Fawning officials are a deterrent to national development
Play
Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha last week presided over the opening ceremony of water and power supply lines in a district of Sa Kaew province. Embarrassingly, the supplies didn’t actually exist.
According to the Thai media, both the water taps and the electricity poles that General Prayut was inaugurating were just props, put up by district and provincial officials to mislead the PM.
According to the reports, tap water and electricity are not yet available in the area. The taps and poles were removed as soon as the PM had left!
Two actions should be considered in this case:
First, transferring or firing the obsequious officials involved.
Second, decentralising the government’s authority immediately, to facilitate rapid and comprehensive rural development.
Vint Chavala
