ความเคลื่อนไหวของชาวไทยนับล้านที่ออกมาต่อต้านรัฐบาลซึ่งนำโดยทรชนคนทรามโง่หนาเป็นเรื่องใหญ่สำหรับคนไทยในต่างประเทศ แม้จำนวนมากจะได้จากบ้านเกิดเมืองนอนไปประกอบอาชีพอยู่ในต่างแดนเป็นเวลานาน แต่จิตวิญญาณยังเป็นไทยเต็มร้อย พวกเขาเดือดเนื้อร้อนใจเมื่อเห็นเมืองไทยถูกกระทำโดยทรชนและคนชั่วร้ายในคราบของนักการเมือง ข้าราชการและนักธุรกิจที่ไร้จิตวิญญาณ
ด้วยเหตุดังกล่าว พวกเขาจึงสนับสนุนการเคลื่อนไหวของพี่น้องชาวไทยซึ่งกำลังดำเนินไปอย่างเข้มข้นที่จะขับไล่ทรชนและนักการเมืองชั่วร้ายเพื่อนำไปสู่การปฏิรูปประเทศไทยก่อนมีการเลือกตั้ง ทั้งนี้เพราะพวกเขาเห็นด้วยเต็มร้อยว่ามันเป็นทางที่ดีที่สุดที่จะป้องกันมิให้พวกนักการเมืองชั่วร้ายใช้กลยุทธ์ต่างๆ รวมทั้งการซื้อเสียงกลับเข้ามายึดอำนาจและโกงกินประเทศชาติต่อไปอีก จำนวนนึ่งซึ่งมีโอกาสได้บินมาร่วมกับพี่น้องที่ออกมานอนกลางดินกินกลางทรายเพื่อขับไล่ทรชนอยู่แรมเดือน ส่วนใหญ่มาร่วมด้วยไม่ได้ แต่มักรวบรวมปัจจัจจัยส่งมาให้กระบวนการเคลื่อนไหวเป็นระยะๆ และพร้อมใจกันออกไปแสดงพลังตามสถานที่ต่างๆ เพื่อสนับสนุนพี่น้องทางเมืองไทย เช่น ในตอนเช้าวันเสาร์ที่ 1 กุมภาพันธ์นี้ ชาวไทยในย่านกรุงวอชิงตัน ดี.ซี. จะรวมตัวกันไปแสดงการต่อต้านรัฐบาลอีกครั้ง ณ หน้าสถานทูตไทย
นอกจากนั้น ยังมีกลุ่มนักคิดและนักวิชาการที่รวมตัวกันระดมสมองว่าประเทศไทยน่าจะปฏิรูปทางด้านใดบ้าง ในบรรดากลุ่มต่างๆ ดังกล่าวนี้ มีอาจารย์มหาวิทยาลัยดังมีรายชื่อในตอนท้ายของบทความได้ปรึกษาหารือกันจนตกผลึกทางด้านความคิดและส่งไปให้ผมเมื่อตอนเช้าวันศุกร์ที่ผ่านมาตามเวลาประเทศไทย ผมเห็นว่าข้อเสนอของบรรดาอาจารย์มีเนื้อหาสาระที่ควรจะได้รับการพิจารณาจากผู้ที่จะมีหน้าที่ในการปฏิรูปประเทศต่อไป จึงนำมาเสนอในคอลัมน์นี้ เนื่องจากข้อคิดเขียนเป็นภาษาอังกฤษ ผมจึงได้นำสาระสำคัญมาสรุปเป็นภาษาไทยสั้นๆ เพื่อให้พี่น้องในเมืองไทยได้รับรู้คร่าวๆ ก่อน เมื่อถึงตอนจัดตั้งคณะกรรมการปฏิรูปประเทศอย่างเป็นรูปธรรม คณะกรรมการอาจติดต่อกับคณาจารย์เพื่อปรึกษาหารือกันถึงมาตรการและนโยบายในรายละเอียดต่อไป
ข้อคิดแยกออกเป็น 15 ด้านด้วยกันคือ
1. ตั้งเพดานหนี้ที่แน่นอนเพื่อใช้ในการรักษาวินัยทางการคลัง
2. ตรากฎหมายให้รัฐบาลในอนาคตต้องทำงบประมาณสมดุลเท่านั้น
3. โครงการขนาดใหญ่ต้องได้รับมติจากประชาชนผ่านกระบวนการประชาพิจารณ์4. กำหนดบทลงโทษสถานหนักสำหรับการพูดเท็จและบิดเบือนความจริงของผู้มีหน้าที่ให้ข่าวสารข้อมูลต่อสาธารณชนรวมทั้งข้าราชการ โฆษกรัฐบาลและรัฐมนตรี
5. มีองค์กรอิสระ กระบวนการที่แน่นอน และบทลงโทษสถานหนักสำหรับความฉ้อฉลของบุคคลสำคัญต่างๆ รวมทั้งนักการเมือง ข้าราชการและผู้รับเหมา คดีความฉ้อฉลจะต้องไม่หมดอายุความ
6. กำหนดบทลงโทษสถานหนักสำหรับความฉ้อฉลในกระบวนการเลือกตั้งรวมทั้งการซื้อเสียงและวิธีการอื่นๆ คดีจะต้องไม่หมดอายุความและคดีความต้องทำย้อนหลังได้7. รัฐมนตรี รัฐมนตรีช่วยและที่ปรึกษารัฐมนตรีต้องผ่านกระบวนการคัดเลือกเพื่อเฟ้นหาผู้ที่มีความเหมาะสมกับตำแหน่งที่สุดแทนการแต่งตั้งผ่านการแบ่งสันปันส่วนทางการเมือง
8. ห้ามสมาชิกรัฐสภาดำรงตำแหน่งรัฐมนตรี
9. ปรับเปลี่ยนกระบวนการยุติธรรมให้มีองค์กรที่ดำเนินการเอาผิดกับผู้ที่อยู่ในกระบวนการยุติธรรมซึ่งทำความฉ้อฉลเสียเองไม่ว่าจะเป็นตำรวจ อัยการ พนักงานศาล หรือผู้พิพากษา
10. เปิดโอกาสให้ประชาชนร่วมลงชื่อเพื่อปลดข้าราชการและนักการเมืองได้ เช่น ใช้ 5 แสนชื่อสำหรับปลดสมาชิกรัฐสภา 1 ล้านชื่อสำหรับปลดรัฐมนตรีและข้าราชการผู้ใญ่ และ 1.5 ล้านชื่อสำหรับปลดนายกรัฐมนตรี
11. ปรับปรุงหลักสูตรและการให้การศึกษาและข้อมูลทางการเมืองและมาตรการป้องกันการทำความฉ้อฉลในกระบวนการเลือกตั้ง
12. นักการเมือง ข้าราชการผู้ใหญ่ ผู้บริหารและคณาจารย์ในมหาวิทยาลัยของรัฐต้องเปิดเผยข้อมูลเป็นรายปีว่าได้รับสิ่งของและเงินทองจากใครเป็นจำนวนเท่าใด
13. ตรากฎหมายป้องกันการเล่นพรรคเล่นพวก
14. ปรับปรุงฐานเพื่อการพัฒนาแบบยั่งยืนต่อไป รวมทั้งทางด้านระบบการศึกษา สื่อและที่ดิน
15. ปรับเปลี่ยนระบบการปกครองโดยเน้นการส่งเสริมให้การปกครองท้องถิ่นแข็งแกร่งยิ่งขึ้น
Political Reforms for Thailand: Opinions and Suggestions from Thais Living Overseas
Even though we have been living and working overseas for some time, our feelings and connections toward our motherland have never waned. We still feel the heartbeats of our brothers, sisters, relatives, and friends in our motherland. When they rejoice, we feel good and uplift with joy. When they succeed and prosper, we feel proud to celebrate their success and prosperity. When they suffer, we share their deep pains. And when we see our motherland as a whole is struggling and in grave danger of sinking deeper on the catastrophic path toward boundless despair, we anguish with deep concerns and profound sadness. As much as we want to stay away from politics, we see the current situation in Thailand as defining the most critical juncture in the history of the country. Either our motherland continues on the dangerous path to the collapse of a proud nation like a number of other great nations in the recent past, or she turns around and ascends on the path to becoming a prosperous and happy nation. The choice is placed squarely on the shoulders of our brothers, sisters, relatives and friends who own the country. And the time is now to make that choice. As Thais living overseas who have deep concerns and affections for our motherland, we would like to stake our position, express our opinions and offer suggestions. Being the students of history as well as close observers of world and local political systems and socioeconomic developments, we are unquestionably convinced that Thailand’s political system need a major reform, and it is absolutely critical to do it now, before the planned election, for otherwise it will be too late to turn around and avoid the collapse of our proud motherland.
