Bangkok Post: 01/07/08
2009 budget in desperate need of overhaul
What a week that was! I was pleasantly handing out awards to school children in Klong Toey when a call came through from party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva with a characteristically to-the-point question: ``Heard the news?''
Thoughts flashed through my mind ``Coup? Samak resigned? House dissolved?'' The questions themselves reflect the national state of affairs, where anything could happen.
``They've agreed to table the no-confidence motion in three days' time.''
I quickly handed out the last award, to an impossibly skinny kid who was part of the winning tug-of-war competition, and off I went back home. I put away my preparation for the budget debate and immediately started to work on the ``no confidence''.
Politics was heading to a dead-end we Thais have become all too familiar with and we were hoping that bringing the conflict into Parliament would help ease tensions.
We also felt that the government was veering dangerously towards the wrong direction and hopefully the debate would lead to changes that would allow for some semblance of order.
Up to the point of Khun Abhisit's telephone call we, and the Senators who had filed a separate motion, were being shunned by the government and hence feeling increasingly frustrated. Whilst the change of heart on the part of the government was a surprise, it was also welcome.
This debate was always going to be different. Previous no-confidence debates were ones that involved exposure of specific cases of corruption. Our lack of confidence in this government, however, had more to do with their complete neglect in the management of the economy. Crucially, we were also specifically worried about the cabinet resolution approving the agreement the Foreign Ministry had signed together with Cambodia regarding the request by the Cambodian government to file Khao Phra Viharn as a World Heritage Site.
The way the approval was requested has probable implications to our territorial and sovereignty claims over the temple and surrounding area. Furthermore, there were at least circumstantial reasons for us to believe that the Foreign Minister's decision-making could have had something to do with his previous role in serving Thaksin Shinawatra's personal interests.
Mr Thaksin is openly seeking business opportunities in Cambodia and the inexplicable position the Thai government has taken can only be understood in the context of collusion or utter incompetence.
The key now is how to backtrack away from the joint communique signed by Noppadon Pattama and supported by a cabinet resolution. We are in the process of seeking legal recourse, which hopefully will lead to the prevention of a possible loss of sovereignty.
Korn chatikavanij