Conflict
to intensify, say NGOs
Govt
stance pouring fuel on the flames
Post
reporters, Bangkok Post Dec 26, 2002
Non-governmental
organisations say they are on a collision course with the
prime
minister and the government is in for long and intensifying battles
next
year.
Acrimony
came to the boil over the weekend after harsh police action put an
end
to a rally in Hat Yai by opponents of the Thai-Malaysian gas pipeline.
NGOs
accused the government of using excessive force against the protesters.
The
various branches of NGOs banded together to demand the government be
brought
to account. They plan a signature campaign to oust Prime Minister
Thaksin
Shinawatra and a petition to the Senate for an inquiry into the
weekend
melee.
Leading
NGOs predicted yesterday the force-before-peace stand taken by the
government
would fuel the fire rather than douse it.
Mr
Thaksin disagreed, standing by his principle of upholding
``righteousness''.
Some rotten eggs among the NGO members had given the
whole
network a bad name, he said.
The
organisations should play by the rules of democracy and let the people
be
the judge of his actions, Mr Thaksin said. If the majority disapproved of
his
approach to dealing with the problem, he would be defeated in the next
general
election.
``I'll
do my best for now. If what I do serves the interest of only a
handful,
then I won't get back in,'' he said.
Some
academics-turned-NGO activists refused to reform their thinking to keep
abreast
with the changing world. He could not care less about the
solidifying
opposition from the NGOs.
Mr
Thaksin claimed the protesters had provoked the Hat Yai clash, that
accounts
of what happened had been distorted by the media. He was told some
woman
activists had even torn off their own shirts to make it look as though
they
had been attacked by police.
Bamrung
Kayotha, core leader of the northeastern farmers, yesterday slammed
Mr
Thaksin for being short-sighted in attempting to ``divide and rule''
farmers
in order to sabotage civic movements.
The
government believed that segregating the NGOs would make it easier to
lead
farmers around by the nose. The opposite was true.
NGOs
had a constructive role in helping to direct and advise the movements
and
deserved credit for their efforts. Unfortunately, the prime minister
always
painted the NGOs as wayward elements wreaking havoc.
This
view would only catalyse more aggressive street protests next year as
the
government was isolating the NGOs from the needy.
People
would also be more vocal in their demand for protection of their
rights
and freedom.
Farmer-related
problems were snowballing and would increase in intensity.
For
example, the debt moratorium policy would see borrowers, who were mostly
farmers
and the poor, rallying when their debts were due. Some had
squandered
the loans and were unable to repay. They would come out demanding
a
solution to the problem.
Nothing
was being done to stamp out corruption engineered by government
insiders
that riddled farmer assistance programmes, Mr Bamrung said.
Mr
Thaksin was wrong to take comfort in thinking he had total administrative
power.
He
listened only to his advisers, his circles of businessmen feeding on
state
contracts. ``Mr Thaksin must change his stand before the problems get
out
of hand,'' he said.
Banchorn
Kaewsong, academic adviser to northeastern civic groups, said the
government
was slinging mud at NGOs to justify weakening them. The country
was
not Shin Corp. Mr Thaksin could not manage it whichever way he desired.
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