Internal Issues in Thailand
The economy of Thailand has contracted due to banking and global economic crisis, corruption, ethnic instability and democratization problems. I argue that it true because according to Cummings & Altbach (1197), Thailand faces problems of social inequality, instability of politics and labor skills that are inadequate. It also faces the dangers of degradation of the environment, the AIDS virus spread and the trade of drug that is ongoing. All these problems have led to contraction of the economy. It also faces problems of loss of resources of marine, pollution of water, toxic substances disposal and also pollution of air that is of high level.
Thailand has problems that hinder the growth of the economy and these problems include a mismatch that is serious between the requirements of the economy for workers who are skilled in manufacturing that is newly developed and slowness of the government in providing education access for future force of labor. The lack of addressing this problem of human capital has led to inflation that is short term and slow economic growth that is long-term. The cause of problem of labor market in Thailand is its poor approach to development of education.
Its policy has been concentration of resources of the state on coverage that is complete at primary level before any schooling in secondary was supplied. The consequences on economy of growth that is slow in secondary schooling and educational access that is uneven have hindered development in Thailand. The proportion that is large of labor force in employment in agriculture has made contributions to under emphasis on secondary as well as higher education outside the capital and other few large urban centers. An industrialization limit may be because of the under education of force of labor in Thailand. Because of lack of workers who are well educated, industries are not ready to do decentralization of operations beyond Bangkok. The situation that is current has resulted to increase in inequality in income and distribution of opportunities of education that is unequal.
Spooner & Baldwin ( 2005), corruption has had very adverse effects on the economy of Thailand which include resources misallocation, an economic growth that is low, competitiveness loss and also the fact that the poor people are the most affected negatively by corruption. Thailand has been considered to be an economy that is business friendly and has been able to investment incentives that are favorable for several years to companies that are foreign and also it has offered good protection for investment as compared to other countries. However, investment climate in Thailand is suffering from very many obstacles and one the main obstacle is corruption. Corruption is considered by many companies to be a very large barrier to running a business in Thailand. In Thailand, corruption is a problem that is significant in public as well as private sector but it mainly prevails in the intersection between the government and business where facilitation payment demands are spread widely.
There is much concentration of bribery in a few sectors of the government which are in charge of financial transactions that are large and these include: the department of land, department of tax and customs, and the department of transport and finally the department of police. Money politics is considered to be Thailand’s main source of corruption that means money flows within the scene of politics, stemming from degree that is high of interconnection that exists between the sector of business and the system of politics. Leaders of parties use money in order to attract electoral candidates that are suitable. The possibilities of corruption have been enhanced by holders of administrative and political power especially with regard to monopolies securing, and ensuring protection to businesses that are illegal. These kinds of practices secure money flow into politics.
Some candidates of parliament use a lot of money on becoming elected which also includes buying of outright vote. In order for the parties to be kept together, leaders of parties pay retainers and also sometimes do vote buying ion the parliament. Also there cases of individuals who are dishonest that obtain illegally personal information about people by pretending to be handling documents of tax on clients’ behalf. Another case of corruption is companies making expenses that are extra in order to pay taxes that are low. Although there is so much corruption, the government of Thailand is working on this issue in order to ensure there is a conducive climate to run investments and the positive developments are: The office of National Counter Corruption Commission was established in order to stem out corruption.
It is involved in legislation and laws creation in order to prevent and fight corruption. It has a framework which is legal to counter corruption effectively, the 2007 constitution has provisions for public information access and this right is enjoyed by citizens without other restrictions except those that are related to the safety of the public and security of the nation. Thailand’s government has pledged in public to fight corruption within the sector of contracting and procurement in order to enhance transparency in the process of bidding and contract rewarding.
Iwanaga (2008) states that Thailand democratization is affected by so many problems including those problems that are related to the importance that is continuing of the military in the state, corruption in politics, weaknesses in systems of representation and in party social inequalities that are widening. People in Thailand had been calling for a restructuring of their system of politics for very many years. Since 1992, A progress that is significant towards democratization off the system of politics has taken place.
