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Published on March 5, 2008

Samak's move paid off as his idea received blessings from Matichon and Thai Rath newspapers. What a consolation for the premier, whose relationship with the media has been less than friendly lately.

Matichon's columnist Suchat Srisuwan praised Samak's courage. In his column titled "Samak's courage", Suchat said, "The more I look at Samak's performance, the more I appreciate the new prime minister's courage to do what he thinks is right."

Samak said in his weekend TV programme that he planned to revive the two- and-three digit lotteries. This despite the fact that some quarters of society including the monks came out to attack the proposed legalisation of this sinful vice.

Suchat used his column on the second page of Matichon to urge society to accept the fact that gambling is part of our life. He said, "Every research shows that more than half of the public support the idea of the lotteries issued by the government." 

Besides, "The government reasoned that the legalised lotteries will bring around Bt500 billion, which is currently circulated in the underground lottery, back to the system, so that part of this money will be used to benefit society - such as for students' scholarships and to eliminate the influence of the local mafia."

"But the more important reason is the desire of people who want to play the lottery without having to violate the law," he said. Suchat ended his column with a question about whether Samak would have the courage to push through the ticket-dispensing lottery machine, widely known as the on-line lottery, as well. This is a long-standing project that previous governments didn't have the courage to decide upon.

Samak also earned kudos from Thai Rath in its editorial piece. It said in the article "Reorganise it right", that society should admit the fact that although this kind of gambling activity is illegal, there are quite a number of Thais addicted to the habit. In fact, lotteries are considered the more acceptable kind of vice, compared to, say, prostitution.

"A number of people buy lottery tickets to try their luck or just for fun. Thus, we should reorganise the lottery to make it right," the paper said.

The two- and three-digit lottery is part of the populist policies of the Thaksin government but they were suspended during Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont's term due to the question of how to use the revenue collected from the lotteries.

At present, the draft of the two- and three-digit lottery act is under the consideration of the Constitution Court, said the paper.

However, Kom Chad Luek's columnist, Sarayuth Saikhammee urged the government to think carefully before making the decision to revive the idea of the two- and three-digit lotteries. The columnist didn't debate the merit of lotteries as much as he questioned why Samak said blatantly during the same programme that, "I support legal gambling".

The columnist cited moral grounds, urging the government to consider the impact of this statement, especially when Samak said that the gambling habit runs through Thai blood. The columnist said such an idea runs against the concept of sufficiency lifestyle. "The guideline stirs the appetite for excessive conception. Thai society will increasingly value materialism but lack the strength to face the problem. And it will no longer be able to separate what is good and bad.

 

ROSSANA FOR THE PUBLIC

Thai Post's editorial leader said Rossana's victory in the Bangkok senatorial race reflected the voters' desire to see an effective check-and-balance system. Thai Post said the fact that Rossana collected more than 740,000 votes showed that the voters didn't merely expect her to serve only the Bangkok constituency. Rather, she won out of the expectation that she would serve as the voters' nominee.

The article cited a call-in audience to a Channel 5 morning news talkshow programme in which a caller said Rossana won an overwhelming majority largely because of the low turnout from the "other side", because the other side didn't bother to exercise its vote as it had already got its government.

The article said this means that the people who voted for Rossana want to see her as their nominee to scrutinise the government. Rossana was widely seen as opposing the Thaksin regime, the paper said.

 

Compiled by Jeerawat Na Thalang

The Nation