Thaksin debate should be about basic morality, not tax rules
The media coverage of Thaksin Shinawatra is now solely about tax rules and legality. But what about the moral issue? A national leader, who is supposed to set an example for his people, instead apparently used every loophole he could find to avoid paying tax when in office.
How come voters supported such a politician? Even Western observers side with him, including in their letters to this and other newspapers, despite having witnessed the man’s many self-serving actions as prime minister.
These Westerners would never support someone who avoided tax on such a huge scale in their own countries. But here they back a tax dodger who, in the Western world, would have been politically dead if he tried the same. Even members of the international media in Thailand uphold Thaksin’s “legitimate” status as an elected leader and dismiss the tax case and other wrongdoings as small dents in his reputation.
The media in general currently seem to be lost in tax technicalities while ignoring what appears a glaring violation of trust by an elected leader. Society can take down a manipulative businessperson via tax rules, but politicians must also be judged in terms of the moral standard they set and uphold.
A North Country Man