Women became mobilized and visible as democratization part in Thailand. Thailand entered into a new era of development of democracy. Democratization gave more expectations for new agenda of politics adoption and increased representation of politics by women. Thailand has experienced for a long time military roles that are politically persuasive which has interrupted the process of democratization.
Thailand shifted from the regime of absolute monarchy to regime of democracy in 1932 and this was the same time when political roles were launched by the military. However, the system that was established was not democracy in content but democracy in form and later gave way to rule based on military. The process of democratization has started and the power of military in politics has faced so many challenges from different groups of people from 1970’s. It is now clear that Thailand political conditions favors democratization because the military has been forced out of the arena of politics. However there is a problem in the democracy of Thailand has not developed enough and not consolidated like the democracy of countries in the West.
Suchit (1999, 54-55), the democratization process in Thailand was driven by the growth of the economy in the decade that is next. However, the boom of the economy together with the stability of the politics didn’t give the government support but instead it led to expansion of the urban middle class and private sector and their influence on the politics that gave contributions to democracy that is full fledged and a prime minister who is elected. The growth in economy that had given support for democratization did not result to consolidation of democracy in the final period. The new elected government soon became very corrupt and this corruption that was notorious resulted to a decline in the legitimacy and popularity of the government.
The process of democratization has started even though the military was forced out of the arena of politics. However, for Thailand to be recognized as a country that has democracy which has developed, it will take a very long time because of various conditions which include: firstly, Thailand’s political society is very weak and not developed like other countries in the west. The system of party is fragile and the coalitions of the parliament are unstable. Parties in Thailand are seen as vehicles for cliques and individuals who are self seeking.
A large number of candidates involve themselves in party switching because Thailand has many political parties and candidates like to join the party that they believe to form the government. Secondly, the Thailand population has less opportunity to be involved in activities of politics than those people who live in the capital. The poor are the majority of the electorate and their interests are not represented fully. This problem’s root is that there is centralization of the administration and the resources of the economy are not distributed to the rural areas sufficiently. Thirdly, the buying of vote is very spread in Thailand.
Many people in Thailand see the parliament members as people who are interested in their own interests and who buy office in order to makes themselves wealthy. Vote buying is so spread widely in Thailand that it might destroy the electoral competition trustworthy. This issue cannot be solved very easily because it is stemmed from the perspective of the voter.
The voters of Thailand particularly those in countryside when vote buying mostly occurs view their representatives as people whose duty is take money from the government to their home. Four fifths of the population of Thailand is rural and really needs systems of irrigation, telephones, running water, hospitals, schools, and roads that are paved. When a parliamentary candidate’s issues money to voters, he is showing that he only wants to take care of his personal interests. This is a problem that is chronic and has effects that adverse on the credibility and legitimacy of the representative system. Finally, although the 2007 constitution was a first step to reforms on politics, the legislature needed to pass various organic laws to make reform possible and also to ensure that the new constitution is effective. Reforms could not be successful without those in power sacrificing and dedicating themselves. From the above, Thailand is still yet to meet various consolidation conditions. (JSTOR, 2000).
Due to roles of the military that are pervasive, Thailand is underdeveloped in democracy despite its establishment that is long. Military interventions in politics have been challenged by civil society and has the military has been forced out of the political arena. Although the military intervention is out of politics, Thailand’s politics has not developed well and consolidated because of the problems of political institutions that are fragile.
As evident in the movement to reforms in politics, people in Thailand are struggling for more democracy but a bureaucracy that is so focused to keep its authority and politicians who are so much in enhancing their wealth and power are great hindrances to consolidation of democracy and therefore strengthening the civil society’s power is the only way to have a consolidate democracy because the civil society are aware that the problems which result to any crisis can never be solved by without the presence of participation of people and professional and civic groups in the process of decision making. (Project muse, 2004).
