We're stuck if we fail to get a key thing right

Thailand’s political strife, no matter how complex it may seem, can be traced to one single cause – the inability to apply one standard in determining right and wrong. While that may seem to echo what self-proclaimed “victims” say, it’s actually a simple thing. We as a country are very good at exploiting loopholes and very bad at fostering real values. When loopholes are found, they are used as if they were key principles. That’s why the crisis is deepening, as anyone on both sides of the polarity can locate legal or constitutional loopholes.

Take corruption, for example. It’s a simple evil made to look complicated by loophole-seeking political rivals. We can’t combat corruption because we only have “rules” against it but not common values against it. Rules have loopholes, but real values do not. And loopholes cause divisions, because they are slippery and can give rise to eye-for-an-eye mentality.

To fight corruption, we need to simplify the task of the fighters. Of course, not everything is black and white, but not everything is grey, either. If it’s too complicated to bring down a corrupted figure despite strong evidence, fighting graft will turn into some kind of political game, not a national agenda that everyone must participate in.

Countries which succeed in combatting corruption do one thing in common: They unequivocally support anti-graft officials and make their jobs as simple as possible. Their societies have established strong attitudes against corruption and applauded every downfall of the big fish in complete disregard for any political affiliation. A cheat is a cheat and fraud is fraud, no matter who you are, or which party you are from.

Can Thailand do that? For a brief period following the birth of the “People’s Constitution” in 1997, society watched in admiration the crackdowns on the likes of Democrat secretary-general Sanan Kachornprasart and high-profile candidates in a Senate election. There was light in the end of the tunnel when the National Counter Corruption Commission, the Constitution Court and the Election Commission did their jobs without the complication of who wielded political influence or who were politically popular.

That was probably the closest we were to creating a truly efficient anti-corruption mechanism and effective checks and balances. Politics has proved too powerful to be taken out of the anti-graft campaign. The simple “evil” managed to make itself look complicated. The once-lauded Constitution Court, NCCC and EC have been interfered with and dragged through the mud.

How can we get back to the “independent” anti-corruption mechanism? That sounds like a question which is too forward-looking. Our immediate issue is that the Constitution Court, which is trying to block a charter amendment criticised as a way to allow political domination of the anti-corruption mechanism, may face impeachment. It’s clear that Thailand is badly divided over what defines corruption and how to fight graft.

We can only hope the divide is more over “How to fight” than over “define corruption”, because graft thrives on a situation where people don’t quite know what it is.

The future is highly unpredictable, if not totally bleak. We have been 

miserable because we have failed to do a simple thing right. 

What is certain is that it does not matter much who wins the currently political showdown, because the genuine will to eradicate the biggest scourge is still nowhere to be seen.