THINK THAI/Good governance is more

[suriya@xxxxxxxxxxxx]

Editorial & Opinion 

      THINK THAI/Good
      governance is more than
      a good government

      Anand Panyarachun has come a long way.
      Now he is going for extra miles. After an
      arduous task of chairing the drafting
      commission of the people's constitution last
      September, he is now embarking on
      economic endeavours by heading a
      task-force group of the Thailand
      Development Research Institute on the
      macro-economic recovery's plan. To add to
      this, he is also sitting on a committee to
      gather information on the dispute over the
      Yadana gas-pipeline project. 

      And on the top of that, he is also promoting
      the idea of good governance in Thailand,
      particularly after the charter's promulgation.
      Five years have elapsed since he last
      served as prime minister for two interim
      governments during one of most turbulent
      times in Thai history. 

      But his experience in running government
      with good conduct and responsibility is still
      vivid. He is also a business executive, not
      to mention his earlier years as a diplomat.
      In past weeks he has been consulting
      friends to try and define and articulate the
      notion of good governance that could be
      easily understood and exercised without
      discrimination within the context of Thai
      culture and tradition. 

      His friends say that his thoughts on this
      issue are near crystallisation and will serve
      as the gist of the first Asia-Europe lecture,
      ''Economic Management and Good
      Governance'', to be given by him tomorrow
      at Chulalongkorn University's main
      auditorium to commemorate the first
      anniversary of the Asia-Europe Foundation.

      Ironically for the country at large, the
      on-going economic meltdown has been a
      curse in disguise. Without such a grave
      consequence, the Thai public would not
      have woken up from their cocoon, realising
      what and where they and their country had
      gone wrong. 

      For the past three decades Thailand's
      economic miracle has been repeatedly
      hailed as a model for developing countries.
      As Thailand grows, the country's economic
      structures have increasingly become
      distorted with many institutions ill-suited to
      cope with the sea change that Thais have
      witnessed. 

      The country's new-found prosperity has not
      brought about the accountability and
      efficiency of state management.
      Furthermore, the country failed to work out
      a balanced, equitable and sustainable
      development that would benefit the people
      as well as sound economic management
      that is needed to guide the nation in the era
      of a borderless world. 

      Worse, the country is still run by the
      patronage system, which in Anand's words
      causes the ''institutional inertia'' which relies
      on personal connections rather than on
      meritocracy. This cancerous system has
      already bred inefficiency and corruption. 

      While the country enjoys high growth rates,
      investment in social capital is marginal, and
      the careless exploitation of national
      resources coupled with non-existent
      resource management has worsened the
      situation. The country is now confronted
      with scarce resources where it was once
      rich in natural resources. 

      Past economic dynamism has cost
      Thailand tremendously. The Thais have
      indulged themselves shamelessly in
      consumerism and luxurious living, forgetting
      about their basic and simple lifestyle, which
      used once to be the cradle of Thai culture
      and tradition. In other words, the Thai notion
      of simple life and economy of resource use
      has been abandoned in the face of rapid
      modernisation. 

      On reflection, Anand has linked better
      economic management with good
      governance. To him, good governance is
      more than a good government with capable
      leaders. The day of ''father-knows-best''
      decision has long gone. Leaders alone no
      longer make the decisions: they need
      feedback from the grass roots and the
      public at large. 

      There is a need to establish a mechanism
      to define what constitutes public interest
      and to see that the public is well served. To
      attain such an objective, Anand says, one
      needs good governance. 

      To have good governance in Thailand,
      reforms are required at different levels.
      First and foremost would be
      responsiveness of the government to the
      people's needs. To this end the government
      must be accountable and responsible for its
      actions and policies. 

      One important feature of Anand's good
      governance is check and balance
      throughout society, not only in the legislative
      branch but also in other sectors of society,
      including a free press and various citizen
      groups and non-governmental
      organisations to monitor the work of the
      government and ensure that all tasks have
      been carried out effectively. Such decision
      entails taking into consideration the public
      interest and not that of a coterie of officials,
      as has always been the case. 

      Freedom of expression and the role played
      by these grass-roots organisations are
      pivotal if there is to be a established a norm
      of high reciprocity between the government
      and the public. Indeed the drafting of the
      new constitution last year was considered
      an exemplary experience for every sector of
      Thai society. Although the charter is not a
      perfect document, or for that matter a
      panacea, it reflects public aspiration and
      has been perceived as the best effort of the
      Thai people to engage in civic affairs. 

      As a businessman, it would be hard to fault
      Anand when he points out that good
      corperate governance must also be found
      in companies and all parties that have
      influence in the country because they ''are
      less subject to public scrutiny''. In many
      developed countries companies must be
      accountable for their policies. 

      Given the current economic crisis, there
      has been a lot of debate and expression of
      nationalism by blaming the outside world.
      That is a simplistic interpretation. The
      former prime minister believes that it is not
      the fault of globalisation and an effort to
      integrate Thailand with the rest of the world
      but rather the failure to maintain a balance
      between competing priorities within the
      country. 

      To him, Thailand cannot take on
      liberalisation without discipline: there is no
      short cut. 

      What we need, he concludes, is the kind of
      nationalism based on ideas and reason
      whereby the Thai people can rediscover
      themselves and take whatever they can
      from their traditional strength to cope with
      the current situation. 

      BY KAVI CHONGKITTAVORN 

      The Nation