The true root cause of the current political impasse in Thailand is “Corruption” of many politicians and government officials. Nearly all elected officials are fighting, even among themselves, within the same political party, for the ministerial position(s) as these positions give them the opportunity for graft money, the return of their investment spent during the election. To rid out all corruptions will be the true solution for a prosperous Thai society and Thailand. Rapidly developing country like China also faces with the same corruption problems of public officials and politicians, the Chinese Government of the current President, Xi Jinping, has made it a national agenda of his government to take serious action to get rid of corruptions in China. In 2013, the Chinese government reported that the prosecutor office has investigated 209,000 officials in nearly 180,000 cases of embezzlement, bribery, corruptions, dereliction of duty and rights during the past five years, an average of 35,000 corruption cases per year. The highest ranking government official that was dismissed and prosecuted was Huang Songyou, a Vice President of the Supreme People’s Court, who was indicted on corruption charges. If Thailand were to compete with China and other countries in Asia and the world, fixing the corruptions within our government system must be the priority. To expedite political reform in Thailand, we offer the following suggestions that should help fix the current problems:
1. Debt Ceiling
Set a clear fiscally deployable “Debt Ceiling” level as a means to exercising proper fiscal discipline, and strictly enforce the limit without exceptions. At present, the national debt of Thailand is 4.22 trillion baht (estimated at 250,000 baht per household). If the 2.2 trillion baht loan for the high speed train and the 350 billion baht loan for the flood-controlled project go through, the national debt will increase to 6.77 trillion baht (estimated at 404,000 baht per household). There must be a limit to the national debt ceiling.
2. Balance Budget
All future Thai government must be required by laws to provide a balance fiscal budget. They cannot keep spending public money and create public debt, as they like, on programs that do not clearly provide any return of investment.
3. Ballot for Public Vote of Approval for any Mega Loan
The reform must have a policy requiring public ballot and voting when mega-loan projects are introduced. For example, for any mega loan of more than (let’s say) 10,000 million baht, the government will need a ballot for public approval of the project prior to apply for the loan. This practice is presently used in many States in the U.S. In 2012, the State of New Jersey requested the public to vote to approve a loan (public bond) of $750 million (22,500 million baht) for an infrastructure improvement project for NJ Higher Education.
4. Perjury of Government Officials and Spoke-persons while in office or on official duty
● In recent years, we frequently see public officials such as Ministers, MPs, Government Spoke persons, Speaker of various Political Parties, Speaker(s) of CAPO, and senior Police Officers, etc., commit perjury in public news conference and press conferences, intentionally misleading the public causing confusion, social chaos and conflicts in many communities.
● While perjury of individuals may be the right of free speech, but as public officials, such an act must be considered as professional misconduct and, therefore, cannot and should not be tolerated.
● As such, it is proposed that any public officials, while on duty or in office, commits perjury in public, such as giving interview to the press or giving a press conference with false information, is to be subjected to legal consequences, and be prosecuted for public perjury. Punishment of these acts should include mandatory jail term and fine with no exception.
● In addition, these officials are to be dismissed permanently without pension from all government agencies. All these perjury cases can be retroactive, which means individual(s) committed such perjury while in office could be prosecuted even after they left office.
● For politicians and speaker(s) of political party, in addition to the fine and mandatory jail term, these individuals are to be banned and dismissed from any political engagement for life.
● In case that these perjury acts led to any loss of life and property, these individuals are to be responsible personally for any compensation, so as his/her affiliated political party.
● Since these government officials are often the role model of many others in the society, government and public alike, severe punishment, therefore, must be imposed to these individuals and laws and order are to be maintained and abided by.
