From: fstawit@marge.lerc.nasa.gov (Tawit Chitsomboon)
Subject: A Letter to P.M. Chuan Leekpai
Originator: fstawit@marge
Organization: Institute for Computational Mechanics in Propulsion-NASA Lewis
Date: Wed, 30 Sep 1992 15:32:02 GMT


Dear Friends,

I, too, try to lobby P.M. Chuan through Kunying Supatra (whoever
she is) by ways of M.R. Pongsvas as suggested by A. Thaweesak.
I decided to let my letter be open since I doubt that it'll reach
the hand of PM, might as well share it with you guys since some
of you may become PM someday :-)


-Tawit

------------------------------------------------------------

P.M. Chuan Leekpai
Government House
Bangkok, Thailand

September 29, 2535 (B.E.)


Dear Mr. Prime Minister:


I and many other Thais in the USA are very happy to learn that you
have become the Prime Minister of our beloved country. As a concerned
citizen, I would like to express my opinion about what I would like
to see changed as to the structure of the government and other issues.


1.) As you quite rightly pointed out early on, corruption is the single
most important issue facing our nation. Corruption is widespread  in
Thailand, from the grass-root level to the cabinet level. I dare say
that most transactions between business and government involve corruption
and/or favoritism of some sort. To prove this out, all you have to do
is disguise yourself as an average man and go to a local city hall
trying to ask for, say, a renewal of your small business permission.
(If you're not flatly asked for a donation, you'll at least be treated
with impolite languages and coarse manners, provided that you act as if
you have low education and no connection to high places.)

I can say with confidence that ALL governmental constructions involve
corruption. The government officials who monitor the construction (road,
building, etc.) have become very rich since long time ago. No wonder why
our road system turned pot-holes ridden in, in some cases, just a
month after they had finished. Or, try intentionally getting caught by a 
traffic police and you can always buy your way out or bluff your way out by 
telling him that you know such and such persons. Try working hard in exporting
goods to bring in foreign capital and you will find yourself bribing
the custom officials over minute technicalities, otherwise your product
will not pass the 'stringent' regulations. Try not being submissive to 
the revenue officers, and you'll probably find your business turn bankrupt 
in a short while.

In short, corruption is every where. It is this corruption and favoritism
and officialdomism (i.e., JoaKhunMoolNai) that have  all along hampered
Thailand's progress. Failing to recognize this crucial fact will prove to 
be very costly for Thailand in a few decades to come since these coming decades
will be the decades of regional competition for economic and societal growth.
If we lose this opportunity, perhaps we will lose it forever.

Drastic and far-reaching actions are immediately needed to rid our country
off such bad attributes. An ad hoc ministry-level organization may be
needed to deal with such widespread and chronic symptom. The hope of
our country is in your hands now Mr. Prime Minister; please do not
disappoint us.


2.) I believe that any politico-socio-economic system will finally become
unbarable if it lacks the key ingredient: compassion. It seems that
capitalism, of which we are a member, continues to exist prosperously, at
least for the time being, due to 'balance-of-greed'. I personally
don't think that this balance can be maintained forever. I believe in
capitalism insofar as it is stablized by 'balance-of-compassion'.
We should not only have a compassion for fellow human beings but
extends it also to animals and the living eco-system.

This ideology must be promoted by the government. It certainly cannot
be put into a law; but, nonetheless, can be promoted in various ways.
This kind of ethic system must be taught at all educational levels.
This calls for a renovation of our blindly-following-the-West education 
system. We must lead the world in this category. Together with wisdom,
compassion-based system is the only alternative for human survival.
This may sound too philosophical; but it's certainly not. I beg you to
seriously look into the matter. I am worried about the persuasion powers
of foreign-educated intelligentsia. I only hope that you will have 
the vision to select only those policies that are in accord with
sila-dhamma.

3.) [Stuffs about the military deleated]

4.) Crucial to rural development of the country is, I believe, the
de-centralization of the government. Simply let the provinces govern
themselves by election of all levels of governors from the province
level all the way down to the village level.

There are certain disadvantages of this de-centralized system. But
the advantages are much more overwhelming. The provincial and the
district governors that are being appointed by the central government
to 'govern' simply don't know enough about the areas in which they
govern. Once they know well the area, it's time for them to be transferred
to other positions somewhere else. When they do understand the 
problem and want to improve it, they are often discouraged by the
centralized structure of the system in various ways.

It's best to let the native govern themselves.  They know best what
they want and they will make rules and regulations to fit their needs
so that certain policies can be achieved.
Besides, it'll help arouse political awareness of
the rural people. The MP who shows up once every 4 years to buy
votes is not good enough for the rural-dwellers. We must install
an effective rural governmental system to show to them that their
choice in the election will have profound effects upon their lives.
Simply the sheer diversity of policies generated by these thousands
of local governments will make the entire system evolves for the better
on its own accord.

While the choice of the MP will affect their lives in a large-scale level,
this large-scale effects are often non-discernible. It's their choice
of the local governors that will affect their lives in a discernible way
, e.g., local tax, projects, law and regulation. This, I believe, will make 
them become aware of the importance of politics. They'll learn that their 
good choice of the politicians worths much more than the money they receive
during the vote-buying campaign. The local politics will finally drive
the national politics to be better. Right now, we are trying to do
just the opposite which I don't see any hope for it to work.

Moreover, I also would like to see the all-too-powerful police department
be de-centralized. The district governer (NaiUmpher) should be the one
who appoint the police chief of the district. This will put the police
to be the servant of the people rather than being the people's boss as
it now is.

5) [Stuffs about the Senate deleted]

All of the above are my own opinions. I hope it will help you in one way
or another. At a minimum, you now know that one of the country's citizen
is very frustrated about certain things. I will try to write more later. 

May the omnipotence of the Buddha, the Dhamma and the Sangha bless you
with good health, vision and motivation so that our beloved Thailand
will be prosperous under your righteous leadership.

Sincerly yours,

Tawit Chitsomboon
Newsgroups: soc.culture.thai