Stupidity leads to corruption; education is the solution
Re: “Probity in public life is no match for Thai family values”, Letters, September 29.
Somsak Pola was right in saying that favouritism and nepotism are ingrained in Thai society, all the way from government down to almost all families and individuals.
However, I totally disagree with him that the government should warn its people “not to get caught cheating”.
An example: a former leader of this country is preparing an international petition against the current government’s demand for compensation from any former leader for the damage done to the country during a rice price-pledging scheme that drained half a trillion baht from government coffers.
The former leader in question is possibly right to claim that the rice plan was launched in good faith to alleviate farmers’ hardship. Therefore no one should be blamed for being less than intelligent while acting as head of government – even though abnormally large-scale corruption has occurred in this case.
Hence, in my opinion, instead of warning people not to get caught cheating, the government should do everything to prevent its people from becoming stupid. That would be a better way to prevent the degradation of moral values in our society.
Vint Chavala