5. Penalty for Corruptions
● The Reform or new Laws must demand any future Prime Minister (PM) and Government to make corruption the top priority of our National Policy, similar to what the current Chinese President, Xi Jinping, is doing. All corruption laws must be strictly enforced by politically independent arms of the judicial branch. In addition, there should also be a reinforcing mechanism to ensure that these corruption charges can move forward. Thai citizens should be able to charge the corrupt politicians by collecting certain numbers of signatures of eligible voters (may be 10,000 signatures?).
● Any politician(s) and government official(s) as well as contractors of any government projects involved in corruptions, embezzlement, bribery, dereliction of duty and rights, when found guilty, must be subjected to mandatory jail term and fine. The penalty for corruption must be severe regardless of the degree of guilt to effectively deter all forms of corruption
● Corruption cases should have no statute of limitation.
● All family assets of corrupted individuals, when found guilty, are subjected to seizure, regardless of the degree of guilt.
● All practices or acts that are considered as corruptions (for example, making sight-seeing year-end trip(s) on public fund, etc.) are to be clearly listed and posted in front of public government buildings and facilities to remind everyone of these illegal acts.
● All ministers and senior government officials must file monthly report of any gift(s) and monetary presents received. Failure to report will be treated as professional misconduct and subjected to prosecution.
● All government officials must attend annual corruption training courses.
● All ministers and senior government officials must sign a public oath against all forms of corruptions and such statement is officially treated as contract with binding and legal consequences when violated.
6. Serious Consequences for Election Fraud and Vote Buying
● All politicians, involved in illegal election fraud and vote buying (including giving “gift” money to community leaders to hold meetings, or as wedding/birthday gifts, etc.), when found guilty, will be subjected to mandatory jail term and fine; and
● banned for life from all political engagements, directly and indirectly;
● All these cases have no expiration and can be prosecuted retroactively.
● Political debates and/or hearings must be a requirement prior to the election of the PM or other high level positions in the government.
7. Minimum Qualifications of any Appointed Ministerial Post(s)
● Ministers, Deputy Ministers, and Advisors of any Ministry of future Thai government must be selected (and vetted) on the principle of the “best qualified person for the job”, and not on political quota. Nominated candidates and their advisors must be the best qualified possessing the best technical background and professional experience in the field related to the main tasks and responsibility.
● These positions, which have truly critical roles in advancing national interests, are not for the unskilled and inexperience individuals or unqualified public elected representatives.
● Therefore, all these senior appointees must go through a confirmation/vetting process by an external professional expert panel from the respective professional societies or association. For example, the nominated candidate for the Minister of Justice must receive confirmation from panel formed by the Bar Association, etc. Likewise, the nominated candidate for the Minister of Commerce must receive confirmation from panel formed by the Federation of the Thai Industry and the Thai Chamber of Commerce.
8. Elected MPs Are Not Eligible for Any Ministerial Post
● At present, all politicians are fighting for ministerial posts which have authority to control mainly the budget of key ministry with the expectation of getting “Kick back” and “Corruptions”. Ministries with lesser budget are generally considered as “second-grade ministry” and are less desirable among senior politicians. As such, to minimize the chance of corruptions, all future elected MPs are not eligible for any ministerial post(s).
● Their roles are to set national agenda and serve as watchdog to monitor all government officials and ministerial offices to perform as they have stated in their policy, that ending the “buy-votes-in-order-to-corrupt” principle among some politicians.
9. Check and Balance
● At present, no effective means (existing ones often engage in lengthy, routine and clumsy processes) to prosecute corrupted “law enforcement officers”, “district attorneys”, “judicial staffs”, and ministers when these individuals engage in corruption and unethical practices.
● These corrupted individuals often lie in public, commit unethical acts in support of corrupted officials without concerns on legal consequences as there is no “check and balance” in our judicial system. In other words and in simple terms, how to prosecute police officers, DSI, and officers in the judicial system when these individuals corrupt?
● It is suggested that a special prosecuting unit, attached to the high court, be formed with authority and resources to expedite arrest warrant under court order to arrest these individuals without going through the normal judicial process that requires the approval and consensus from these corrupted offices.
● Note that the Chinese government, during the past five years, has prosecuted more than 209,000 government officials in 180,000 corruption cases.
10. Public Authority to Remove Elected MPs and/or Appointed Senior Government Officials
● Thailand currently has 500 elected MPs and a handful of senior government officials in key critical positions that are vital to our national interests. With the population today of 67 million people, each MP represents 134,000 Thai people.
● At present, in the event of any ill-performing elected MPs with corrupted records and practices, the impeachment process of these individuals can be done only by their own peers, a process that can never happen as these MPs are well protected by their affiliated political party.
● It is suggested that under the reform the Thai public must have the authority to remove any elected or appointed government official(s) and senior officers with a specific required number of signed petitions for the intent. For examples,
To remove an MP requires 500,000 signatures of eligible voting members;
To remove a Minister and a senior government official (for example, the Head of the Police Department) requires 1,000,000 signatures of eligible voting members;
To remove the Prime Minister requires 1,500,000 signatures of eligible voting members.
11. Public Education on Election and Fraud
● This should start as early as possible (in elementary school) to cultivate strong sense of civic duty from an early age.
● The Election Commission should routinely run courses to the general public on individual’s right and responsibility with regard to election. These basic courses should be incorporated into all levels of public education, starting from middle school, high school, and college.
● All MP candidates must sign and make public oath against all forms of corruptions and election fraud, as well as making public denouncement on election fraud and vote buying.
● All ballot booths and election stations must post sign listing all forms of election fraud, corrupted acts, and legal ramification and consequences in case of violation.
● Each voting individual must read, sign, and take home a one-page contract stating that he/she does not engage in any form of election fraud, such as, bribe, monetary compensation in return for vote, or any form of compensations from any candidates.
● The form should clearly outline all penalties involved with election fraud and corruption.
12. Public Disclosure of all forms of Gifts, Presents, and Monetary Contributions
● Since corruptions have plagued Thai politics and government system for so long, one way to begin the clean-up process is to require all public officials to file public disclosure of all forms of gifts, presents, and monetary contributions received while in office.
● In the State of New Jersey, after a major corruption case at one of the State Universities, all state employees are required to file annual disclosure of all gifts, presents, and any other forms of financial support received from any other organizations during the year. Failure to report and/or giving false information are considered as professional misconduct, which could lead to dismissal.
