The opposite of a meritocracy
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Yingluck and her Cabinet are grappling with litigation over their alleged unfair firing of Thawil Pliensri from his post of National Security chief.
However, this is just one well-publicised symptom of a deep-rooted problem concerning hiring and firing in Thai institutions.
Perhaps further down the road, Thais can begin to address the issue of how people get promoted. In a nutshell, a person who wants to rise in the ranks has to pay his superiors and/or be socially well connected. With the entrenched pay-for-promotion system, Thais are hobbled by having low-quality leaders in the military, police, government, hospitals and education. Let’s see promotions based on skills and wisdom, not for payments and social connections.
Ken Albertsen
Chiang Rai
