Thailand: from Corruption to Collapsed Society

Thailand: from Corruption to Collapsed Society

Assoc.prof. Patcharin Sirasoonthorn

Faculty of Social Sciences, Naresuan University

Phisanulok, Thailand

Introduction

   This article arises from my frustration during Thailand’s “Color’s Exhibitions” during 2008-2010. As a Thai scholar, I feel useless and worthless. As a Thai citizen, I didn’t know what to do, where to stand or how to communicate with my red shirt friends or my yellow shirt students. The last talk with my colleague in “Salarommai’s Community of Learning Practice” encourages me to work on this project. Hope, this article may provide some ideas or alternative conflict resolution for involving “colors”.

   Thailand’s political crisis is a result of long time poor development policy designation and mismanagements. Thus, problems of political crisis during 2005-2010 are not suddenly appeared in Thai society. Clearly, they are not the “political only” crisis. In fact, it rooted from three failures. First, it is the institutional failure of parliament system, political party, government party and organizations, mass media, and independent organizations. Second, it is the failure of an establishment of Thai’s democracy process including 1) good governance, 2) participatory system, 3) election, 4) monitoring and controlling system, 5) regulation and laws, and public consciousness. Last, it is the failure of development the values of rational and systematic thinking at both horizontal and vertical levels. These values include the individual respect of civil liberalization, equity, justice, human right, humanity, pluralism, and diversity.

   Although becoming a “Failed State” takes times, Thailand is managing to earn the title in 2010. The Fund for Peach and Foreign Policy magazine annual report shows that Thailand has become the 79^th from 177^th of the countries with “Failed Stated Index”. Moreover, the country also earns the 124^th from 149^th of the countries with low “Peace Index”.

Root of the Conflicts      

Myth VS Development Policy

   Thailand’s development myth is one of the origins of the problem. The country has been established the false picture concerning the county’s origin, history, geographical boundary, institutional image, people’s characteristics and identity for centuries. It is not only the foreigners who have been blinded, but the majority Thais. 

   Worst still, development policy and implementations are often related to those myths. The myth picture of Thailand as a peaceful, harmonious, and friendliness nation has been repetitively painted in the world scenario. Tourist policy, for instance, has using this myth as promotion champagne for years in order to increase the numbers of alien visitors. The question is “how can we develop our nation without lesson learned from our mistakes?”. Indeed, it is the losers who took the greatest part of every revolution.  

   Thailand’s conflicts are the result of the country’s long term mismanagement. Income per capita, for example, has displayed false situation of Thailand’s socio-economic development for more than four decades. Problems of poverty, corruption, human trafficking, child labors, prostitutes, and social risk are not natural disasters. They are human made. Problems of flooding, air and water pollution, deforestation, and drought are unavoidable but manageable. They require a holistic view approach and systematic thinking to formulate a sustainable policy.

    In Thailand, conflicts are everywhere. They are unavoidable but understandable. This situation comes from its origin based on diversity and pluralism. However, examples of the nation’s mismanagement are enormous. For instance, during 1930s-1940s, Field Marshal P. Phibunsongkhram, Luang Wichit Wathakan, and company established the “Nationalism Policy”.  

    The following picture is an example of activities based on the Nationalism.  It displays a misleading half-truth version of Thai geo-political history. It also ignores several realities, including 1) territorial demarcation only existed after European nations arrived in Southeast Asia, 2) the areas of present Thailand have changed hands several times throughout centuries of warfare, and 3) the areas reside by many Tai (ไต or ไท) tribes. On one hand, the Siamese (or Thai ไทย) are not the only original “tribe” here. The ancestors of modern Thai, on the other hand, moved into the Southeast Asian mainland quite recently.

   Thus, it could be said that the Thailand’s development policy going too much deeper to design their own history as the winner is one of the root of the problems. This not only provides the chronic conflicts between Thailand and their neighbors; but establishing a destructive culture among Thais.

