Anand: Focus on tackling poverty

Anand said that he believed both sides would agree that poverty was the root cause of the country's social ills. Tackling the problem would provide a common ground and make it easier for discussion on other issues that they may not see eye to eye on at this time, he said.

"Don't be obsessed with the issues you can't agree to now. Just talk about the issue you can agree to first," he said during a special programme titled "Exit for Thailand" on Modernine TV last night.

He said reforms of other areas should be done but the focus should be on tackling the problem of poverty.

Describing poverty as "Thailand's largest enemy", Anand pointed out that there are three kinds of poverty that need to be tackled: poor from a lack of money, poor from a lack of opportunity, and poor from a lack of rights.

He said that at least 10 million out of a total population of 65 million are living under the poverty line. Many of them lack decent food, medical treatment and education opportunities. Also, there are people who have no access to justice and legal fairness.

The ex-premier said the ongoing conflict is a battle for political benefit that also involves certain individuals, which makes it more difficult to solve.

He called on the feuding sides to find common ground by trying to reduce poverty in order to pave the way for social reconciliation.

For him, good education could help reduce poverty. In addition to free compulsory education, he said, improvements are needed in the quality of teachers, the curricula, and teachers' incomes.

Anand said that when it comes to democracy, many appear to focus on format rather than essence. He said elections and the constitution were just part of democracy and that to become a democratic country, people have to possess a democratic mind.

What Thailand lacks is "democratic infrastructure", such as an independent and free media, which he compares to pillars of a house. "You pay no attention to the pillars. You just look at the bedroom and the toilet," he said, referring to the need for democratic infrastructure.

The former premier said that social and political conflicts are common in any society, and there are often issues for debate even in mature democratic countries. However, such conflicts should lead to healthy arguments rather than physical assault.

Anand served as unelected prime minister twice during the tumultuous early 1990s - first after the coup of February 1991 and again after the bloody May incident of 1992.