America offers warning sign for Thailand
We should learn from the historic US election upset. Trump appealed to disillusioned voters who felt that they had been overlooked and deprived of their “fair share” of the country’s prosperity and that globalisation had benefited others – but not them. Trump targeted them and pledged that, under him, “The forgotten men and women of our country will be forgotten no longer.”
The multibillionaire Thaksin was as improbable a champion of impoverished rural Thais as the multibillionaire Trump was of rural Americans. Yet both men used the same successful tactic – and to this day, Thaksin’s hold remains so strong that the junta dare not let us peacefully discuss issues of vital interest to us.
We cannot follow a friend’s advice to Prime Minister Prayut to disdainfully dismiss those who disagree with him as “voices of the birds and crows” (siang nok siang ka), lest we have an upset as historical as that of the US – and ours might not be as peaceful.
General Prayut should proactively reach out to the forgotten of Thailand, following in the footsteps the country’s beloved father and King, by collecting firsthand information from the grass-roots people and leaders most in contact with the ordinary citizenry, and implementing solutions that work in the local context. Bring them in as part of the solution to their problems, not as part of the problem – and show that they are forgotten no more.
Burin Kantabutra