● Each state university has set up the Ethic Office to monitor and follow up on these disclosures.
● Each year, in early December, the Ethic office at all state universities will send out a reminder to every university employee to turn in any present(s) they received from students and others. The collected presents were then donated to the Salvation Army and Hospitals.
13. Nepotism Laws
● Major corporations in the US do not allow family members to work in the same place due to conflict of interests, laws to regulate favoritism by politicians to have family members or relatives serving other key positions in the government should be enforced.
14. Reforms for Sustainable Growth and Long-term Prosperity
● Reform on the national educational system:
￮ True democracy is not just about rights, but it is also about responsibilities and good citizenship. The majority of the Thai populace only understand and demand the first half of the definition, their rights. No one, particularly the government, cares about individual responsibilities and good citizenship. In addition to poverty (and wide disparity of wealth), liabilities in the current education system are deemed the major culprit that brings about such anomaly. In developed nations where true democracy is the hallmark of their societies, a key to their success is the level of education of their citizens. The population of those nations are well-educated, at least enough to know what true democracy is and what their individual responsibilities are to make it work. If Thailand is serious about having true democracy as the hallmark of the national social order, then major education reforms, particularly at all pre-college levels, must be carefully planned, developed and implemented. The two-sides of the coin of true democracy must be instilled on our children at the earliest possible time. Also there is no time too early to launch campaigns against corruption and materialism. Subjects related to civic and religious duties, social ethics and morals, and history must be brought back with strong commitment and support to ensure their effective delivery.
￮ Well-known economists and historians have convincingly demonstrated that sustainable growth and prosperity can be achieved much faster and with greater certainty under the so-called innovation-driven economy. South Korea, which grew from the ashes of (the Korean) war to become a world economic powerhouse within 35 years, is often cited as a clear proof of such concepts. South Korea achieved the feat by committing to the policy of using homegrown innovations to turn raw materials (mostly imported) into high-quality high-valued products at lower prices than competitors. If Thailand is to succeed at the same level so as to eradicate all the current ills (particularly sharing the wealth and prosperity fairly among its citizens in a sustainable way), Thailand must commit to developing an innovation-driven economy. To do so, homegrown innovations must be aggressively promoted and supported. In addition to building the necessary infrastructure, development of homegrown innovators must be given a top priority. For this to happen, a major reform on the higher education system must be carefully planned, developed and implemented.
￮ It is clear, that education as well as science and technology, which so far have been relegated to lower national priority must rise to the top of national priority.
● Media Reform: Media of all forms are the main sources of information for the public. The public relies on this information to make their informed decisions. In a true democratic society, media must be allowed to gather and deliver information without bias or prejudice. It is absolutely necessary that media be allowed to do their work without undue influence or control by any political parties, including the government.
At present, this does not seem to be the case, which aggravates the current crisis. A major media reform is required:
1) Media must be in tune with public needs and is obligated to serve the public interest and away from government and political bias. Some suggestions for media reform include:
￮ Media must be financed through non-political entities.
￮ There should be more diverse media ownership, more local access to airwave.
￮ Paid political advertisement should be barred. Instead every station should be required to provide prime time hours for candidates.
2) Media reform must place a strong emphasis on making sure that those who are marginalized or semi-marginalized have an access to means of publication or dissemination of information.
● Land Reform: It is well known that a key part of the ills in Thailand is the disparity in wealth. Until the economy upshifts to an innovation-driven economy, Thailand as a whole as well as a major portion of the population still very much depend on agriculture. Current land ownership is getting more and more distorted and seems to proliferate the problem on disparity of wealth further. Land reform is a good initial step. Through appropriate land reform, farmers will be able to earn their livings and live comfortable lives on their own. They should not have to depend on unsustainable government handouts or unrealistic promises. Assistance given to our less-fortunate populace must be void of any hidden agenda, must not mislead and create fault hopes, and must lead to independency and not dependency.
15. Decentralization of Authority and Separation of Power
● In a democratic country like the US, there is a clear separation of power and authority between the central government and state/local governments. State governors are directly elected and so are county commissioners and city mayors. Elected officials at each level have their own budgets (although some portions are allocated from higher levels of government) and have their own laws and ordinances to uphold. There is a minimum degree of micro-management. In Thailand, high-level authorities are centralized including provincial governors and police, and there are high degree of micro-management from the central administration. We believe Thailand is ready to move forward and rethink this administrative structure.
● Once national policies are set in train, elected politicians should only play the monitoring roles (whether progresses toward national goals are being made on the timely basis). They should not micro-manage the execution by the respective governmental offices. In particular, assignment of key civil service positions should be the responsibility of the head of the respective government body. Elected politicians should not have any undue interference or influence in this process.
End Notes:
This document represents collective opinions of individual Thais listed below. None of us is politically motivated nor has anyone ever been actively involved in any political activities. We all act out of our deep concerns over distressing events that are happening and the troubling direction in which our beloved motherland is drifting. We all feel this is the most critical time to make our deep feelings known, voice our concerns and offer our heartfelt beliefs. We do not pretend that the opinions expressed herein are shared by ALL Thais living overseas, nor we claim to be their representatives. We strongly belief however that, given enough time which we do not have now in view of the urgency of the situation, there will be a vast majority of Thais living overseas signing on to support our ideas and beliefs.
Methi Wecharatana, Ph.D.
Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, New Jersey Institute of Technology
Nongnuch Inpanbutr, DVM, MS, PhD
Professor of Veterinary Biosciences, The Ohio State University
Nisai Wanakule, Ph.D.
Director, Tampa Bay Water, Florida
Vichate Ungvichien, Ph.D.
Professor of Electrical Engineering, Florida Atlantic University
Gaviphat Lekutai, Ph. D.
Lead Member of Technical Staff, AT&T Labs, Redmond WA
Mongkol Mahavongtrakul, P.E.
Electrical Engineer, City & County of San Francisco
Wanpracha Chaovalitwongse, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Industrial & Systems Engineering and Radiology, University of Washington
Vira Chankong, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Case Western Reserve University
Wiworn Kesavatana, Ph.D.
Thai Language Program, Department of Asian Languages and Literature, University of Washington
Artnarong Thansandote, Ph.D.
