Protect us from the Ruangkrai's!

A fascinating interview with Ruangkrai Leekitwattana. He’s so convinced of his probity, of his irrefutable, iron-handed grasp of the law, of his perfect neutrality in flushing out the bad stuff from society, willing even to turn in his friends if they’re tainted, however minor, unconscious or just plain stupid they were.
Why he’s a modern day Judge Dredd, that ultimate enforcer with the muscle of the policeman, lawyer, judge, jury and executioner all rolled up in one massive firearm!
“Any questions?” he says, glaring – and he’s not the only one like that here in Thailand!
The Stasi was full of them, and indeed there’s a whole generation of ex-informers in what used to be East Germany that even now miss the good old days when you knew what was right and were rewarded for doing something about it.
Or the Grand Inquisitor who never showed pity because he kept his eye fixed so strictly on what God had in mind, or the good pastor who joined lynchings to keep the blood of his weak women pure, or the soldier who kills extra hard for his women and children at home.
To me, one of the really most terrible ironies of them all; dangerous stuff, because it lacks the infinitely more important ability to love, laugh and cajole in the development of tolerance among people, not to speak of the ability to move on and forgive, and I mean forgive first and foremost oneself.
But above all, it’s dangerous because it uses an elitist knowledge of the law to intimidate those who aren’t quite sure how the law works in the first place – an ignorance that makes many people all over the world feel nervous, and sometimes even to distrust their own instincts – as so many essentially good people did all over Europe even as the smoke belched from the chimneys and the trains rolled on through the fields of corn.
God deliver us from the Judge Dredds of the world, I say, and from all do-gooders with their own probity like medals on their chests and gods on their sides!
Lung Kip
Chiang Mai