Illegal immigrations from Sumatra to Thailand have caused a lot of problems. Thailand has become illegal migrants’ transit from countries in South Asia as well as Europe. With globalization and information technology that is advanced, there is a possibility of trafficking that is illegal. Internal migration to Thailand has resulted to conflicts and has threatened instability which is domestic. Conflicts that are ethnic have erupted between the newcomers and the original inhabitants. Social tension in Thailand has been caused by migration into urban areas which has caused overcrowding and made it difficult to earn a living. Many people move to areas that are unoccupied to do agriculture because there is high demand of agricultural products due to increased population. This has caused conflicts in Thailand because the government evicted the people who were trespassing.
To prevent threats to stability, attention should be given to equity in growth and management of resources and allocation. Thailand has been a victim of crisis in Asia with its currency devaluation and conflicts that were internal. The issue separation in the South of Thailand has resulted to a high number of deaths. Thailand has developed into being a kingdom that is more sophisticated with changes in the environment that is legal which has caused Thailand to follow practices that the rest of the world adopts with respect to opportunities of employment which are of benefits to employees. Where I was expected growth which was accelerated between 2009 and 2010, Thailand experienced political conflicts that were internal which led to a high number of deaths within Bangkok.
Thailand has been facing social challenges which put pressure on the workforce whereby the employees are made to work hard in an environment that is not conducive and with low wages. The living cost has gone high and there has been natural calamities e.g. avian flu and floods resulting the workforce of Thailand to have a morale that is low. As a result of corruption and fraud, the economic recession has escalated and some few people have tried to look for solution to help the organizations’ performance. (JSTOR, 2000).
Although Thailand has tried very much to improve the climate of its business, there are still problems in instability of policy and also implementation. Also the government which has bureaucracy that is insufficient and corrupt leads to an environment that is not conducive to run investments. All this has led to efforts made by Thailand to develop agriculture to be in vain. Thailand had put a lot of efforts in developing agriculture in the region of North East which was characterized by strong partnerships between private and public sectors. The government of Thailand advocated a market which was free and functioning well giving adequate support to sectors that are private.
These efforts were made to share responsibilities among the private and public sectors. The efforts of government focused on development of infrastructure, education, research, dissemination of information and land and credit policies. The Thailand government also advocated for farmers’ groups creation and acted as mediators among these groups and the sector that is private. Thailand has insufficiency in of the beaurecracy of the government, lack of coordination among the departments of government dealing with safety and health, corruption of inspectors in the government and preoccupation of employers’ with profit rather than working system that is safe.
In Thailand, there is high level of deforestation which is caused by growth in the population, policy of agriculture and land ownership policy. The northern part of Thailand experience deforestation due to high population growth. This region is the most densely populate in Thailand and it has soil that is not productive. The need for food increased as the population increased and therefore so many trees were cut down clearing forests in order to increase production of food to meet the demand. The government of Thailand put price controls on rice and this encourages farmers to shift to production of other types of crops.
The agricultural policy has had a great impact on deforestation especially during the road constructions following the Second World War. The aim of building these roads was to help the farmers to take their products from rural areas to urban centers where there was a dense population. This led to encouraging farmers to begin farming on a large scale and to leave subsistence farming. In Thailand, rights to property are ambiguous and various branches interpret these rights differently. Many Thailand citizens have resulted to going to forests to find areas for farming due to inability of them to secure property. (Andrew & Spooner, 2005).
References
Andrews T& Siengthai, 2009, ‘Changing face of management in Thailand, Singapore University press.
Cummings W. & Altbach, 1997, the challenge of Eastern Asian education: implications for America, State university of New York.
JSTOR, 2000, ‘The American political science review, American political science association.
Project muse, 2004, ‘Contemporary southwest Asia, Singapore university press, vol 26, issues 1-3.
Spooner & Baldwin, 2005, ‘Foot print Thailand, Bangkok discovery air pass.
Suchit, B, 1994, Thailand’s successful reforms, Journal of democracy.
Is this your assignment or some part of it?
We can do it for you! Click to Order!