Research Scientist and Special Advisor
Consumer and Clinical Radiation Protection Bureau, Health Canada
Santi Kulprathipanja, Ph. D.
Director, Southeast Asia research & Development, Honeywell UOP, Des Plaines, Illinois, USA
Visiting Professor, Petroleum and Petrochemical College, Chulalongkorn University and Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, National University of Singapore.
Nisai Wanakul, Ph. D.
President, Association of Thai Professionals in America and Canada
ด้วยเหตุดังกล่าว พวกเขาจึงสนับสนุนการเคลื่อนไหวของพี่น้องชาวไทยซึ่งกำลังดำเนินไปอย่างเข้มข้นที่จะขับไล่ทรชนและนักการเมืองชั่วร้ายเพื่อนำไปสู่การปฏิรูปประเทศไทยก่อนมีการเลือกตั้ง ทั้งนี้เพราะพวกเขาเห็นด้วยเต็มร้อยว่ามันเป็นทางที่ดีที่สุดที่จะป้องกันมิให้พวกนักการเมืองชั่วร้ายใช้กลยุทธ์ต่างๆ รวมทั้งการซื้อเสียงกลับเข้ามายึดอำนาจและโกงกินประเทศชาติต่อไปอีก จำนวนนึ่งซึ่งมีโอกาสได้บินมาร่วมกับพี่น้องที่ออกมานอนกลางดินกินกลางทรายเพื่อขับไล่ทรชนอยู่แรมเดือน ส่วนใหญ่มาร่วมด้วยไม่ได้ แต่มักรวบรวมปัจจัจจัยส่งมาให้กระบวนการเคลื่อนไหวเป็นระยะๆ และพร้อมใจกันออกไปแสดงพลังตามสถานที่ต่างๆ เพื่อสนับสนุนพี่น้องทางเมืองไทย เช่น ในตอนเช้าวันเสาร์ที่ 1 กุมภาพันธ์นี้ ชาวไทยในย่านกรุงวอชิงตัน ดี.ซี. จะรวมตัวกันไปแสดงการต่อต้านรัฐบาลอีกครั้ง ณ หน้าสถานทูตไทย
นอกจากนั้น ยังมีกลุ่มนักคิดและนักวิชาการที่รวมตัวกันระดมสมองว่าประเทศไทยน่าจะปฏิรูปทางด้านใดบ้าง ในบรรดากลุ่มต่างๆ ดังกล่าวนี้ มีอาจารย์มหาวิทยาลัยดังมีรายชื่อในตอนท้ายของบทความได้ปรึกษาหารือกันจนตกผลึกทางด้านความคิดและส่งไปให้ผมเมื่อตอนเช้าวันศุกร์ที่ผ่านมาตามเวลาประเทศไทย ผมเห็นว่าข้อเสนอของบรรดาอาจารย์มีเนื้อหาสาระที่ควรจะได้รับการพิจารณาจากผู้ที่จะมีหน้าที่ในการปฏิรูปประเทศต่อไป จึงนำมาเสนอในคอลัมน์นี้ เนื่องจากข้อคิดเขียนเป็นภาษาอังกฤษ ผมจึงได้นำสาระสำคัญมาสรุปเป็นภาษาไทยสั้นๆ เพื่อให้พี่น้องในเมืองไทยได้รับรู้คร่าวๆ ก่อน เมื่อถึงตอนจัดตั้งคณะกรรมการปฏิรูปประเทศอย่างเป็นรูปธรรม คณะกรรมการอาจติดต่อกับคณาจารย์เพื่อปรึกษาหารือกันถึงมาตรการและนโยบายในรายละเอียดต่อไป
ข้อคิดแยกออกเป็น 15 ด้านด้วยกันคือ
1. ตั้งเพดานหนี้ที่แน่นอนเพื่อใช้ในการรักษาวินัยทางการคลัง
2. ตรากฎหมายให้รัฐบาลในอนาคตต้องทำงบประมาณสมดุลเท่านั้น
3. โครงการขนาดใหญ่ต้องได้รับมติจากประชาชนผ่านกระบวนการประชาพิจารณ์4. กำหนดบทลงโทษสถานหนักสำหรับการพูดเท็จและบิดเบือนความจริงของผู้มีหน้าที่ให้ข่าวสารข้อมูลต่อสาธารณชนรวมทั้งข้าราชการ โฆษกรัฐบาลและรัฐมนตรี
5. มีองค์กรอิสระ กระบวนการที่แน่นอน และบทลงโทษสถานหนักสำหรับความฉ้อฉลของบุคคลสำคัญต่างๆ รวมทั้งนักการเมือง ข้าราชการและผู้รับเหมา คดีความฉ้อฉลจะต้องไม่หมดอายุความ
6. กำหนดบทลงโทษสถานหนักสำหรับความฉ้อฉลในกระบวนการเลือกตั้งรวมทั้งการซื้อเสียงและวิธีการอื่นๆ คดีจะต้องไม่หมดอายุความและคดีความต้องทำย้อนหลังได้7. รัฐมนตรี รัฐมนตรีช่วยและที่ปรึกษารัฐมนตรีต้องผ่านกระบวนการคัดเลือกเพื่อเฟ้นหาผู้ที่มีความเหมาะสมกับตำแหน่งที่สุดแทนการแต่งตั้งผ่านการแบ่งสันปันส่วนทางการเมือง
8. ห้ามสมาชิกรัฐสภาดำรงตำแหน่งรัฐมนตรี
9. ปรับเปลี่ยนกระบวนการยุติธรรมให้มีองค์กรที่ดำเนินการเอาผิดกับผู้ที่อยู่ในกระบวนการยุติธรรมซึ่งทำความฉ้อฉลเสียเองไม่ว่าจะเป็นตำรวจ อัยการ พนักงานศาล หรือผู้พิพากษา
10. เปิดโอกาสให้ประชาชนร่วมลงชื่อเพื่อปลดข้าราชการและนักการเมืองได้ เช่น ใช้ 5 แสนชื่อสำหรับปลดสมาชิกรัฐสภา 1 ล้านชื่อสำหรับปลดรัฐมนตรีและข้าราชการผู้ใญ่ และ 1.5 ล้านชื่อสำหรับปลดนายกรัฐมนตรี
11. ปรับปรุงหลักสูตรและการให้การศึกษาและข้อมูลทางการเมืองและมาตรการป้องกันการทำความฉ้อฉลในกระบวนการเลือกตั้ง
12. นักการเมือง ข้าราชการผู้ใหญ่ ผู้บริหารและคณาจารย์ในมหาวิทยาลัยของรัฐต้องเปิดเผยข้อมูลเป็นรายปีว่าได้รับสิ่งของและเงินทองจากใครเป็นจำนวนเท่าใด
13. ตรากฎหมายป้องกันการเล่นพรรคเล่นพวก
14. ปรับปรุงฐานเพื่อการพัฒนาแบบยั่งยืนต่อไป รวมทั้งทางด้านระบบการศึกษา สื่อและที่ดิน
15. ปรับเปลี่ยนระบบการปกครองโดยเน้นการส่งเสริมให้การปกครองท้องถิ่นแข็งแกร่งยิ่งขึ้น
Political Reforms for Thailand: Opinions and Suggestions from Thais Living Overseas
Even though we have been living and working overseas for some time, our feelings and connections toward our motherland have never waned. We still feel the heartbeats of our brothers, sisters, relatives, and friends in our motherland. When they rejoice, we feel good and uplift with joy. When they succeed and prosper, we feel proud to celebrate their success and prosperity. When they suffer, we share their deep pains. And when we see our motherland as a whole is struggling and in grave danger of sinking deeper on the catastrophic path toward boundless despair, we anguish with deep concerns and profound sadness. As much as we want to stay away from politics, we see the current situation in Thailand as defining the most critical juncture in the history of the country. Either our motherland continues on the dangerous path to the collapse of a proud nation like a number of other great nations in the recent past, or she turns around and ascends on the path to becoming a prosperous and happy nation. The choice is placed squarely on the shoulders of our brothers, sisters, relatives and friends who own the country. And the time is now to make that choice. As Thais living overseas who have deep concerns and affections for our motherland, we would like to stake our position, express our opinions and offer suggestions. Being the students of history as well as close observers of world and local political systems and socioeconomic developments, we are unquestionably convinced that Thailand’s political system need a major reform, and it is absolutely critical to do it now, before the planned election, for otherwise it will be too late to turn around and avoid the collapse of our proud motherland.
