Faulty logic

re: "Pheu Thai is taking 'no sides'"(BP, August 10) and "Pheu Thai move splits UDD groups" (BP, August 10)

Dear editor,

The shiny new coalition that Pheu Thai is forming with Bhumjai Thai and others inevitably raises questions. First, who will backstab whom first? Will Pheu Thai do its new best mates forever, or will one of them decide it can cut a better deal? Naturally, this will all be for the stability of the nation to better respect the will of the voters, who mistakenly thought that they wanted an end to such traditional ways. 

It is not, after all, as if anyone in the latest freshly cemented new coalition is Move Forward, who have since May 14 continued, as expected, to prove themselves principled, honourable, trustworthy and possessed of backbone.  

The second question, perhaps the more amazing in Pheu Thai's opaque logic, concerns the claim by deputy Pheu Thai leader Phumtham Wechayachai that "There's only one issue, the lese majeste law, that will be left untouched." The problem is that this is perhaps already contradicted by his excuse for the new coalition that "The best way is to set up a government to tackle the problems and materialize the people's will." The percentages, both known and unknown, must, however, bear bear on claims regarding "the people's will." 

Back on May 14, it is plausible that only 38% (not quite a majority) of Thais might have wanted  the lese majeste law reformed in accord with the modest proposals of Move Forward to protect the institution from the persistent abuse enabled by that law in its current form. In the shenanigans since then, the truly obstructionist nature of section 112 of the Criminal Code has been publicly exposed by the senate and other bodies, who put it front and centre under a spot light as their excuse for rejecting "the people's will." 

The planned protests by United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) group in the north, once upon a time a Shinawatra stronghold, "in a symbolic move against Pheu Thai's political U-turn," give weight to the suspicion that that initial 38% who had favoured Move Forward and its flagship policies might well have grown today to well over 50%. The fact is that unless I've missed a pertinent poll or two done over recent weeks, no one knows, or could know, otherwise.  

 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 August 14, 2023, under the title "Faulty logic" at https://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/postbag/2628906/leaping-ahead