Jon Ungphakorn's 2008 agenda
for social reform in Thailand
By Jon Fernquest |
Jon Ungphakorn, former senator, NGO leader, 2005 Ramon Magsaysay Award winner for government service, and columnist at the Bangkok Post, presented an agenda for social reform in Thailand yesterday in his weekly column.
His agenda consists of six points:
1) Strict adherence to the rule of law.
2) Semi-autonomy for the southern Muslim majority provinces.
3) Respect for community rights.
4) Respect for media freedom and independence.
5) Repeal or amendment of all laws that violate democratic principles.
6) No free trade agreement with the US on present negotiating terms.
Test yourself. Try to guess which specific issues each of the six points address. Then check if you were right.
If you guessed Thaksin's "drug war" for number one, you're right.
If you guessed Prime Minister Samak serve jail time for the crime he's been sentenced to, you're wrong. He didn't mention that:
Point #1: Strict adherence to the rule of law This means that the powerful and powerless must be treated equally before the law. (It has never happened in Thailand.) Extrajudicial killings must cease. (Unfortunately, Chalerm has promised to renew the infamous "war on drugs".) There must be no political interference in investigations and criminal proceedings against any individuals within or linked to the government. Radical police reform and mechanisms to provide real police accountability to the public are absolutely necessary. Investigative powers after arrests and charges need to be shifted from police to prosecutors.
"Semi-autonomy for the southern Muslim majority provinces" would seem to be impossible under democracy. Breaking off a piece of Thailand, is how many would likely look at the idea of "semi-autonomy":
Point #2: Semi-autonomy for the southern Muslim majority provinces ...the only real way out of the violence and conflict in these southern provinces is to "decolonise" the region through negotiations with local community leaders of all races and religions.We have to accept some form of self-government or autonomy in which local culture and traditions are allowed to prevail, and in which the area is governed by its own local leaders, not by governors appointed from Bangkok. Peace would be enforced by local police and military units, while outside forces would be withdrawn.
Community power and autonomy in point three seems reasonable, but aren't there certain projects, like power plants, that are for the national interest, and therefore have to be built somewhere, even if no one wants them built near them (the so-called NIMBY problem)?
Point #3: Respect for community rights. "All local communities in Thailand should be allowed to determine their own ways of life and to live according to their own culture and traditions, using local languages in schools, community radio, and local government.The constitutional rights of communities to manage their own local resources - land, forests and water - need to be strengthened, as well as their right to protect themselves from environmental damage from outside. This means that no industrial, mining, power-generation or dam projects affecting communities would be allowed to go ahead without their informed consent."
As for media freedom in point four, Jon Ungphakorn is referring to the way that the Thaksin administration pressured newspapers to avoid negative and critical news, in other words, be cheerleaders for the government...or else.
Point #4: Respect for media freedom and independence. "This is the most important issue for the development of democracy in Thailand.First of all, the new public broadcasting act must remain untouched with no political interference in the selection of the board of the public broadcasting authority.
The computer crimes act needs to be amended to remove the overhanging threat of criminal proceedings that is affecting freedom of political expression on the Internet.
Newspaper advertising by government agencies must be strictly non-discriminatory so as not to influence editorial freedom.
Radio and television broadcasting frequencies need to be reallocated by a new independent broadcasting commission to allow multi-sector broadcasting including genuine community radio and television.
The prime minister cannot be allowed to have his own radio or television programme to speak to the public unless the opposition leader and civil society leaders are allotted equal time to respond on the same stations."
Point number five is talking about the ominous ISOC bill that gave the military all sorts powers, as well as the lese majeste law, which anyone can bring against anyone, but ultimately only the police can act on.
Point #5: Repeal or amendment of all laws that violate democratic principles These include the recently passed internal security act and the law on public administration in emergency situations that is being used in the southern border provinces.The criminal code regarding the crime of lese majeste also needs to be amended to allow legitimate democratic expression of views regarding the monarchy.
