Charity begins at home
Play
I entirely support the prime minister in the need for reform in the country. Like her, I believe charity begins at home. My interpretation of the phrase differs dramatically from hers. Mine would be Thailand against the world. Her version is Shinawatras u
In order for the prime minister to be trusted to move the country forward in reform, she needs to start delivering some speeches that demonstrate that she has a grip on what is going on in the country. Her track record of not speaking to the press when it has been inconvenient for her brother’s needs is not helpful. When she accuses the independent agencies of bias against her brother, it is a flagrant abuse of truth that is in the public domain.
The cavalier attitude of her government to legal requirements (the flood-control programme), disregard for wholesale corruption (rice price pledging), abuse of the democratic system (vote-buying and “populist” policies) and tolerance, even encouragement, of the red-shirt mob – consolidated by Security Act restrictions on opposing voices – are also barriers to moving forward. The opposition voice that the Security Act is trying to suppress is that of “the public”. It is the authorities or the red shirts who will start any violence in demonstrations, but we will all lose out if it happens.
Richard Bowler
Bangkok
