Rip dividing Thai society needs to be sewn up

The next government should do its best to glue the nasty split that has brought Thailand to its knees. Are Thais, especially those from the Northeast, so materialistic that all they care about is how much money is thrown into their backyards? This was recently suggested by former MP Newin Chidchod.

With a sizeable chunk of his MPs switching their allegiance to the Democrat Party, one can only wait until the next general election to see if Isaan voters are as gullible as Newin has suggested.

Analysts, both veteran and half-baked, have tried to conceptualise this predicament Thailand has found itself in. Old-fashioned understanding doesn't work anymore. After all, both pro- and anti-Thaksin camps have in them leftist activists and the right-wing elite, who just decades ago were fiercely pitted against one another.

Thaksin himself was a "good buddy" of media tycoon Sondhi Limthongkul until their personal disputes spilled onto the public forum and eventually manifested into a massive movement that was used to remove the former PM and his proxies from Thai politics at all costs - and by any means necessary.

The showdown peaked with the week-long seizure of Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport, costing the country billions in lost export and tourism revenue.

The People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) retreated after the Constitution Court dissolved the ruling People Power Party on December 2 on charges of election fraud. However, the fanatical opposition against Thaksin's return still remains strong.

To say that the PAD is opposed to Thaksin because he is grossly corrupt would be misleading. After all, there are enough irregularities and ills in Thai society that the yellow shirts could take up instead of wasting all their energy on one greedy individual. This raises the question if PAD's all-or-nothing agenda against Thaksin is personal or ideological.

Regardless of motives, Thailand found itself on the brink of a bloodbath. We permitted differences of opinion about the democratic process to get the better of us.

Now, how do we turn the page and go from here? Will a Democrat Party-led coalition help matters or will the political deadlock continue? Giving the Democrats a chance is not such a bad idea considering that the last two administrations - made up of the same group of elected MPs - could do little to help the country move forward. Besides, ground rules permit our elected representatives to switch sides and form alliances. The private sector has said that having Democrats at the helm would be good for business.

But to suggest that things other than economics would go downhill is misleading. It has been suggested that the Democrat Party is too out of touch with the grass-roots level, but it's not impossible for the party to change this perception.

Regardless of who forms the next government, the issue of inequality must be placed on top of the agenda. It will not be smooth sailing, because with any controversial policy, hearts will be broken. Like it or not, Thailand is one of most unequal societies in the world, and the government should be committed to bridging the divide that has fuelled this crisis, pitting neighbours against neighbours and region against region.

In a way, Newin was right in suggesting that people at the bottom of the rung have been neglected. But a sound policy aimed at bridging the income gap shouldn't translate into Thaksin-style spending sprees that did nothing to build capacity or productivity.

After all, mobile phones and motorbikes purchased with money from Thaksin's Bt1-million-per-village scheme should not qualify as investments, although one cannot ignore the fact that it were these very policies that won him votes. Thais love money that comes cheap, even though they may not have much fiscal discipline.

It is very tempting for any government, especially one confronted with all kinds of crises, to throw down table scraps in the name of grass-roots development just so they can secure some political points. Thailand is no banana republic and the next government should remember that.