Sondhi Limthongkul on electoral democracy (Charles Keyes)

Sondhi Limthongkul made a presentation at the University of Washington on November 14, 2006. Charles Keyes, anthropologist and Thai scholar, summarised and commented upon the presentation. Here's the summary (follow the link above for the full text with comments):

He [Sondhi Limthongkul] argued that there cannot be electoral democracy in Thailand such as is found in the West because most people outside the middle class lack sufficient knowledge to understand how power can be abused. The rural people only vote, he claimed, for those who pay them either directly through party organizers (hua khanaen) or indirectly through the populist programs. He compared the populist programs of Thaksin to those of Peron in Argentina. Khun Sondhi said that in the future he himself will work only with the middle class who have sufficient education to truly understand how populist politicians can abuse power. He added that while the middle class is found primarily in Bangkok, it is also represented in the urban areas of each province.

"Khun Sondhi said that politicians of all parties in Thailand are characterized by kilet, a Buddhist term that in Thai means greed for power, wealth and fulfillment of sexual passion. He was quite dismissive of a written constitution as the basis for governance in Thailand. He said that only if the people have a spirit of democracy can democracy truly exist. Without a constitution, the only institution that can assure good governance is the monarchy. He said that ‘royal prerogative’ (phraratchamnat) is deeply respected and embodies the spirit of the nation."