Govt fails the poor at every level

Thailand’s Northeast, despite being the largest voting base for the ruling Pheu Thai Party, has still to be given necessary and proper development by the government.

The region is being largely ignored by the government in terms of educational development. A glaring example is the government’s directive for northeastern schools to study languages of neighbouring, less-developed countries in preparation for the Asean Economic Community in 2015. This would confuse students and cause schools to pay less attention to the most important languages of the world, English and Chinese.

As to the economy, Pheu Thai’s populist policies have made people in the region even more dependent on handouts from the government. People have become less willing to work for their own betterment. More and more are gathering at community centres on a permanent basis – relying only on state handouts.

In politics, the red shirts, with surreptitious support of Pheu Thai, have set up “red villages” in the region. Such action has sparked fears that it will lead to some kind of extremist movement in the country. In Germany, members of the neo-Nazis have set up villages in the same fashion, and have driven out people with differing ideals from the homes they have lived in for generations.

Vint Chavala

Lamphun