Nalinee placement fails ethics test

The debacle over the suitability of Nalinee Taveesin to be in the Cabinet of a Thai government has flushed out some important points.
The first is the general probity of individuals. On this count someone who willingly undertakes financial transactions with the cohort of a regime as loathsome as that of Robert Mugabe’s falls at the first hurdle.
Assuming they are capable of understanding the nature of the regime and the attitude of the civilised world towards it, there are only two possible motivators.
Firstly, a messianic belief that the regime is completely correct in its actions and support is simply a matter of principle or barefaced greed in realising that his being a world pariah means there is an extra buck to be made here. Sadly I fear the first is not the case here.
The next important point is that Thailand does not need to take account of the world beyond its borders. And true to form the bungler and fridge-buster-in-chief for the government, Deputy Prime Minister Chalerm Yoobamrung, steps up to the plate, as if like clockwork, and delivers in spades uttering the priceless aside that the unfortunate minister’s qualifications should be considered against the Thai constitution, and not the laws of foreign countries.
This arrogance or perhaps naivety, I know not which, is the hallmark of this minister. If he honestly believes that Thailand can be a quaint rice-growing Siam populated by elephants and indifferent to the outside world and its feelings then his suitability for office must also be questioned.
And finally it shows in stark clarity the arrogance of the dear leader, as without his hand the unfortunate minister would not be around the Cabinet table. Clearly his time outside the Kingdom has not blunted his megalomaniac tendencies and blind belief in his right to rule regardless of anyone or anything.
Sadly countries saddled by leaders of this disposition rarely prosper and inevitably pay a great price.
Fred Morrice