacking of a director-general. 
Like me, many so-called lazy critics have often felt real disgust at the antics of politicians, especially during the last months of the Yingluck Shinawatra administration, when they eagerly joined the rally led by Suthep Thaugsuban. 
Khun Korn, krub, you are clean water (“naam dee”) surrounded by filthy water (“naam-nao”) – a gentlemen among the unscrupulous. That is a bird’s-eye view that we all should recognise and commend.
Songdej Praditsmanont
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