Reflections on the Human Condition - Api-fellowships.org

408 SESSION VI
for only four seconds. Once they cast their election
ballot, they have no further right to participation. A
Deputy Prime Minister said the government was not
obliged to follow the results of a public hearing. This
situation shows that the present Constitution provides
for less citizen participation than in Japan.
Political Survey – Ratings and Rakusen
Thai people not only have little information but also
a short memory about politicians’ performances. This
information should be recorded and distributed as a
guideline to citizens before election. However, laws on
libel and elections must be observed cautiously.
Shareholder Suits
This tool would be more difficult to use than the first
one because it requires cooperation from politicians and
bureaucrats to propose and support amendments of the
Civil and Commercial Code, Public Companies Law,
including regulations on securities exchange. Moreover,
most Thai shareholders are not aggressive enough to sue
the directors or executives of the companies whose shares
they hold even though they have a right to sue and the
litigation process is as easy as in Japan. However, this
does not mean that it is impossible in Thai society.
Information Disclosure Request and Suits
In Thailand, the Official Information Act B.E. 2540
permits Thai people to request information held by
government agencies. Refusal from the agency can be
appealed to the Offcial Information Commission which
consists of professors, NGO staff, and bureaucrats.
Therefore, the government tends to disclose information.
However, most requests are used for the applicant’s own
interest, not for the public interest. Only about 10% of
requests are concerned with corruption. Moreover, the
most use that is made of such information is to publicize
it in a newspaper.
Resident Suits
The Thai Constitution provides for several independent
organizations. Most of them play roles as advisors to
the government. Some were in labyrinth or technically
knocked out, such as the State Audit Commission (SAC)
and the National Counter Corruption Commission
(NCCC). Citizen has no choice but to claim for solving
the vacuum in anti-corruption. The situation would be
different if Thai people could submit lawsuits against
politicians or bureaucrats. These tools would be the most
difficult to apply because cooperation from politicians
and bureaucrats is required. Resident suits will be more
Ref lections on the Human Condition: Change, Conflict and Modernity
The Work of the 2004/2005 API Fellows
difficult than shareholder suits because they will apply
directly to the politicians and bureaucrats. However, the
young blood politicians may be our hope for political
development.
At the first stage, studying, developing and distributing
the concept of Qui Tam in Thailand is needed. It can
be claimed that Thai lawyers have no knowledge of
it. From this concept, both shareholder lawsuits and
resident suits can be developed.
References
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