A mind-boggling pantomime

Indeed, Stephff’s cartoon in last Wednesday’s edition was, as usual, right on the mark. Each instance of new and almost unbelievable behaviour is quickly trumped by something better and even more mind-boggling, but the pantomime being played out at the moment must surely take the biscuit.

The cast is extensive and the script speaks volumes, sadly, for the future of Thailand. The lead role must of course go to Finance Minister Kittiratt Na-Ranong and his white-lie debacle. That he expected to get away with it astounds. He must be in some strange world where his utterances magically become reality. You can’t wave a wand, Disney fashion, and craft exports from thin air. Sadly for the minister, the real world is not like that. And given the nosedive in rice exports, one does not need fleetness of mind to see the writing was on the wall. The embarrassment is doubly compounded by the fact that his 15-per-cent figure has been slashed to 7.3 per cent by the National Economic and Social Development Board. 

Like every good pantomime, there is a varied cast of larger-than-life characters, and Foreign Minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul delivers his share amply in declaring that his hands are tied in trying to get fugitive criminal Thaksin arrested overseas. The difficulty apparently is the whereabouts of the convict. One wonders why Thailand ever bothered to sign any extradition treaties. If it wasn’t in black and white, you would not believe it. It is truly a laugh a minute.

Not to be outdone by the other cast members, Defence Minister Sukumpol Sunwanatat has claimed his slice of time in the limelight by sacking everyone who has been standing in his way, or perhaps someone else’s way. There is nothing like a tantrum to get the audience going.

It seems that every branch of government, or the state at large, is a plaything for megalomaniac politicians. Unless and until there is true separation of powers and no rampant cronyism, Thailand will continue to be a country where 50 per cent of the value of government contracts mysteriously disappears and only 30 per cent of government officials are actually promoted on merit.

Perhaps one could get the D’Oyly Carte Opera Company to rustle up a Gilbert & Sullivan-style pantomime. Or perhaps a new series of books based on the Reverend Wilbert Awdry’s Thomas the Tank engine stories, but replacing the Fat Controller with the “square controller” – as Thailand does seem to be treated as someone’s personal train set.

James Dundass

Bangkok