re: "Defending the indefensible?" (BP, Editorial, December 4, 2019)
Dear editor,
The Thai military sometimes seems to forget that it is the paid servant of the Thai nation, that is, of the Thai people. As the owners who pay for it, the Thai people have every right to not only determine the makeup and functions of their nation's defence forces, but also to know that their money is being spent to serve genuine defence needs as determined by the nation.
As the people's loyal servant, it is the patriotic duty of the armed forces to serve and protect the nation, which requires not only that the military uphold and honour the supreme rule of civil law as determined by the Thai people, but that they also be open to whatever inspection the people deem appropriate. No one doubts that there are genuine matters of national security that should be kept confidential, but it is for the nation, through their civil representatives in parliament under Thailand's democratic form of government with a constitutional monarchy, to dictate the appropriate level of transparency.
As Section 3 of the latest permanent constitution of Thailand explicitly says, "Sovereign power belongs to the Thai people."
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 December 5, 2019, under the title "Transparency vital" at https://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/postbag/1808964/patriot-games
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