Suranand Vejjajiva on the lack of public policy debate in Thailand
By Jon Fernquest
In
his weekly column in the Bangkok Post on Friday Suranand Vejjajiva reflected on the recent surge of
political debate in
Thailand using the medium
of Twitter.Suranand notes that Thailand has suffered from a lack of public debate in the past.
Suranand also suggests that Twitter (with its 140 characters) is not really a substitute for public participation and debate in government policy.
(On right a screenshot of my Twitter page at work).
The article extract begins after the vocabulary:
debate - a
discussion or formal argument on an
issue between people with different views (See Wikipedia)
an issue - an important subject that people are arguing about and discussing
policy - a plan of action to guide decisions and achieveoutcomes (See Wikipedia)
public policy debate - when people affected by a policy express their opinions in a debate
X reflected on Y - X thinks deeply about Y
a surge of political debate - a sudden large increase in political debate
a medium, a medium of communciation - a way to communicate with people and express ideas (such as film for expressing artistic ideas or the English language as a "medium" of instruction)
Twitter - "a free social networking and micro-blogging service that enables its users to send and read messages known as tweets. Tweets are text-based posts of up to 140 characters displayed on the author's profile page and delivered to the author's subscribers who are known as followers" (See Wikipedia)
the medium of Twitter - Twitter as a way to communicate with people
screenshot - when you take a picture of the things on your computer screen by pushing the print screen button (PrtScrn) on your computer (See Wikipedia)
extract - a small part of a larger article taken out and presented separately
an issue - an important subject that people are arguing about and discussing
policy - a plan of action to guide decisions and achieveoutcomes (See Wikipedia)
public policy debate - when people affected by a policy express their opinions in a debate
X reflected on Y - X thinks deeply about Y
a surge of political debate - a sudden large increase in political debate
a medium, a medium of communciation - a way to communicate with people and express ideas (such as film for expressing artistic ideas or the English language as a "medium" of instruction)
Twitter - "a free social networking and micro-blogging service that enables its users to send and read messages known as tweets. Tweets are text-based posts of up to 140 characters displayed on the author's profile page and delivered to the author's subscribers who are known as followers" (See Wikipedia)
the medium of Twitter - Twitter as a way to communicate with people
screenshot - when you take a picture of the things on your computer screen by pushing the print screen button (PrtScrn) on your computer (See Wikipedia)
extract - a small part of a larger article taken out and presented separately
LET IT BE
Does twittering make effective public policy?
Suranand Vejjajiva11/09/2009
...twittering reflects an underlying problem of public policy debate in Thailand.
In the past, there was rarely a thorough debate on important issues before they became policy, except for regular discussions within the bureaucracy itself. Even parliamentary debates have limitations in influencing the direction of national development: it has been mostly talk and then haggling for a share of the budget by the MPs. The only widespread debates I remember, which ended up changing public policies, were the anti-smoking and the anti-drink-and-drive campaigns.
X reflects Y - X
shows Y
underlying problem of Y - the deep real problem (sometimes difficult to see and understand)
thorough debate - debate covering everything in detail
bureaucracy - government departments known for being slow
haggling for a share of the budget - arguing about how much of the budget they will get
widespread debates - when many people in many places are debating an issue
underlying problem of Y - the deep real problem (sometimes difficult to see and understand)
thorough debate - debate covering everything in detail
bureaucracy - government departments known for being slow
haggling for a share of the budget - arguing about how much of the budget they will get
widespread debates - when many people in many places are debating an issue
This is not what you see happening in a more mature democracy. For instance, take the recent passage of the annual expenditure budget by Parliament for the next fiscal year. Together with the "From Strength to Strength" stimulus package, it would give the government at least 2 trillion baht to spend in the next year, with more to come in the next two years. There has been no debate like what is being argued in Britain at the moment between the Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling and opposition leader David Cameron, on how to spend the money, how to decrease debt from deficit spending, and what cost-cutting measures should be considered.
mature democracy
- democracy that has
reached a state of complete development
passage of bill by parliament - when a proposed law becomes an actual law in parliament
fiscal year - period of twelve months used by government for preparing financial reports and making budgets
passage of the annual expenditure budget by Parliament for the next fiscal year
fiscal stimulus - temporary increases in government spending and tax cuts to get the economy moving and growing again
"From Strength to Strength" stimulus package - the name of the current Thai government programme of fiscal stimulus
Chancellor of the Exchequer - the British Cabinet minister who is responsible for all economic and financial matters (See Wikipedia)
deficit - when money spent (going out) is greater than revenues (taxes coming in)
debt from deficit spending - when you spend more than you receive, you must borrow money to pay for the difference
cost-cutting measures - actions taken to reduce money spent in an organisation (expenses, costs)
passage of bill by parliament - when a proposed law becomes an actual law in parliament
fiscal year - period of twelve months used by government for preparing financial reports and making budgets
passage of the annual expenditure budget by Parliament for the next fiscal year
fiscal stimulus - temporary increases in government spending and tax cuts to get the economy moving and growing again
"From Strength to Strength" stimulus package - the name of the current Thai government programme of fiscal stimulus
Chancellor of the Exchequer - the British Cabinet minister who is responsible for all economic and financial matters (See Wikipedia)
deficit - when money spent (going out) is greater than revenues (taxes coming in)
debt from deficit spending - when you spend more than you receive, you must borrow money to pay for the difference
cost-cutting measures - actions taken to reduce money spent in an organisation (expenses, costs)
Here in Thailand, there are simply not enough forums outside and even inside the political arena to debate, especially when considering that it is public money that is being spent.
