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Published on July 30, 2007

The Thai government should welcome this goodwill gesture enthusiastically. Having a high-powered EU delegation here would fast-track a return of confidence in the country, and much-needed recognition of Thailand's democratisation in the broader international community. It is by far the most effective way to demonstrate to the EU what has transpired since the coup almost a year ago. In addition, it will be the best ammunition to counter the global campaign being waged against the current government by deposed prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

Unfortunately, strongly divergent views persist among key Thai ministries and agencies over whether the EU proposal should be responded to positively. The Election Commission (EC) has welcomed the idea as it would create the atmosphere conducive to a free and fair election. After all, as an independent organisation, the EC has the authority to invite foreign poll observers to Thailand. The EC invited the EU to send a monitoring team to observe the polls last year, but the EU faced budgetary constraints, and in any case the planned October election was aborted.

Now the EU is ready to send observers, according to Dr Friedrich Hamburger, head of the EU delegation in Thailand, last week. He handed a letter from EU President Jose Manuel Barroso to Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont acknowledging the progress on democracy in Thailand since September 2006 regarding the national referendum on the new constitution and the year-end general elections. Barroso also stressed the importance of Thai-EU friendship and the importance of Thailand's return to political normalcy. Bangkok plays a key role in the region, both in Asean and the Asia-Europe Meeting, which further strengthens Thai-EU relations.

Thailand must accept this overture wholeheartedly. The EU presence will certainly boost the EC's commitment to remain non partisan. The EC members want to adhere to international and regional standards of democratic election. Certainly, having an EU poll-monitoring team on the ground would give credibility to the elections as the polls would be monitored by some of the most experienced and trained electoral experts.

One should not expect an incident-free election. Indeed, both Thai and EU officials must be prepared for reports of ballot-box stuffing, alteration of official result forms, stealing of sensitive polling materials, vote buying, underage voting, as well as other new cheating techniques. Obviously, the pro-Thaksin or anti-coup groups could have a field day in trying to embarrass the Council for National Security and the government by highlighting, or in certain cases manufacturing, such news.

Obviously the EU monitoring team will understand the electoral processes practised around the world and what can go wrong in an election. The EU observers' attitude towards the election in Aceh is a good barometer of its sensible approach and understanding of a free and fair election. Thailand has nothing to fear or hide. The notion held by some senior Thai officials that EU election observers are sent only to failed states is utter nonsense. Developed and developing countries, including the US and Mexico, have hosted EU poll-monitoring teams.

At this juncture, the Foreign Ministry is cautious about the EU offer. Senior Saranrom Palace officials still have stereotyped views of Europe and European bias and prejudice against Thailand. They fear that the EU's final verdict on the election might affect Thailand's image and democratic development. It is understandable why the ministry holds such a perception. After the coup, it was the EU that strongly condemned the country and demanded that the military return to the barracks and "give way to the democratically elected political government". The ministry considered the first two statements on September 20 and 28 last year as "overreaction". Since then, visiting EU delegations have expressed appreciation, both as a group and individually, of the progress on the timeframe for a return to democracy.

Ever since the coup the EU has been quite frank and critical of Thailand. The coup came as a shock to most of the EU nations, especially leading members such as Germany, France, the United Kingdom and the Scandinavian countries, all of which have huge investments and economic stakes in Thailand. That explains why EU statements on political developments in Thailand are often strong.

Indeed, the Thai people should be thankful to the EU for paying such close attention to the process of political reform. As it turns out, it has had the effect of showing the powers-that-be in Thailand that the international community is watching over us. Local pressure still is pivotal to ensure that the current leaders do not reel back democratic values. Just imagine the state of mind of the Thai leaders without the domestic outcry coupled with strong criticism from the EU and the international community. They could easily morph into a Soviet-style "nomenklatura" resulting in a strong dictatorship.

It is interesting to note that after the coup, Thailand and its current leaders have had to face direct day-to-day scrutiny from the international community as never before. Almost every day, the Council for National Security and the Surayud government have been subjected to ridicule in the foreign media. Adding salt to their wounds, deposed premier Thaksin has also jumped on the criticism bandwagon with a most effective global campaign to drum up an international chorus of condemnation. So far, the Thai responses have been predictable and mostly full of mediocrity, raising fears that Thailand might end up as a controlled society that oppresses freedom of expression.

 Kavi Chongkittavorn