Questionable governance
Re: "Premier laments debate timing", (BP, March 22).
PM Paetongtarn's continued lack of good governance has led her -- and us -- on the road to ruin. To ensure a government functions effectively, fairly and transparently while serving the public interest, she should stress : (1) Rule of Law -- Laws must be clear, fair and applied equally to all, ensuring accountability and justice. But, for instance, she's buried ex-graftbuster Vicha Mahakun's report on reforming the police and public prosecutor's office from public view, let alone implementing it.
(2.) Transparency -- Government decisions, policies and actions should be open to scrutiny, with access to information for the public. But then-convict Thaksin Shinawatra was "imprisoned" in a luxury hospital suite for months despite widespread doubts as to whether he was even ill. The government didn't even let mutually acceptable physicians observe treatment under conditions that preserved the patient's privacy.
3. Accountability -- Leaders and officials must be answerable to the people and institutions that oversee their actions. But in 2005, in Tak Bai, 78 hog-tied protesters died from suffocation/crushing while in RTA custody. Nobody's been held accountable for Tak Bai tragedy: the PM's Pheu Thai Party let the then-commanding general go overseas until the statute of limitations expired.
4. Participation -- Citizens should have opportunities to engage in decision-making. But when 120 leading Thai economists, including Bank of Thailand governors, openly repudiated the logic behind the PM's B10K handout to millions of Thais -- the government wouldn't discuss it.
5. Responsiveness -- Government institutions should serve the needs of all citizens efficiently. But 65% of Thais aged 15-65 struggle to follow simple instructions on the sides of medical packets -- and still the government doesn't reform education from top to bottom.
6. Equity and Inclusiveness -- Governments have repeatedly failed to meet the needs of our southern citizens, where we have political unrest. Lacking a long-term plan, we extend our emergency decree three months at a time -- and have done so for a staggering 79 times.
7. Effectiveness and Efficiency -- the World Population Review ranked our education system as 107th in the world because of poor teacher quality. Our teachers still stress rote learning.
8. Consensus-Oriented -- Policies should be based on broad agreement among stakeholders, balancing different interests. PM Paetongtarn repeatedly sought to bend the central bank to her will -- even saying that its independence was "an obstacle" to solving economic problems.
PM, give us good governance.
