On 6 July 2010, during his official visit to the Federal Republic of Germany, Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya gave an address on “Post-Crisis Thailand and the Way Forward” at the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP) in Berlin.
In explaining the background behind the current political problems in Thailand, the Foreign Minister recounted the controversy behind former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra who was beset with allegations of abuse of power, corruption and increasingly autocratic behaviour. After his dismissal following the 2006 military intervention, the former prime minister was found guilty of conflict of interest by the Supreme Court and given a two-year jail sentence. During that time, the former prime minister fled Thailand to avoid serving his sentence.
As for recent protests, the “Red Shirts” who support the former prime minister had sought to use extra-constitutional means to force the Government to dissolve the House of Representatives and hold early elections, believing that their side could return to office and then work for the return and amnesty of the former prime minister. The current political conflict was therefore one between those supporting “illiberal democracy” who want Thailand to become a one-party state, versus those supporting “liberal democracy” who want Thailand to remain a multi-party parliamentary system. Though the protests had turned violent given the armed elements among them, they did not succeed as people did not support the concept of republicanism espoused and wanted the conflict resolved through dialogue and consensus building in line with the Prime Minister’s five-point reconciliation plan.
In this connection, much progress has already been achieved in accordance with the said reconciliation plan. Several reform committees have been established to address the issues of economic and social disparities, of how to ensure that the media works constructively as well as the issue of constitutional amendments. Additionally, an independent fact-finding commission has been established to ascertain the facts behind the many deaths and injuries that occurred. The Foreign Minister believed that these committees should be able to propose recommendations by the end of 2010, leading to a national referendum on constitutional amendments early next year and new elections and a new government by next spring.
During the afternoon of the same day, Foreign Minister Kasit also met with leading German political foundations or stiftungs, namely, the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, the Heinrich B?ll Stiftung, the Friedrich-Ebert Stiftung, the Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik and the Friedrich-Naumann Stiftung. The Foreign Minister thanked the political foundations for the assistance and cooperation rendered to Thailand in the past in promoting democracy as well as on such issues as decentralisation, local elections and the creation of independent organs. While Thailand has graduated from receiving traditional overseas developmental assistance from Germany, the Kingdom would still like to learn from Germany’s experience and best practices on how to strengthen democratic institutions as well as on issues such as good governance and political party funding. Another important issue was that of democracy education as democracy is not only what happens on election day, but also about issues of checks and balance, transparency, governance and moral and ethical values, all of which are essential for a multi-party democracy. On their part, the political foundations expressed support for Thailand’s democratisation process and stood ready to continue working with the Kingdom to promote liberal, multi-party democracy both within Thailand as well as regionally within the ASEAN context.
For further information, please contact the Press Division, Department of Information, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Tel.02-6435170, Fax.02-6435169, E-mail: div0704@mfa.go.th