Enforcing the law equally would create a better image

As part of a Bt116 billion stimu-lus package, the Foreign Ministry was assigned as the main force to present a good image of Thailand to the international community.

The goal is to rebuild confidence among tourists and investors in Thailand and ultimately have them put money back into the country.

The foreign ministry would mobilise resources from agencies including the Commerce Ministry, Finance Ministry, Tourism Authority of Thailand and the Board of Investment to do the job.

An urgent feature of the plan is to restore Thailand's image in the major high purchasing power mar-kets including China, Japan, Russia and the United Arab Emirates, according to spokesman Tharit Charungvat.

The first act is to stage a series of road shows in targeted markets and launch an advertising cam-paign to promote tourism and investment in Thailand.

However, judging by what the spokesman told reporters at the ministry on Tuesday, it seems the government does not have a clear idea of how the country should be seen from a foreign perspective, not to mention what kind of image the country should project.

Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya has instructed its embassies and consulates to survey opinions and perceptions of foreigners toward Thailand. The minister hoped information would help his team find a starting point on how to best restore confidence in Thailand, spokesman Tharit said.

Thailand used to have a good reputation in many aspects until the military coup in 2006. Politically and economically speaking, the country was regard-ed as a free and democratic nation with a certain degree of stability and rule of law. It could provide a good environment for doing business and tourism.

Members of the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) and Minister Kasit may argue that it was former premier Thaksin Shinawatra who began to destroy Thailand's good image due to corruption, conflict of interest and abuse of power during his tenure. Unfortunately, such blame cannot be justified as long as elements of Thaksin's regime remain in the government. Who can guarantee how many politicians backing Abhisit Vejjajiva's Cabinet are free from corruption?

Moreover, attempts to correct Thaksin's mistakes brought dire repercussions for Thailand with street protests, the coup and more protests causing chaos.

Changing government in an undemocratic way reflected failure in the parliamentary system. Using judicial activists to rule many cases against the former prime minister and dissolve politi-cal parties raised doubts about Thailand's adherence to the rule of law and the strength of political institutions.

A military-installed government, and two elected administrations last year not only failed to get the country back on track, but in many cases caused more damage to the system as they used all mechanisms to fight each other. Thais have shown the internation-al community they are prepared to exploit all means, even at the expense of the national interest, to defeat their opponents. The idea of seizing airports to bring a gov-ernment down is unacceptable to the international community.

The minister might not, but officials at the foreign ministry have already realised that misinterpretation, if not abuse, of Clause 190 in the Constitution for political purposes caused much trouble and posed serious damage to Thailand's international standing. The Preah Vihear case and unnecessary conflict with Cambodia proved something was wrong with the legal system of this country.

Consistency and accuracy of the system are basic requirements for international confidence. Spending money on road shows or expensive ads in international media cannot sustain confidence as long as authorities interpret and enforce the law with many standards and different practices.

Before paying a single baht of tax money to "fix" the country's image, the government should show our system works by trying to enforce the law equally to all. If those who violate laws are rewarded by offered positions in the government, it would mean our (moral) system is still malfunctioning.