The true root cause of the current political impasse in Thailand is “Corruption” of many politicians and government officials. Nearly all elected officials are fighting, even among themselves, within the same political party, for the ministerial position(s) as these positions give them the opportunity for graft money, the return of their investment spent during the election. To rid out all corruptions will be the true solution for a prosperous Thai society and Thailand. Rapidly developing country like China also faces with the same corruption problems of public officials and politicians, the Chinese Government of the current President, Xi Jinping, has made it a national agenda of his government to take serious action to get rid of corruptions in China. In 2013, the Chinese government reported that the prosecutor office has investigated 209,000 officials in nearly 180,000 cases of embezzlement, bribery, corruptions, dereliction of duty and rights during the past five years, an average of 35,000 corruption cases per year. The highest ranking government official that was dismissed and prosecuted was Huang Songyou, a Vice President of the Supreme People’s Court, who was indicted on corruption charges. If Thailand were to compete with China and other countries in Asia and the world, fixing the corruptions within our government system must be the priority. To expedite political reform in Thailand, we offer the following suggestions that should help fix the current problems:
1. Debt Ceiling
Set a clear fiscally deployable “Debt Ceiling” level as a means to exercising proper fiscal discipline, and strictly enforce the limit without exceptions. At present, the national debt of Thailand is 4.22 trillion baht (estimated at 250,000 baht per household). If the 2.2 trillion baht loan for the high speed train and the 350 billion baht loan for the flood-controlled project go through, the national debt will increase to 6.77 trillion baht (estimated at 404,000 baht per household). There must be a limit to the national debt ceiling.
2. Balance Budget
All future Thai government must be required by laws to provide a balance fiscal budget. They cannot keep spending public money and create public debt, as they like, on programs that do not clearly provide any return of investment.
3. Ballot for Public Vote of Approval for any Mega Loan
The reform must have a policy requiring public ballot and voting when mega-loan projects are introduced. For example, for any mega loan of more than (let’s say) 10,000 million baht, the government will need a ballot for public approval of the project prior to apply for the loan. This practice is presently used in many States in the U.S. In 2012, the State of New Jersey requested the public to vote to approve a loan (public bond) of $750 million (22,500 million baht) for an infrastructure improvement project for NJ Higher Education.
4. Perjury of Government Officials and Spoke-persons while in office or on official duty
● In recent years, we frequently see public officials such as Ministers, MPs, Government Spoke persons, Speaker of various Political Parties, Speaker(s) of CAPO, and senior Police Officers, etc., commit perjury in public news conference and press conferences, intentionally misleading the public causing confusion, social chaos and conflicts in many communities.
● While perjury of individuals may be the right of free speech, but as public officials, such an act must be considered as professional misconduct and, therefore, cannot and should not be tolerated.
● As such, it is proposed that any public officials, while on duty or in office, commits perjury in public, such as giving interview to the press or giving a press conference with false information, is to be subjected to legal consequences, and be prosecuted for public perjury. Punishment of these acts should include mandatory jail term and fine with no exception.
● In addition, these officials are to be dismissed permanently without pension from all government agencies. All these perjury cases can be retroactive, which means individual(s) committed such perjury while in office could be prosecuted even after they left office.
● For politicians and speaker(s) of political party, in addition to the fine and mandatory jail term, these individuals are to be banned and dismissed from any political engagement for life.
● In case that these perjury acts led to any loss of life and property, these individuals are to be responsible personally for any compensation, so as his/her affiliated political party.
● Since these government officials are often the role model of many others in the society, government and public alike, severe punishment, therefore, must be imposed to these individuals and laws and order are to be maintained and abided by.
5. Penalty for Corruptions
● The Reform or new Laws must demand any future Prime Minister (PM) and Government to make corruption the top priority of our National Policy, similar to what the current Chinese President, Xi Jinping, is doing. All corruption laws must be strictly enforced by politically independent arms of the judicial branch. In addition, there should also be a reinforcing mechanism to ensure that these corruption charges can move forward. Thai citizens should be able to charge the corrupt politicians by collecting certain numbers of signatures of eligible voters (may be 10,000 signatures?).
