Stick to the facts, my friend
Re: “Referendum masks deeper question: Do Thais want demo|cracy?”, Letters, April 6.
JC Wilcox makes some good points regarding the Thai political merry-go-round, but not content with accusing the redoubtable Burin Kantabutra of writing a confused letter, he then goes on to play fast and loose with the facts in an attempt to discredit the education system under the Yingluck government.
By purporting that education under her administration was influenced by “red-shirt schools of indoctrination”, I can only assume he is referring to the project they set up to educate villagers about their basic rights, surely a worthwhile endeavour given the amount of exploitation that continues to be reported in rural areas.
However, this project had no connection whatsoever with the Education Ministry, and in any case was aimed mainly at adults.
Wilcox also bemoans the scourge of vote buying, but research by academics Chris Baker and Pasuk Pongpaichit a few years ago found that vote buying had been in decline for some time and had a negligible impact on the 2011 election.
By all means let’s have as much debating as possible about the proposed charter, but for goodness sake, keep to the facts.
Robin Grant
