Keeping mouths shut

re: "'The Great Dictator' blocked on 'democracy day'" (BP, June 24)

Dear editor,
Thai historian Thongchai Winitchakul is correct when he says that "The revolution of 1932 is not yet finished" (quoted in Bangkok Post, "'The Great Dictator' blocked on 'democracy day'", June 24). An obvious reason for this is the antipathy some feel towards the values that found democracy, which antipathy leads them to repeatedly make up excuses, however lame and false, to tramp democratic evolution into the dirt. Also worth remembering, as the quotation from Sulak Sivaraksa reminds us, is that those making up their wrong excuses for opposing the Thai nation's democratic growth "truly believe they are good people."

But the excuses given cannot justify a coup. Sincere belief cannot make that belief true. The Earth did not move to the centre of the universe because popes and bishops sincerely believed it to be there in accord with Biblical teaching. Nor does a coup become necessary or morally right because those committing it truly believe themselves to be doing something morally right or necessary. It remains wrong and an assault against good morals. These basics from elementary critical thinking explain the desperate need to censor, to suppress free and open discussion, which has characterized Thai society and politics for decades, but even more intensely since May 2014.

There is only ever one primary reason for censorship. Censorship is always, without exception, imposed to enforce ignorance, to prevent a sound knowledge and informed understanding of the topic being censored. This is why the devout Christian popes and bishops made it heresy to question the traditional Geo-centric universe. This is why China makes it a criminal offence for Chinese citizens to learn about Tian An Men. This is why North Korea makes it illegal for citizens to access foreign sources. The intent is to protect false myths, perhaps sincerely believed by the censors (perhaps!) from the revealing light that would expose their nakedness, their falsity, their downright silliness.

The truly bizarre result of the censorship imposed on the captive Thai audience is that foreigners can and often do better know and understand Thai affairs than is legally possible for domestic Thais who must rely on the local media, whose stunning silence last week amply proved yet again that Thais are not permitted to know about, let alone understand or discuss, matters of national importance. The only Thais who can reasonably claim to have a sound understanding of their nation, its society, its history and its government are those who have sought out and considered the views of academics and others held in disdain by the censors, if not actually forced into unjust exile or imprisoned, whether to rebut or concur with those criminalized opinions that are censored to protect the subject domestic citizenry from opinions of solid worth on Thai affairs.

Among other reasons, it is because it values truth, truth seeking and honesty that democracy values free speech. Censorship is beloved of those with contrary values.

 Felix Qui

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The above letter to the editor is the text as submitted by Felix Qui to the Bangkok Post.

The text as edited was published in PostBag on June 26, 2017, under the title "Keeping mouths shut" at https://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/postbag/1275615/keeping-mouths-shut
  

Trust the don

re: "Prayut dares critics in exile to face music" (BP, June 22)

Dear editor,
Don Corleone could not be a more "reasonable" man as he insists (he probably even believes his own insistences) that he is a good man, a devout follower of religion, a loving father and a patriot serving society: his offers cannot be refused.

 Felix Qui

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The above letter to the editor is the text as submitted by Felix Qui to the Bangkok Post.

The text as edited was published in PostBag on June 23, 2017, under the title "Trust the don" at https://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/postbag/1274055/queries-for-the-pm
  

PM plays Lamyai game

re: "Lamyai vows more appropriate 'twerks'" (BP, June 14)

Dear editor,
Happiness is not returning as the PM again exposes himself.

Is the performer Lamyai sexually provocative? Of course she is. Much dance in every culture always has been: a primary purpose of dance is, after all, about getting partners for … sex. The solution is incredibly simple: if the PM does not like what obviously appeals to many, he is perfectly free (at least he would be in a democracy) not to look at the performances. He doesn't even need to invoke the awe-full s44 to protect a sensitive conservatism rooted in the bad old ways of the mythic past.

Lamyai's lusty dance movements might not be appropriate in parliament, but then, neither are military movements.

 Felix Qui

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The above letter to the editor is the text as submitted by Felix Qui to the Bangkok Post.

The text as edited was published in PostBag on June 17, 2017, under the title "PM plays Lamyai game" at https://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/postbag/1270275/fiery-lessons-not-learnt
  

Tempting dishonesty

re: "Factors affecting the decision to act dishonestly" (BP, June 14)

Dear editor,
The results of the research done by the Thailand Development Research Institute (TDRI) confirm what behavioural economics has known for some years: most people, including people who think themselves honest, are in fact easily tempted to dishonesty, but only a little bit. The initial research is perhaps most famously presented in the paper "The Dishonesty of Honest People: A Theory of Self-Concept Maintenance" by Nina Mazir, On Amir and Dan Ariely (2008, Journal of Marketing Research, XLV, 633 - 644). In fact, the TDRI's failure to cite this source sounds suspiciously like an instance of exactly the same sort of dishonesty of basically honest people: the failure to credit a source is plagiarism, a serious crime in academic work.

But academic quibbles aside, the TDRI's research is, nonetheless, a valuable contribution to our understanding of human behaviour, especially as it showss that Thailand is not exceptional. It is safe to assume that all people are prone to dishonesty, that is, corruption, unless the situation they are in is fully transparent and they are accountable. This is why it is no surprise that opaque military governments and other dictatorships are historically far more corrupt and dishonest than even the worst civilian governments in a democracy. As this study by the TDRI confirms, there is no evidence that Thailand is an historical aberration in this regard, nor is there any reason to think that the current set of unaccountable and opaque politicians, already self-amnestied, is an exception to the human norm: the last time I checked, every single one of the ruling Thai politicians were human beings.

 Felix Qui

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The above letter to the editor is the text as submitted by Felix Qui to the Bangkok Post.

