Conflict, Legitimacy and Government Reform: Equitable Allocation of ...

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Panel Discussion As for Thailand, the study of Professor Warr at ANU University in Australia (Warr 2003) indicates that if Thai government hikes direct tax revenue by only 10 per cent, then spends collected tax revenue on production of products and service provision for the poor (education, health care, agriculture), the percentage of poor people and inequality will drop significantly. This study used data in 2004. It was observed that the proportion of poor people would drop by 3 per cent of the population and genie coefficient would decline from 0.48 to 0.44. Furthermore, such policy change also contributes to poverty eradication and more equitable income distribution in the future (Warr, 2003: 43). As for the increase of state revenue from direct taxes such as personal income tax, direct taxes may not necessarily have to be progressive in all cases. They may be set at an acceptable flat rate, like not more than 20 per cent, and deductions must be abolished. Then, with efficient management of tax collection, this portion of revenue can be increased. Feasibility studies should be conducted on this. Politics In the last part, I would like to come back to talk about political will. As mentioned earlier, policies to enhance equality have not materialized in the past because a lack of political will. This means those who wanted these policies never had a chance to run a government or never succeeded in pressing governments to change their policies. Experiences of various countries tell us that a political will to implement policies that enhance equality has the best chance under a democratic regime where a constitution is the supreme law that guarantees civil rights and liberties. Nevertheless, there are some people who don’t agree with this suggestion by saying that democratic system is suitable for Thai society. Some people even remark that democratic system is not suitable for an unfair society. 61
62 KPI Congress XI One common contention is many Thais are still poor and not educated well enough to know what’s right or what’s wrong. Therefore, they cannot make up their own minds and may be misled easily. However, as time goes by, such thinking is being criticized more and more that it is used to justify preservation of existing inequality so that people will accept a government controlled by a few persons that has supreme power. Another criticism is the democratic system heeds opinions of the majority and will likely end up with mob rule. This issue has been taken up and a solution is there already. Most countries prescribe rules in their constitutions to prevent the majority from harming the minority and adequately protect the minority. Some people criticize democracy by saying that it provides opportunities for vote-buying by politicians. Regarding this issue, experiences of developed countries can shed light on this. Once people’s income rose, 500 or 1,000 baht offered to buy a vote would mean nothing to them. Eventually, vote-buying will disappear. Nevertheless, criticism still goes on and on, saying in a democratic system, before important matters are resolved, opinions of various groups must be heeded and an agreement must be reached before determining further action. This process is more time-consuming than under an authoritarian regime where power is in the hands of one person. Consequently, democracy may deter economic development which requires quick decisions. Regarding this issue, available studies may not firmly conclude that democracy is detrimental to economic development while many countries that have grown dramatically do not have democracy. However, it is clearly evident that many countries in the world that have enjoyed satisfactory economic growth rates and stable political conditions have democratic governments. Even in our own experiences, Thailand enjoyed the fastest economic growth rate under a democratic regime. During 1986-1996, average
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Conflict, Legitimacy and Government
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KPI Congress XI Conflict, Legitimac
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6 KPI Congress XI CONTENTS Pages In
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8 KPI Congress XI Group 3: Judicial
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114 KPI Congress XI The World Movem
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Government and Political Legitimacy
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124 KPI Congress XI (3) Prohibition
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Reform of Economic Policy for Reduc
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Group 3 Judicial Review and Judicia
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Judicial Activism Judicial Review a
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160 KPI Congress XI Recommendation
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Citizen Politics in Checking of the
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The Strategy of Public Administrati
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Bureaucratic Reform Dr. Pheeraphon
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Group 7 Reforming Local Government
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182 KPI Congress XI informal worker
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Biographical Information
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196 KPI Congress XI Bovornsak Uwann
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