A Long Way to Go

One thing I have to accept: there is a very long way to go before Thailand can be fully democratic.

Most Thais are uneducated and poor. The first concern in their lives is earning enough to support themselves and their families. Democracy is never their main concerns, and fighting graft is far from their worries. With this fact, vote buying will definitely be here to stay.

The lack of morality may be the roots of all evils. Claiming to be Buddhists, they hardly observe even the most basic of the Lord Buddha's teachings. And so, corruption and bribery, promiscuity and spouse cheating, drinking, wife battering, rapes and sexual abuses of children and women, the spread of HIV, and senseless and merciless killings will likely go on.

Laws are always abused and are merely jokes. There are double standards for everything--one applies only to the rich, famous, and powerful; the other is for everyone else. And as long as law enforcement officers still sell themselves to money, this, too, will go on forever.

The lack of historical hardships may have contributed to the Thais' care-free attitudes. This fact makes them lazy and leads to the lack of ambition. My parents are one perfect example. Highly educated but too easy-going and hardly ambitious, they were not as successful as they could have been.

Thais are so peace-loving and easy-going, some time to the point of negligence. "It's okay" and "never mind" are the most prevalent attitude. About corruption, they'd say, "It's okay. These corrupt politicians can't take the money with them when they die." Or they'd say, "It's okay. Karma will serve them right." In other words, Thais do not want to take actions, they much rather leave everything to "fate." How convenient!

As far as I can see, before the end of my natural life maybe, Thailand will still maintain our status as one of the most corrupt and underdeveloped countries of the world, despite any makeup we put on or any self-denial we feed ourselves.