Why Thailand can't follow in Singapore's footsteps
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Re: "Lee Kuan Yew was an anti-graft hero", Editorial, March 30.
Your editorial claimed that “We should be able to see light [of corruption-free Thailand] at the end of the tunnel one day”. I beg to differ, for the following reasons:
First, the upper echelon of our society needs to lead by example on incorruptibility. Singapore’s PM Lee Hsien Loong had to queue up for his chicken rice. The UK’s David Cameron travels by Tube to work. Our equivalents in Thailand jump queues or demand privileges just to show they are important.
Second, the process of punishing those caught for corruption is unbelievably drawn-out and does not serve as a deterrent to others. The lack of effective justice also encourages those in positions of power to chance their hand by accumulating wealth via corrupt practices.
Third, justice is not applied equally and can depend on whom you know and how wealthy you are.
Fourth, we pay lip service to anti-corruption measures and transparency without taking effective action to remedy the situation.
Finally, there is no one to effectively orchestrate the drive for simple virtues of goodness in a society that still unwittingly worships wealth and fame.
Not only there is no light in the tunnel for Thailand but, worse, we harbour the fantasy that in our present environment we can still eliminate corruption. The only light I see is the small hope that our digital world will empower us all to uncover and spread information on the misdeeds of the powerful.
Songdej Praditsmanont
