Will the Alpine ghost be put to rest forever? 

Another scandal that is emblematic of the major ills plaguing Thai politics has been dug up and put on show. By arraigning former Pheu Thai Party leader Yongyuth Wichaidith over the Alpine Golf Course controversy, the Supreme Court has instigated a public review of a case that is marked by greed, abuse of political power in blatant defiance of the law, plus further abuse of power to cover up the original malfeasance.
Nuem Chamnarnchatsakda donated her 924 rai of land to Thammika Voraviharn Temple through a 1969 will. Thanks to the temple’s willingness to cash in on the land, it was sold to a foundation in 1990 despite legal restrictions against such a change of ownership. The controversial transfer took place when Snoh Thienthong was deputy interior minister in charge of the Land Department. 
The new owner sold the land to a company which was to build the Alpine Golf Course and had Snoh’s wife and younger brother among key stakeholders.
The Shinawatra family, at the height of its political power, finally bought the golf course from Snoh for around Bt500 million. But the Council of State then rejected the temple’s land transfer, leaving the Land Department with no choice but to try to annul the private ownership of the donated land. However, the Land Department’s turnaround was neutralised when Yongyuth was serving as acting permanent secretary at the Interior Ministry. 
The whole process represents an absolutely dangerous mindset, which can be blamed on the frequent military interventions in politics – never mind whether those interventions were sincere, opportunistic, or simply malicious. 
Such a mindset led to the downfall of a Democrat government in the mid-1990s and later the criminalisation of ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his former wife Potjaman na Pombejra. 
Thaksin’s supporters here and abroad are still asking why his Ratchadaphisek land scandal is such a big deal. Such a question is an integral part of the Thai political crises, because many view the Ratchadaphisek land case as just an oversight that should have been forgiven by now. The truth is that Thaksin’s case was not an isolated one, and it took place because Thai politicians traditionally took democratic mandate as a licence to do just about anything.
Land-grabbing plagues politics every-where, but that should never be used as an excuse, because one small abuse of political power can lead to things a lot worse. Now Yongyuth will have a chance to defend himself legally. Ironically, the chance of him being able to defend himself in court would have been slimmer if his “supporters” had political power now. 
Irrespective of whether Yongyuth is acquitted or found guilty, this is a simple case if we can take away all the political elements overshadowing it. This is not an act of financial wizardry, and the question of what laws prevented what and who ordered what and when are so easy to prove. 
Thai political problems are not caused by political rivals digging up dirt against one another. In fact, that is good because it keeps everybody on his or her toes. 
The country’s problems are caused by politicians always trying to find loopholes for personal gain. When loopholes can’t be found, brazen abuse of power takes place. And that leads to even more abuse of power. 
It’s true that “two wrongs can’t make a right”, as critics of military interventions often say, but there is perhaps no way to prevent “two wrongs” from taking place if we can’t stop the first one.