In point six he's talking about the intellectual property rights of large US pharmaceutical companies, that unfortunately seem to be the dominant issue in US-Thai relations nowadays:
Point #6: No free trade agreement with the US on present negotiating terms. In negotiating free trade agreements with Thailand and many other countries, the United States has consistently insisted on protection of intellectual property rights relating to medicines and health treatments that go well beyond the requirements of the World Trade Organisation.US requirements include extension of patent protection lifetime, data exclusivity, no pre-grant opposition to drug patent applications, patenting of surgical procedures, etc.
For Thailand to agree to these demands would spell disaster for our universal health insurance programme and to our perfectly legal generic production of essential life-saving drugs. It would mean probable premature death for well over 100,000 people living with HIV/Aids who now have access to anti-retroviral therapy that keeps them healthy.
The Thai government should make it clear that no agreement is possible while such US requirements remain.
This is not the whole "social reform agenda" that Jon Ungphakorn has cooked up. In next week's column there'll be more.
(Source: Bangkok Post, op-ed section, 30-01-08, temp-link)
Vocabulary:
Ramon Magsaysay Award - every year prizes are presented to Asian individuals and organizations in recognition for achieving excellence in their respective fields: Government Service, Public Service, Community Leadership, Journalism, Literature and Creative Communication Arts, Peace and International Understanding, and Emergent Leadership (See Wikipedia and website)
reform - improvement
agenda - a list of important issues to be discussed and acted upon
consists of - contains, includes
strict - a rule that must be obeyed completely
adherence to X - following X
rule of law - 1. when laws apply to everyone including the rich and powerful, 2. a legal system in which rules are clear, well-understood, and fairly enforced, including property rights and enforcement of contracts
autonomy - controlling itself, rather than being controlled by others, making your own decisions, rather than being greatly influenced by others (See glossary)
semi-autonomy - has partial control over its own affairs
NIMBY - (Not In My Backyard) - "describes the opposition of residents to the nearby location of something they consider undesirable, even if it is generally considered a benefit for many, Examples include: an incinerator, an ethanol plant, a nuclear-power plant, or a prison" (See Wikipedia)
a majority - more than half of the people in a group
community - local residents, the people who live in a place or area
repeal - when a law is withdrawn and ceases to exist
amendment of X - changing X
negotiating terms - the details of an agreement that you are negotiating
extrajudicial killings - when police or other government officials kill people outside the law (instead of arresting the person and bringing them to trial)
infamous - famous in a bad sort of way
interference - when people from the outside get involved in and try to change a situation when they shouldn't
radical - very different from current situation (for example, a radical change or radical difference is very different from the current situation)
mechanisms - a special way of getting something done within a system
accountability - being responsible for one's actions and can justify these actions (See glossary)
prosecutors - the government agency of lawyers that brings legal charges against someone and tries to prove in a court of law that they are guilty
ominous - makes you worry, sounds like something unpleasant is going to happen
do X or else - if you don't do X, you're in big trouble...
ISOC - Internal Security Operations Command, a special part of the Thai military that was set up during the cold war, that has been given new powers under a bill passed recently in the post-coup NLA (See previous Bangkok Post article)
lese majeste - the crime of violating majesty, an offense against the dignity of a reigning sovereign or against a state (See Wikipedia)
consistently - done in the same way each time
insisted on X - demand X and refuse to change you mind on this
a patent - the official ownership right that someone has over a product or a business idea for a period of time (See Wikipedia)
exclusive - limited to a certain group of people
data exclusivity - data can only be used by a small group of pre-defined people
pre-grant - before being given
applications - a formal written request for something like a job or a government permission that is needed
X would spell disaster for Y - if X happens then Y will likely have have a disaster in the future
universal health insurance programme - when everyone gets health insurance and healthcare services, no matter how poor they are
generic production - producing low cost standard drugs without a special brand that makes them more expensive
premature - happens earlier than is expected or necessary
premature death - dieing before it really was necessary (for example, if US pharmaceutical companies did not articially limit the supply of the drug)
cooked up - created
