Bowornsak Uwanno, former cabinet secretary under Thaksin and former dean of Chulalongkorn University's Faculty of Law, said if the Upper House is elected, rural voters - who constitute the majority of the electorate - would select only politicians, leaving no space for bureaucrats and the military.

"Elections under the Thai democratic system are an exchange process informed by the patronage culture.

"The rural poor vote to repay the patronage they receive," said Bowornsak, during Chulalongkorn University's Law Faculty annual dinner on Tuesday night.

"We cannot allow the patronage culture to remain the way it is, but it cannot be changed without altering the production mode.

"Only when people have enough to eat can we inculcate people with democratic culture," he said.

"An elected Upper House would lead towards double representation of the rural poor while maintaining the party list system would enable the middle class to enter parliament," he said.

 If bureaucrats or the middle class feel left out of politics they will revolt - or tear up yet another constitution, he said.

Unlike in the West, Bowornsak said the Thai middle class sometimes resorts to undemocratic means to maintain its interest, such as during the events leading up to the September 19 coup and their support for the coup makers afterward.

"As long as the middle class has another option to protect their rights the middle class will accept coups.

"To them, democracy is but a means to an end and so they will accept whichever method for their own good - even if it's undemocratic," he said.

Bowornsak, who is now a member of the junta-appointed National Legislative Assembly (NLA) and secretary of the King Prajadhipok Institute, cited the institute's recent survey which revealed that two-thirds of the middle class people questioned said they prefer economic well-being to democracy.

However, he criticised charter drafters for trying to re-design the constitution to make future governments weak.

"They intended it to be so - but this is not right."

He also warned drafters not to give too many rights to ordinary people, claiming homeless beggars could sue future governments if they fail to provide them with shelter.

 "Where will we get the money from, if not from the middle class?"

Putting too much state policy into the charter would also make it impossible for future administrations to come up with their own policy, said Bowornsak, who was a charter drafter for the 1997 constitution.

"What right do they have to determine the future of posterity? It will make future governments' work difficult."

Bowornsak also criticised the limiting of the prime minister's term to two years instead of four as this was against the notion of the rule of the people.

"Are they trying to tell the people that their view is more important than that of the people's?"

He urged drafters to look at the Swedish constitution and learn how it contains the extreme abuse of both state and private ownership of the mass media.

Bowornsak said he supported total deregulation of all Thai industries to make the economy more competitive, while maintaining a level of welfare and sufficiency policy for the rural and urban poor.

Pravit Rojanaphruk

The Nation