THURSDAY, March 28, 2024
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Thailand is ignoring Lee Kuan Yew’s prescription for national success 

Thailand is ignoring Lee Kuan Yew’s prescription for national success 

Re: “Thailand forever wearing the dunce’s cap”, Nation editorial, July 12.

I remember watching a TV interview with Lee Kuan Yew in which he was asked if he feared for Singapore’s future in relation to its much bigger neighbours.
He smiled and said, “What are their education systems like?”
That really said it all.
This is a simple equation: if you have a good education system, you will have a good future. If you don’t, you won’t.
What do you think Thailand’s future is?
Samui Bodoh
Thailand has and will be putting all the eggs in one basket – the military.
Thailand is rated “E” in the Government Military Index, a measure of militaries around the world. This indicates a high degree of corruption from within, a lack of independent scrutiny of defence policy by the legislature, a lack of budget transparency, and insufficient institutional measures concerning most aspects of arms and equipment procurement.
Prior to the 2014 coup, there existed a National Anti-Corruption Strategy from the office of the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC), which had the authority to scrutinise corruption issues within military departments and once condemned a former Defence permanent secretary over corruption. However, this was the only case and there was no information on his punishment. Furthermore, it is difficult to gauge the future of the NACC itself. Indeed, since 2014 the military junta has planned massive constitutional changes which may see parts of the NACC scrapped.
Who is watching the watchers?
So, why would anyone go into education as a career? 
The army is where the real money is.
Chris Lawrence
As their neighbours rise and dig themselves out of poverty and ignorance, Thailand will be left behind. It won’t be long before Burmese, Lao and Cambodians mock Thais and use them for slave labour.
Education will free you, while a lack of education will enslave you. Thailand is heading towards the latter.
dcnx
Vietnam is a classic example of a country digging itself out of a deep hole. After occupation by the French and then the Japanese, the French again and then the Americans, all stealing their rice or poisoning it and millions dying, they have used education to rise above total poverty to reach an economic state where their GDP growth is now twice that of Thailand.
Thailand will ultimately be left in the dust of other Asean countries.
Cadbury
The long-held policy of keeping the masses stupid, so they don’t question the order of things, is clearly backfiring. Others in the region have woken up and are way more progressive than Thailand, which may well end up being the true idiot of Southeast Asia and become the poor man of the region. Sadly they deny everything, including the warning signs, so difficult to see a way out of the hole.
darksidedog
ThaiVisa

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