Terrifying the selfish

re: "Govt critics face speech curbs" (Editorial, September 8)

Dear editor,

The rejection of respect for the basic human rights of Thai citizens, as written into the latest permanent constitution, is working as intended to thwart free speech. There are three reasons why free speech is truly foundational for every good society.

First, logical reason requires it, which is why dictators hate critical thinking, under which they must lose any reasoned debate that is rationally consistent. Second, informed opinion of worth requires it since what cannot be freely discussed can be neither understood nor known, a truth that is blatant in the traditional enforcement of Thai ignorance under law made up to prevent Thais understanding Thai affairs. Finally, every morally good form of government requires free speech, not only to discover and thus counter corruption and other evils otherwise nurtured in the dark places, but to respect the equal rights of all citizens, who are each entitled to an equal voice in forming both their government and the evolution of their society.

It is in good part because Future Forward has shown the moral and intellectual courage to respect the right to free speech, especially of those with whom they disagree, that they have rightly won both the hearts and the minds of the younger, the better educated and the more patriotic Thai citizens. Naturally, this terrifies those profiting selfishly from the bad old ways of the past, who resort to unreason, to forced ignorance and to repressive law to protect their richly rewarding bad from the good future to which patriotic Thai citizens would move their nation forward as it deserves.

 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 September 9, 2019, under the title "Terrifying the selfish" at https://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/postbag/1745774/terrifying-the-selfish