Or the government's 15-year free education policy, which is taken as a "gift" from a "generous" government without a debate regarding its quality, what kind of financial burden the country has to bear, or an inquiry into whether the programme is really free..
forum - a place
where people discuss and debate issues
an arena - a stadium or place where large numbers of people sit and watch an event such as a football game
the political arena - all the debate over politics in a country (taken together as a whole)
generous - gives more than is expected or more than others give
a burden - something that is difficult to do
a financial burden - something that is difficult to pay for (like paying back a large loan)
an inquiry into Y - an investigation or searching whether something is true or not, or into what is actually happening
an arena - a stadium or place where large numbers of people sit and watch an event such as a football game
the political arena - all the debate over politics in a country (taken together as a whole)
generous - gives more than is expected or more than others give
a burden - something that is difficult to do
a financial burden - something that is difficult to pay for (like paying back a large loan)
an inquiry into Y - an investigation or searching whether something is true or not, or into what is actually happening
In contrast, Thais get one-sided bombardment of television and radio commercials showing how people are happily receiving benefits from government programmes and projects. Ceremonial events and exhibitions are organised in place of simple press conferences to announce a policy, therein spending millions of baht per pop. All the money spent, yours and mine, is hard to account for. The sad part is that the commercials and events do not even tell you how you would be benefiting. They become merely self-promotion tools of the politicians in charge.
bombardment - a
strong continuous attack of gunfire and bombs
one-sided bombardment of television and radio commercials - an aggressive stream of ads on radio and TV (without letting other sides air their views too)
ceremony (noun) - a formal event for a special occasion
ceremonial (adjective)
ceremonial events and exhibitions - formal events and displays
press conference, news conference - a media event in which newsmakers invite journalists to hear them speak and ask questions (See Wikipedia)
spending millions of baht per pop - spending millions of baht every time
money...hard to account for - difficult to explain where the money went
commercials - advertisements on TV
self-promotion - doing things to make your own name or group's name known better
in charge - being the head of an organisation (having authority over staff, budget, guiding, managing)
one-sided bombardment of television and radio commercials - an aggressive stream of ads on radio and TV (without letting other sides air their views too)
ceremony (noun) - a formal event for a special occasion
ceremonial (adjective)
ceremonial events and exhibitions - formal events and displays
press conference, news conference - a media event in which newsmakers invite journalists to hear them speak and ask questions (See Wikipedia)
spending millions of baht per pop - spending millions of baht every time
money...hard to account for - difficult to explain where the money went
commercials - advertisements on TV
self-promotion - doing things to make your own name or group's name known better
in charge - being the head of an organisation (having authority over staff, budget, guiding, managing)
And it is propagandist in nature. The commercials for community sufficiency projects... implication is that if communities have good projects to develop, the government would support them. It turns out that the agency involved already had projects in mind and used some of the promised funds to procure equipment not necessarily in the communities' interests. Investigations of abuse are ongoing...
propaganda - information
published or broadcast by a political organisation in order to
influence people and change their beliefs
propagandist - a person who tries to persuade people to support a political group
propagandist in nature - it is secretly trying to persuade people to support a political group (but looks like something else)
suffiency economy - the official name of the Thai economic philosophy based on the speeches of His Majesty the King
community sufficiency projects - government projects started under the guiding philosophy of "sufficiency economy" (but some corrupt people have prevented projects from going as planned)
it turns out Y - unexpected Y happened
already had projects in mind - already knew the projects it wanted to do
promised funds - money that the government promised to give give people
procure - buy
procure equipment not necessarily in the communities' interests - buy things that are not useful for the people the money is supposed to help
ongoing - currently happening
abuse - doing something you are not supposed to do, spending money on something you are not supposed to spend on
investigations of abuse are ongoing... - officials
propagandist - a person who tries to persuade people to support a political group
propagandist in nature - it is secretly trying to persuade people to support a political group (but looks like something else)
suffiency economy - the official name of the Thai economic philosophy based on the speeches of His Majesty the King
community sufficiency projects - government projects started under the guiding philosophy of "sufficiency economy" (but some corrupt people have prevented projects from going as planned)
it turns out Y - unexpected Y happened
already had projects in mind - already knew the projects it wanted to do
promised funds - money that the government promised to give give people
procure - buy
procure equipment not necessarily in the communities' interests - buy things that are not useful for the people the money is supposed to help
ongoing - currently happening
abuse - doing something you are not supposed to do, spending money on something you are not supposed to spend on
investigations of abuse are ongoing... - officials
Suranand Vejjajiva served in the Thaksin Shinawatra cabinet and is now a political analyst.
(Source: Bangkok Post, op-ed section, Does twittering make effective public policy?, Suranand Vejjajiva, 11/09/2009, link)