● Any politician(s) and government official(s) as well as contractors of any government projects involved in corruptions, embezzlement, bribery, dereliction of duty and rights, when found guilty, must be subjected to mandatory jail term and fine. The penalty for corruption must be severe regardless of the degree of guilt to effectively deter all forms of corruption
● Corruption cases should have no statute of limitation.
● All family assets of corrupted individuals, when found guilty, are subjected to seizure, regardless of the degree of guilt.
● All practices or acts that are considered as corruptions (for example, making sight-seeing year-end trip(s) on public fund, etc.) are to be clearly listed and posted in front of public government buildings and facilities to remind everyone of these illegal acts.
● All ministers and senior government officials must file monthly report of any gift(s) and monetary presents received. Failure to report will be treated as professional misconduct and subjected to prosecution.
● All government officials must attend annual corruption training courses.
● All ministers and senior government officials must sign a public oath against all forms of corruptions and such statement is officially treated as contract with binding and legal consequences when violated.
6. Serious Consequences for Election Fraud and Vote Buying
● All politicians, involved in illegal election fraud and vote buying (including giving “gift” money to community leaders to hold meetings, or as wedding/birthday gifts, etc.), when found guilty, will be subjected to mandatory jail term and fine; and
● banned for life from all political engagements, directly and indirectly;
● All these cases have no expiration and can be prosecuted retroactively.
● Political debates and/or hearings must be a requirement prior to the election of the PM or other high level positions in the government.
7. Minimum Qualifications of any Appointed Ministerial Post(s)
● Ministers, Deputy Ministers, and Advisors of any Ministry of future Thai government must be selected (and vetted) on the principle of the “best qualified person for the job”, and not on political quota. Nominated candidates and their advisors must be the best qualified possessing the best technical background and professional experience in the field related to the main tasks and responsibility.
● These positions, which have truly critical roles in advancing national interests, are not for the unskilled and inexperience individuals or unqualified public elected representatives.
● Therefore, all these senior appointees must go through a confirmation/vetting process by an external professional expert panel from the respective professional societies or association. For example, the nominated candidate for the Minister of Justice must receive confirmation from panel formed by the Bar Association, etc. Likewise, the nominated candidate for the Minister of Commerce must receive confirmation from panel formed by the Federation of the Thai Industry and the Thai Chamber of Commerce.
8. Elected MPs Are Not Eligible for Any Ministerial Post
● At present, all politicians are fighting for ministerial posts which have authority to control mainly the budget of key ministry with the expectation of getting “Kick back” and “Corruptions”. Ministries with lesser budget are generally considered as “second-grade ministry” and are less desirable among senior politicians. As such, to minimize the chance of corruptions, all future elected MPs are not eligible for any ministerial post(s).
● Their roles are to set national agenda and serve as watchdog to monitor all government officials and ministerial offices to perform as they have stated in their policy, that ending the “buy-votes-in-order-to-corrupt” principle among some politicians.
9. Check and Balance
● At present, no effective means (existing ones often engage in lengthy, routine and clumsy processes) to prosecute corrupted “law enforcement officers”, “district attorneys”, “judicial staffs”, and ministers when these individuals engage in corruption and unethical practices.
● These corrupted individuals often lie in public, commit unethical acts in support of corrupted officials without concerns on legal consequences as there is no “check and balance” in our judicial system. In other words and in simple terms, how to prosecute police officers, DSI, and officers in the judicial system when these individuals corrupt?
● It is suggested that a special prosecuting unit, attached to the high court, be formed with authority and resources to expedite arrest warrant under court order to arrest these individuals without going through the normal judicial process that requires the approval and consensus from these corrupted offices.
● Note that the Chinese government, during the past five years, has prosecuted more than 209,000 government officials in 180,000 corruption cases.
10. Public Authority to Remove Elected MPs and/or Appointed Senior Government Officials
● Thailand currently has 500 elected MPs and a handful of senior government officials in key critical positions that are vital to our national interests. With the population today of 67 million people, each MP represents 134,000 Thai people.
● At present, in the event of any ill-performing elected MPs with corrupted records and practices, the impeachment process of these individuals can be done only by their own peers, a process that can never happen as these MPs are well protected by their affiliated political party.
● It is suggested that under the reform the Thai public must have the authority to remove any elected or appointed government official(s) and senior officers with a specific required number of signed petitions for the intent. For examples,
To remove an MP requires 500,000 signatures of eligible voting members;
To remove a Minister and a senior government official (for example, the Head of the Police Department) requires 1,000,000 signatures of eligible voting members;
To remove the Prime Minister requires 1,500,000 signatures of eligible voting members.
11. Public Education on Election and Fraud
● This should start as early as possible (in elementary school) to cultivate strong sense of civic duty from an early age.
● The Election Commission should routinely run courses to the general public on individual’s right and responsibility with regard to election. These basic courses should be incorporated into all levels of public education, starting from middle school, high school, and college.
● All MP candidates must sign and make public oath against all forms of corruptions and election fraud, as well as making public denouncement on election fraud and vote buying.
● All ballot booths and election stations must post sign listing all forms of election fraud, corrupted acts, and legal ramification and consequences in case of violation.
● Each voting individual must read, sign, and take home a one-page contract stating that he/she does not engage in any form of election fraud, such as, bribe, monetary compensation in return for vote, or any form of compensations from any candidates.
● The form should clearly outline all penalties involved with election fraud and corruption.
12. Public Disclosure of all forms of Gifts, Presents, and Monetary Contributions
● Since corruptions have plagued Thai politics and government system for so long, one way to begin the clean-up process is to require all public officials to file public disclosure of all forms of gifts, presents, and monetary contributions received while in office.
● In the State of New Jersey, after a major corruption case at one of the State Universities, all state employees are required to file annual disclosure of all gifts, presents, and any other forms of financial support received from any other organizations during the year. Failure to report and/or giving false information are considered as professional misconduct, which could lead to dismissal.
● Each state university has set up the Ethic Office to monitor and follow up on these disclosures.
● Each year, in early December, the Ethic office at all state universities will send out a reminder to every university employee to turn in any present(s) they received from students and others. The collected presents were then donated to the Salvation Army and Hospitals.
13. Nepotism Laws
● Major corporations in the US do not allow family members to work in the same place due to conflict of interests, laws to regulate favoritism by politicians to have family members or relatives serving other key positions in the government should be enforced.