From Hungry to Angry

                Conflicts in Thai society are closely related to problems of poverty, income inequality, and cultural lag. From 2008, the country is suffering from the declining trust at all levels. Globalization merely opens wider spaces of information and democratization. This makes more difficulties for the elites and state government to maintain authoritarians system based on conservative belief, traditional social values, and low transparency.

Current Situation

   Today, Thais are hungry, instability, and insecurity. Corruptions are widespread from small villages, universities, government parties, to parliament. Without considering these, Thailand becomes the country where social quality is far from reach for the majority people. These problems are swallowing the majority Thai. Globalization is only the social phenomenon allowing Thais to speak out louder.   

   Changes in modern society influence the face of the nation. Problems of poverty, corruptions, inequity, and destructive culture are more revealed. The technological advance of 21^st century makes the reality of Thailand disposing quickly worldwide. Pictures of violence concerning corruption, sexual abuse, child prostitutes, as well as political protesting are challenging the image of “an old Thais”. Problems of poverty, inequality, and corruptions at all levels are no longer hiding. Furthermore, they are investigated closely than ever.

  Active researchers from various social schools reveal the relation between social problems and conflicts. In fact, the political conflicts are closely related to the root of Thailand’s underdevelopment; policy bias, development myth, corruption, and the ignorance of the need of the majority people.         

Conflicts are the most basic reactions of individuals to communicate their values, ideology and belief. Therefore, if listening carefully we may able to understand the need of Thais via their dialogues, gestures, symbols, posters, songs, cutout, or propagandas. All of the dialogues, however, point to the “Quality Society” where happiness, equity, and security can be accessed by everyone.

Yellow Shirt Rally 2008

Red Shirt Rally in 2010

Pink Shirt Rally in 2010

Lesson Learned

Challenging

     Gradually, Thailand is moving to the turning point. This transitional stage needs to be filled with more rational and legal authority.       

    I agree with Marxist’ based conflict theory that each society have differing amounts of material and non-material resources. Thus, the confrontation between the wealthy vs. the poor, the winners vs. the losers, and that the more powerful groups vs. less power ones are common. In every society, the more powerful groups use their power in order to exploit the less ones. The basic two methods by which this exploitation is done are through brute force, policy, and economics. Although, the earlier social conflict theorists argue that money is the mechanism which creates social disorder, contemporarily, the social conflict theorists oppose that society is created from ongoing social conflict between various groups. In globalised world, conflicts are not solely come, it comes in various form of socio-political network. It is not the different in classes but in fact it is an inequity.

    In Marx’s point of view, through a dialectic process, social evolution was directed by the result of class conflict.  Marxism also has a strong belief that human history is all about this kind of conflict. As a result of unequal development, the strong-rich exploiting the poor-weak becomes problems worldwide. From this perspective, money is made through the exploitation of the worker. In order to earn the highest benefit, the rich/ powerful group must pay less than they get. Some contemporary social conflict theorists such as Bank (2007) deny the form of violence. However, he agrees that an existence of social classes make conflicts become inevitably.

Recommendation

    To bring quality society to Thailand, four development dimensions need to be reconstructed. First, it is the establishment socio-economic security. Second, social inclusion needs to be a major concern for all Thai residences. Third, social cohesion needs to be established at all level in Thai society. Last, social empowerment to increase capacity of Thai people in participation in socio-economic, political, and cultural development are crucial.  

Furthermore, social integration approach could be the conflict resolution for the creation of social quality. It is obvious that conflict potential of Thailand composes of socio-economic-cultural inequality and distrust. To increase social integration, two major development factors are crucial. Firstly, the conflict resolving system composed of social welfare for all, as well as democracy needs to be well constructed. Secondly, societal moral capacity composed of trust and social capital needs to be concerned. n

Biography

Bank, P. 2007.

Thus, the social conflict theory states that groups within a capitalist society tend to interact in a destructive way, that allows no mutual benefit and little cooperation. The solution Marxism proposes to this problem is that of an armed, violent revolution and a radical change of the culture, customs and values of a society (in the manner of Mao's Cultural Revolution) However, some would argue that these changes would almost inevitably bring about the loss of individual freedoms and the creation of one despotic government present to impose Marxism at gunpoint.