Connecting the Dots

Thailand’s political fuel runs on the same principals as what our mothers warned us about when we were still young. That is to beware of men offering candy. Unfortunately it appears that lesson was never passed along in Thailand.

When we take our young children grocery shopping we place them in the seat of the shopping cart, then very quickly learn to keep the cart placed strategically in the center of the isle keeping the store products out of reach of little hands. As we scoot up and down the isles, we make a mental note of the increased vocalizations coming from the child as we are in vicinity of candy, but hardly a peep in the produce section of the store.

People from the west have gone to great lengths to educate and warn their children about men offering candy in exchange for getting into their car. The man with the candy has been portrayed as evil and dastardly hoping to educate those young and impressionable minds to stay away from the candy man. In real life that candy man is probably a pedophile looking to quench some internal desire that most likely will involve some form of rape.

So now head to Thailand and observe the political system and what gets people elected and you will see the candy man wins out when it comes to the lesser educated. The more educated people can logically deduce that although candy is an enjoyable treat, other things are more nutritious. When it comes to the lesser educated, candy wins every single time.

So now it has come to a point that the popularity of a particular candidate will decide how many politicians will follow him. Quick translation, there is no set moral standards by many of the Thai politicians, it all comes down to ‘What can you do for me?’

It looks to be coming down to a popularity contest between Prime Minister Abhisit and the convicted fugitive Thaksin Shinawatra A.K.A. ‘The candy man.’ the area of Thailand in question is Isaan in the northeast. However it becomes difficult and actually dangerous for Abhisit to go to see people there. The candy man’s henchmen A.K.A. ‘Red shirts’ are very dangerous and put a lot of effort into blocking the attempts to educate the people of Isaan. The candy man is well aware that if people are educated he will not be able to influence them. At least if the people of Isaan are educated, the election process will be seen as more fair.

There is even a new political party named “New Politics Party ” (NPP) who’s driving force is to deal with the lack of education problem that gives the candy man’s self serving interests an edge. It seems no matter how much people try to do what it takes to move Thailand forward as a whole, the candy man has his way in Isaan. This is very disturbing in that the candy man is disqualified from politics, and is also convicted of a crime. The temptation of candy goes past what the law and the courts have said, and the law and the court’s ruling are completely ignored and thus disrespected.

With this type of thinking, you can very easily see the motivation of the NPP to take away the candy man’s candy. Because of the huge numbers of lesser educated Thais who are easily tempted by the candy man, it is clear to see it will be several years before Thailand can move forward with the candy man lurking in the shadows.