THURSDAY, March 28, 2024
nationthailand

Thailand can find better examples of democracy to follow

Thailand can find better examples of democracy to follow

The Democracy Index for 2018, compiled by The Economist media group, made little impact in the Thai or international media on its recent release.

Could that be because the country now teaching the world about democracy is no longer counted as a democracy, having fallen to 25th place among the likes of Botswana and South Africa?
America’s National Endowment for Democracy is funded by the US Congress with a stated mission of promoting democracy abroad. In Thailand it reportedly funnels money to media outlets Prachatai, the Isaan Record and Benar News, pressure group iLaw, and also the Foreign Correspondents Club.
So then, how is Thailand being influenced by the money pouring in from America’s flawed democracy – which doesn’t like foreign interference in its own elections and politics, but finds it appropriate to meddle in the democratic process of countries worldwide? 
 Why not learn about democracy from the countries at the top of the Democracy Index, and not a discredited nation on the other side of the world?
But to do so, you have to ask them. Being genuine democracies, they do not force themselves on you. And they are top democracies because the will of the majority is reflected and realised in their politics, 
producing services like universal healthcare and free education.
A Johnsen

nationthailand