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ML NATTAKORN DEVAKULA ON LONG TERM DEVELOPMENT PLANS FOR THAILAND RCBS had the pleasure of being introduced to Khun Nattakorn by PP Nitti, as a Graduate of Wisconsin University, and a Masters Degree from John Hopkins, Host of Voice TV, married with children and third runner up in Bangkok Governor elections a few years ago. Khun Nattakorns talk was a light-hearted attempt to address the complex question of what is the “Long Term plans of the Military Government” or “What will Thailand look like Politically and Socially over the next year and beyond”. Will we have stability? Nattakorn noted that the economy is currently not good both globally and nationally and it will take time to return to a positive economic climate. So what are we likely to experience in the coming year? Khun Nattakorn began by telling us a story that happened on the night of the recent coup. As Host of the Voice TV show, he in the past was routinely providing political commentary on day to day life in Thailand. Which he noted is popular in the west, particular in talk shows in the US. However on the night of the coup on 20 May last year, he happened to be interviewing a guest from Human Rights Watch, when a military officer walked in after marshall law had been declared. So adapting quickly to the situation, Khun Nattakorn suggested to his guest that they talk about Sudan instead of local issues, but this still seemed to be to SOUTH WIND THE ROTARY CLUB OF BANGKOK SOUTH President : Mike Doyle • Immediate Past President : Michael Schulz • President Elect & Membership Director : Narain Suradejvibul • Vice President : Rakesh Sodhia • Vice President : Jon Plate • Secretary : Chip Bowness • Treasurer : John Casella • Administration Director : Stuart Lucani • Communications Director : Ron Livingston • Fundraising Director : Tim Cornwall • Rotary Foundation Director : Krin Charnmaytesakul • Service Projects Director : Douglas Riach • Sergeant at Arms : William Fantozzi Charter Granted 7 August 1961 facebook.com/RotaryBangkokSouth @RotaryBkkSouth No. 2578 05 th June 2015 Todays Topic: “MODERNIZATION OF THE ROYAL THAI POLICE FORCE” POL COL TEERARAT MUNGKLASIRI By Ron Livingston close to home for the military observer, then they switched to talk about Syria, but again, this was still too close to home as it was still touching on military and political situations while far away, didn’t seem to strike the right chord with the event of the day. So in Thailand, Khun Nattakorn noted, as in many countries, it comes down to who has the power or the monopoly on the potential use of force. In the US for example, the people maintain this power and protect closely their constitutional freedoms and rights. However in Thailand, the Thai people respect that the new government can crack down on any opposition at any time. Therefore any current opposition to the present government respects that they do not have the power on their side and hence the political situation remains stable. Khun Nattakorn noted that Thai people have a general sense of obedience. The issue we have is that our government has had problems with rolling out big projects for infrastructure development. The bureaucracy is deep rooted and works slowly and not particularly goal oriented. The private sector on the other hand has been quick and efficient, siting the construction and opening of two high-end malls. Thai society is too top down. The current draft constitution is written with the belief that politicians are goal oriented but seen as the bad guys. The bureaucracy that consists of two million employees are seen as the good guys. Therefore there is concern that the new constitution will further empower the bureaucrats. For example the Minister cannot appoint the permanent secretary, only the Deputy Minister. We should not allow the senate to approve the cabinet appointments also. The new draft constitution sets up a court to deal with government policy and can address whether funds are used properly for government projects. This seems totally unworkable as how do we determine if funds are used in the most appropriate way, particularly at a project level. There was also the attempt to setup in the constitution an assembly to address righteousness and morality. The government is trying to create legitimacy. In concluding Khun Nattakorn noted that it is a difficult task to illuminate the future, but he hopes we can find our way back to a more liberal democracy.