The text as edited was published in PostBag on June 16, 2017, under the title "Tempting dishonesty" at https://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/postbag/1269559/cut-the-car-tax
  

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Reference

• Mazar, N., Amir, O. & Ariely, D. (2008). The Dishonesty of Honest People: A Theory of Self-Concept Maintenance. Journal of Marketing Research, XLV, 633 - 644. https://doi.org/10.1509/jmkr.45.6.633

Moral 'decency'

re: "Social science cut from two Onet exams from next year" (BP, June 6)

Dear editor,
Whilst commending the general aim of reducing a student workload that is of dubious value to a sound education, there are some disturbing notions in the article "Social science cut from two Onet exams from next year" that sound too much like business as usual.

 For example, we see, yet again, senior officials who think themselves ever so clever pontificating about moral decency without a shred of supporting reasoning. We should be told, for example, how the speaker and the teachers under his command "know if students have a correct understanding of moral conduct and good conscience." For example, it they support military coups does that count against the assessment of the students moral decency, as it should in a democracy? If a student praises the moral bravery of Thailand's Gwangju Prize for Human Rights award winner Jatupat Boonpattararaksa, do they get the deserved bonus points for moral awareness conducive to truly patriotic citizenship? And then there are more immediately challenging questions: for example, is it morally right to criminalize a less harmful drug such as yaa baa when the more socially harmful drug alcohol is legal? Is abortion on demand morally right or wrong? Premarital sex? None of these questions, along with many others, have simple answers; to pretend that they do have simple answers demonstrates a simple-minded failure to understand the moral issues involved.

 Before being allowed to indulge their fondness for such talk, perhaps senior Ministry of Education officials could be required to sit a series of exams where they write essays analyzing moral concepts and issues, which essays are expected to display both solid awareness of the history of human societies in addition to sound critical thinking skills on the moral questions posed. It should be needless to point out that the officials must actually write their own essays.

 However, it being contrary to the good morals that found democracy, elected politicians, even those appointed ministers, cannot be so required to demonstrate any such competence as public servants, but citizens and journalists can very reasonably press ministers who want to indulge in such pious talk to explain what they mean by "good morals," in particular what it is that determines whether an act, a law, a custom, a tradition, or an idea does in fact comport with good morals. Too many politicians get away with far too much such talk about "good morals" that is in fact bad morals and poor critical thinking on any of the usual standards of moral judgement, whether consequentialist, rights based, or virtue centred.

 Felix Qui

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The above letter to the editor is the text as submitted by Felix Qui to the Bangkok Post.

The text as edited was published in PostBag on June 8, 2017, under the title "Moral 'decency'" at https://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/postbag/1264723/moral-decency
  

PDRC protesters deluded

re: "Eight PDRC backers rejoin Democrats" (BP, May 31)

re: "Eight PDRC backers rejoin Democrats" (BP, May 31).

Dear editor,
It is no surprise that the "Hilariously Misnamed" (Time, November 28, 2013) Democrat Party would eagerly take back the eight who defected to more actively collude with the anti-democratic PDRC mobs led by Suthep. Under Abhisit's passively feeble "leadership" seeking to win power by any means, the Democrat Party even sank to colluding with the PDRC  and their other allies against democracy to thwart the election called in February 2014 to allow the Thai people to voice their preference as to how they wanted to be governed.

Democracy evolves by making mistakes and learning from them. No one would be so childish as to think that any democracy anywhere at any time has ever been perfect, but remains morally superior to every alternative. There has often been massive corruption in UK and US politics, but that never justified a coup. There have often been appallingly bad economic decisions made by democratically elected governments everywhere: they never justified a coup against the people. Nations have often been beset by civil disorder, which disorder does not justify a coup against the highest law in those nations. Thailand is no different. Sadly, the Thai people have been repeatedly denied the opportunity to learn from mistakes that help a society evolve as a healthy democracy must. Just when it looked as though progress was being made, when Yingluck's Pheu Thai gave up on their sleazy amnesty bill and then called an election, the rule of law and the good morals that found democracy were again trampled underfoot by those opposed to democracy.

Protests are a healthy element of a democratic and just society, but the PDRC was never sincere in its protests. If they were, they would have stopped after the amnesty bill was halted in response to the outraged voice of protest from the Thai people. The PDRC did no such thing, but continued to push blatantly for a coup to force their selfish agenda on the Thai people.  Let us hope that the gullible PDRC mobs who supported Suthep's immoral agenda against Thailand have learned from their mistakes, that they will not next time so easily be deluded by false excuses, by false promises, and by false ideals.

 Felix Qui

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The above letter to the editor is the text as submitted by Felix Qui to the Bangkok Post.

The text as edited was published in PostBag on June 4, 2017, under the title "PDRC protesters deluded" at https://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/postbag/1262219/troubled-waters

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Reference

• Campbell, C. (2013, November 8). Thailand’s Democrat Party Is Hilariously Misnamed. Time. Retrieved from http://world.time.com/2013/11/28/thailands-democrat-party-is-hilariously-misnamed/

A 'covfefe' question

re: "Trump hates bad press covfefe. What?" (BP, June 1)

re: "Trump hates bad press covfefe. What?" (BP, June 1).

Dear editor,
But does the US's elected and accountable Trump despise "the constant negative press covfefe" as sincerely as Thailand's unelected and self-amnestied PM of many questions?

 Felix Qui

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The above letter to the editor is the text as submitted by Felix Qui to the Bangkok Post.

The text as edited was published in PostBag on June 3, 2017, under the title "A 'covfefe' question" at https://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/postbag/1261787/army-wins-thais-lose