Amnesty will lead to repetition

There is a fugitive from the law who lives in the Burmese sector of the infamous Golden Triangle who, at one time, like Thaksin Shinawatra, held a Thai national identity card and probably a passport.
“Wei”, also known as Prasit Cheewinnitipanya, was convicted of drug trafficking. He is one of the top commanders in the United Wa State Army (UWSA), possibly the world’s largest armed drug trafficking gang, which produces heroin and methamphetamines.
Thaksin, on the other hand, was convicted on corruption charges and abuse of power. Like Wei, Thaksin fled the country. But unlike Wei, people flock to see Thaksin.
Only media people want to see Wei, but the Wa commander is camera shy, although his superior in the UWSA has granted several interviews over the years.
Like Thaksin, the UWSA is trying hard to be seen as legitimate, with legitimate grievances. Unlike Thaksin, the Wa don’t have a Thai government to whitewash them. Perhaps if the UWSA chairman Bao Yuxiang got a sister elected as prime minister of Burma, things might be different for them.
The reason for bringing Wei into this debate is to provide a stark distinction between two criminal cases. One involved a leader of a drug army who will probably never be forgiven for his crime. The other is, of course, former prime minister Thaksin, one of the most divisive figures in Thai political history. He is loved by many and despised by many, and this latter fact was enough to throw a wrench into his plan to galvanise power and become a sort of a political emperor in a kingdom.
But instead of confronting Thaksin over his crimes, many of those who opposed him instead threw all sorts of accusations, fairly and unfairly, such as the claim that he was a threat to the monarchy. For all we know, he might have been. But many of his critics were too lazy. Coupled with an ineffective bureaucratic machine, they went for broke, upping the stakes by bringing the monarchy into the picture, even supporting the 2006 coup that ousted him. And now nobody knows how to come down from it all.
A group of lawyers think they have got the answer to it all and suggest that the clock be turned back to before the coup that removed Thaksin. They want to nullify all actions brought as a result of the military action. But what about the previous coup and the one before that? What about the damage and suffering Thaksin has inflicted on the country, both during his term and after it?
Punishing the coup leaders for their crime is not a bad idea, but if we were to take the lawyers’ advice, there will probably be another coup. We have the law of the land and we need to make use of it. Our legal system may not be perfect, but it is our responsibility to make it better.
However, we have come to a complete circle, only without Thaksin, the politician who got the highest number of votes and therefore believed that justified all of his actions. Right now we have a Parliament dominated by Thaksin’s supporters. His red-shirt supporters have nothing special to cry about other than the same grievances that the rest of the Thai people have – the incompetence of our bureaucrats and elected leaders, the overall quality of life and the difficulties in making a living.
But if we are going to move forward as a society and nation, as a people, we will have to hold on to something that can stand the test of time. That means all wrongdoers have to be punished – from those who took over Government House and then Suvarnabhumi Airport to the red-shirt leaders who broke up an East Asian Summit in Pattaya and burned down shopping malls and town halls across the country.
Unlike Wei, Thaksin has been given a new passport by the Thai Foreign Ministry. They issued it one day after the fugitive made the request. It’s amazing how fast our bureaucrats can move if they really want to. Or have to.
Again there is this question over the legality of issuing a passport to a fugitive. With all those law degrees from universities abroad, the public still can’t get a straight answer from politicians or bureaucrats about whether issuing Thaksin a passport is legal or illegal. Certainly, Commander Wei wouldn’t mind getting one so easily.