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  • Abhisit Vejjajiva received angst and praise in a phone-in
    05.07.2010

    'No matter where I sit, people talk politics - [and] what they say is that Thaksin can, but Abhisit can't," said a male caller from Buri Ram. "That is what everyone says. Thaksin can make things happen. Thaksin can help us. Abhisit can't."

     Bangkok Post Sunday coordinating editor and NBT news programme host Voranai Vanijaka, right, takes calls as part of the ‘‘6 Days, 63 Million Opinions’’ initiative. THITI WANNAMONTHA

    Yesterday morning, more than 300 volunteers manned the phones at Government House for Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva's "6 Days, 63 Million Opinions" initiative where citizens are urged to voice their opinions, share their concerns and give ideas on the direction of Thailand.

    Students, civil servants, members of the Democrat Party and other volunteers were on hand to help the prime minister answer the calls and put the opinions on record. There were more volunteers than phones.

    "All the front row seats were taken quickly," an official told me. "The session will be shown live on the prime minister's TV show, so everyone wants to be on TV."

    TV cameras were everywhere, mostly filming prominent politicians on the phone with callers. When the prime minister arrived, naturally all cameras turned to him - the man of the hour.

    The prime minister took his seat in the front left corner of the hall and conducted his regular weekly television and radio show.

    Despite the noise of the phones ringing and the hoopla around him, Mr Abhisit appeared on camera as if he were the only person in the room.

    "Great concentration," a volunteer standing next to me said. "He's very good, nothing distracts him at all."

    A colleague sacrificed his seat - the first seat in the front row - so I could do my bit for the day. It was near 10am and every phone seemed to be ringing at once.

    A female caller: "Please tell the prime minister he's doing a wonderful job. Don't give up. We are behind him."

    A male caller: "The prime minister is doing a good thing with the reconciliation process. I know the other side is against it. They are working against him. But he must continue. He's the leader of the country and he must continue with reconciliation."

    Another male caller: "I want to ask the prime minister if he can be himself. Why hide behind the military? Why use the military as a shield? Why does he lie to himself?"

    Throughout the morning the calls were a mixed bag of those supporting the prime minister and those who were against him.

    Eighteen-year-old high school volunteer Artit Prasit confessed: "There were very angry people and there were people who give very helpful opinions.

    "One caller said the prime minister should resign and go to jail. But most callers are worrying about the red versus yellow problem. They are worried that there seems to be no middle ground in Thai society. They want the prime minister to find that middle ground."

    "A lot of people are just venting their frustrations," said Chatpawee Trichachawanwong, 24, a TV news anchor. "Many want the government to focus on reforms and bettering Thailand, rather than going after the reds."

    It seemed the main concern of callers involved matters close to home and revolved around dissatisfaction with low incomes, the high cost of living, medical care and quality of life.

    A female Bangkok caller spent more than 10 minutes on the phone telling me of her plight. She contracted kidney disease in 1997 and found herself struggling with a mountain of debts because social security would not cover her medical bills.

    "I have filed charges with the court and the court decided that social security should pay up," the 59-year-old, sounding frustrated, explained. "But still they wouldn't pay. The court appealed and it has been three years since and nothing is happening. No one can tell me anything.

    "This is not just my problem. A lot of people are suffering from the same injustice. The problem is with the social security system. The prime minister must help us."

    A female caller from Songkhla vented: "In the whole province, private hospitals don't take social security. I pay 750 baht a month to social security but it's not working.

    "How can a large province be like this? Is the entire system so incompetent?"

    She said waiting periods at state hospitals are too long as there are never enough beds and the treatment is poor, so people try to be admitted to private hospitals instead but cannot afford them.

    "Is it only like this in the South?"

    But health issues are not the only problem in the South.

    A female caller who works for the Royal Irrigation Department, calling from Pattani - one of the three troubled southern provinces - complained that while high-ranking bureaucrats get risk insurance, part-time workers get nothing.

    "We work 20 days a months for low wages," she said. "We have to carry weapons to work. No one protects us. We don't have risk insurance. People are getting shot, getting injured. Every day is a danger.

    "Only the phuyai (leaders) are safe."

    Then there are those who pointed at the usual suspects when offered an opportunity to share their concerns about the country.

    "Ever since the protests, the police have shown that they are incompetent," said one angry caller from Bangkok. "They don't do their job. They can't do their job.

    "This includes everyone down to traffic police."

    "The police [force] needs to be reformed," said another caller from Hat Yai district in Songkhla.

    "They extort money. They operate gambling dens. They are the local gangsters."

    But with almost every other call, the subject invariably returns to the prime minister himself and his policies.

    "I only have a fourth grade education. My household income is only 5,000 baht a month," one female caller said.

    "But let me give the prime minister the thoughts of someone with only a fourth grade education: If you want reconciliation, don't punish the reds so quickly while nothing is happening to the yellows. That's the double standard, the inequality people are complaining about."

    Back to the caller from Buri Ram in the beginning of this article. He explained how the prime minister should handle the "Thaksin can, Abhisit can't" attitude of upcountry people.

    "I want the prime minister to be more decisive. I want him to sincerely help the people and be consistent with it," he said, emphasising that government measures and policies must be seen through to the end.

    "The people want to see results. Right now the people love Thaksin. So the prime minister should come to the people. Be near the people. Join the people - so that the people can love him."
     
    (Bangkok Post , 05/07/2010)


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