14. Reforms for Sustainable Growth and Long-term Prosperity
● Reform on the national educational system:
￮ True democracy is not just about rights, but it is also about responsibilities and good citizenship. The majority of the Thai populace only understand and demand the first half of the definition, their rights. No one, particularly the government, cares about individual responsibilities and good citizenship. In addition to poverty (and wide disparity of wealth), liabilities in the current education system are deemed the major culprit that brings about such anomaly. In developed nations where true democracy is the hallmark of their societies, a key to their success is the level of education of their citizens. The population of those nations are well-educated, at least enough to know what true democracy is and what their individual responsibilities are to make it work. If Thailand is serious about having true democracy as the hallmark of the national social order, then major education reforms, particularly at all pre-college levels, must be carefully planned, developed and implemented. The two-sides of the coin of true democracy must be instilled on our children at the earliest possible time. Also there is no time too early to launch campaigns against corruption and materialism. Subjects related to civic and religious duties, social ethics and morals, and history must be brought back with strong commitment and support to ensure their effective delivery.
￮ Well-known economists and historians have convincingly demonstrated that sustainable growth and prosperity can be achieved much faster and with greater certainty under the so-called innovation-driven economy. South Korea, which grew from the ashes of (the Korean) war to become a world economic powerhouse within 35 years, is often cited as a clear proof of such concepts. South Korea achieved the feat by committing to the policy of using homegrown innovations to turn raw materials (mostly imported) into high-quality high-valued products at lower prices than competitors. If Thailand is to succeed at the same level so as to eradicate all the current ills (particularly sharing the wealth and prosperity fairly among its citizens in a sustainable way), Thailand must commit to developing an innovation-driven economy. To do so, homegrown innovations must be aggressively promoted and supported. In addition to building the necessary infrastructure, development of homegrown innovators must be given a top priority. For this to happen, a major reform on the higher education system must be carefully planned, developed and implemented.
￮ It is clear, that education as well as science and technology, which so far have been relegated to lower national priority must rise to the top of national priority.
● Media Reform: Media of all forms are the main sources of information for the public. The public relies on this information to make their informed decisions. In a true democratic society, media must be allowed to gather and deliver information without bias or prejudice. It is absolutely necessary that media be allowed to do their work without undue influence or control by any political parties, including the government.
At present, this does not seem to be the case, which aggravates the current crisis. A major media reform is required:
1) Media must be in tune with public needs and is obligated to serve the public interest and away from government and political bias. Some suggestions for media reform include:
￮ Media must be financed through non-political entities.
￮ There should be more diverse media ownership, more local access to airwave.
￮ Paid political advertisement should be barred. Instead every station should be required to provide prime time hours for candidates.
2) Media reform must place a strong emphasis on making sure that those who are marginalized or semi-marginalized have an access to means of publication or dissemination of information.
● Land Reform: It is well known that a key part of the ills in Thailand is the disparity in wealth. Until the economy upshifts to an innovation-driven economy, Thailand as a whole as well as a major portion of the population still very much depend on agriculture. Current land ownership is getting more and more distorted and seems to proliferate the problem on disparity of wealth further. Land reform is a good initial step. Through appropriate land reform, farmers will be able to earn their livings and live comfortable lives on their own. They should not have to depend on unsustainable government handouts or unrealistic promises. Assistance given to our less-fortunate populace must be void of any hidden agenda, must not mislead and create fault hopes, and must lead to independency and not dependency.
15. Decentralization of Authority and Separation of Power
● In a democratic country like the US, there is a clear separation of power and authority between the central government and state/local governments. State governors are directly elected and so are county commissioners and city mayors. Elected officials at each level have their own budgets (although some portions are allocated from higher levels of government) and have their own laws and ordinances to uphold. There is a minimum degree of micro-management. In Thailand, high-level authorities are centralized including provincial governors and police, and there are high degree of micro-management from the central administration. We believe Thailand is ready to move forward and rethink this administrative structure.
● Once national policies are set in train, elected politicians should only play the monitoring roles (whether progresses toward national goals are being made on the timely basis). They should not micro-manage the execution by the respective governmental offices. In particular, assignment of key civil service positions should be the responsibility of the head of the respective government body. Elected politicians should not have any undue interference or influence in this process.
End Notes:
This document represents collective opinions of individual Thais listed below. None of us is politically motivated nor has anyone ever been actively involved in any political activities. We all act out of our deep concerns over distressing events that are happening and the troubling direction in which our beloved motherland is drifting. We all feel this is the most critical time to make our deep feelings known, voice our concerns and offer our heartfelt beliefs. We do not pretend that the opinions expressed herein are shared by ALL Thais living overseas, nor we claim to be their representatives. We strongly belief however that, given enough time which we do not have now in view of the urgency of the situation, there will be a vast majority of Thais living overseas signing on to support our ideas and beliefs.
Methi Wecharatana, Ph.D.
Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, New Jersey Institute of Technology
Nongnuch Inpanbutr, DVM, MS, PhD
Professor of Veterinary Biosciences, The Ohio State University
Nisai Wanakule, Ph.D.
Director, Tampa Bay Water, Florida
Vichate Ungvichien, Ph.D.
Professor of Electrical Engineering, Florida Atlantic University
Gaviphat Lekutai, Ph. D.
Lead Member of Technical Staff, AT&T Labs, Redmond WA
Mongkol Mahavongtrakul, P.E.
Electrical Engineer, City & County of San Francisco
Wanpracha Chaovalitwongse, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Industrial & Systems Engineering and Radiology, University of Washington
Vira Chankong, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Case Western Reserve University
Wiworn Kesavatana, Ph.D.
Thai Language Program, Department of Asian Languages and Literature, University of Washington
Artnarong Thansandote, Ph.D.
Research Scientist and Special Advisor
Consumer and Clinical Radiation Protection Bureau, Health Canada
Santi Kulprathipanja, Ph. D.
Director, Southeast Asia research & Development, Honeywell UOP, Des Plaines, Illinois, USA
Visiting Professor, Petroleum and Petrochemical College, Chulalongkorn University and Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, National University of Singapore.
Nisai Wanakul, Ph. D.
President, Association of Thai Professionals in America and Canada
