Lessons to learn (or not) from US constitution
Re: "Charter drafters 'colour blind'", Politics, November 5.
Prior to starting its task, the newly selected Constitution Drafting Committee (CDC) should first decide on these few key points:
First, how many words should there be in our new constitution?
The current US constitution contains about 4,500 words, while the UK has no written constitution at all. Hence, the new Thai constitution should be no longer than that of the US. We don’t need a lengthy and useless constitution.
Second, how can our new charter address the country’s wealth and opportunity disparity?
The US constitution, written in 1787, left out ways to address the slavery going on at that time – hence the civil war seven decades later.
Thailand’s new constitution should include clearly how to address societal disparity. Education reform and skills development should be at the top of the agenda.
Third, the drafting of the US constitution began on May 25, 1787, and ended on September 17, three and a half months in all. Thailand’s drafting should not take much longer than that.
Vint Chavala
Bangkok
