Thailand in Focus

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?Post-Crisis Thailand : Building a New Democratic Society?
An address by His Excellency Abhisit Vejjajiva, Prime Minister of Thailand,
at Columbia University, New York, 22 September 2009

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President of Columbia University,
Professor Stiglitz,
Faculty Members and Students,
Friends and colleagues,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is truly an honour for me to be invited to speak at the world renowned Columbia University where three United States Presidents including President Obama, nine Justices of the Supreme Court and 39 Nobel Prize winners have studied. ?This is a record which is certainly hard to beat. ?And I am certainly proud to be at one of world?s most important centers of research and academic excellence, and absorb the vibrant atmosphere for learning.

As you heard in the introduction, during my days as a student I failed to cross the Atlantic Ocean, so I was stuck in the United Kingdom with friends like Boris Johnson.? And actually David Cameron is two years my junior both at school and university.? And so, it is a great pleasure to finally make my way here, although very briefly.? And of course, even from my days as a student, I actually not just heard of Professor Stiglitz but had to read his articles, remembered trying to understand credit rationing.? I don?t know if you?d remembered writing about credit rationing all those years ago.

But I am pleased to be here and I know that there are many Thai students studying in the US.? My estimate is about 9,000.? 57 of them are actually here at this very university and the US has produced many prominent and able graduates who are now leaders in Thai public and private sectors, including many members of my Cabinet and members of my delegation who are here with me today.

You may be surprised that the topic that has been chosen is actually talking about post crisis.? I?m sure many of you may have in your mind, but you are politely thinking, why is he talking about ?post-crisis? when there is so much more that needs to be done.? And of course, as you?ve heard again from the introduction, I knew from day one that the circumstance that I faced when I assumed office was unique.? Not only did my country, Thailand, have to face the impact of the global economic crisis which has been felt around the world, and it?s said to the worst in many many decades.?? But of course the country has been stuck with political impasse, for some would say political crisis for over two to three years.

The one thing I have to clear right from the start is that this talk of post crisis is not about complacency.? Yes, the nine months that we?ve been in office, we have made some and very substantial progress in terms of achieving economic recovery and also political reconciliation.? The numbers for our economy are improving month-on-month, quarter-on-quarter.? And we expect to see growth to resume to normal rates at the latest may be next year or towards the end of next year.? As for political reconciliation, although the demonstrations continue, differences do exist, but there?s clearly greater calm and stability.? And again, let me reiterate that we are not in anyway being complacent about the situation, and in fact as soon as I get back to Thailand, my proposals for a roadmap to constitutional amendments and political reconciliation will be discussed with leading members of parliament and political parties so that we can move ahead on that front too.

But the reason I want to talk about post-crisis scenario is simply this.? We have to remind ourselves in these days where we tend to face day-to-day crisis and forget the bigger picture.? And I believe that you have to know where you want to go before you know what you have to do.? And setting out, spelling out, what we see as the appropriate political and economic structure for the country, for Thailand, post-crisis I think gives us a good idea of what we need to do now and for what we have to avoid.? That is why I have chosen to talk about this topic at this particular time.

And in two days time I shall be in Pittsburgh.? I can tell you that I will certainly strongly express my view that it is certainly too premature to talk about the exit strategies for fiscal stimulus and monetary policies that will support growth.? But, as I say, I am now interested in taking you through some exercise on what I think Thailand needs in terms of preparing ourselves for the post-crisis scenario.? I shall talk less about the economy.? I have other occasions, perhaps too many occasions, on my trip to talk about that. ?The stimulus package that we put in was not only designed to create jobs but also to increase competitiveness and prepare ourselves for the post-crisis world, particularly the issue of food and energy security and the ability to compete with low cost, and the vital role of innovation and creative thinking, contributing to an economy like Thailand.? But I will concentrate on the political side, particularly democracy because I?m sure that the picture you have seen on your television screen over the past three years you have seen demonstrations; you have seen chaos; sometimes you have seen violence.? And the question is does that reflect the failure of democracy in Thailand?? And where is that going to lead Thai politics, given that may be going back as far as a decade ago Thailand was seen as an example or even a model of how a growing democracy should progress. ?We had a very progressive constitution back in 1997.? We were known for a country that is very open for freedom of expression, ranked very highly in comparison to most countries in the region.? And yet a decade on, the impression the people have of Thai politics is one of chaos, conflict and violence.