Attempts by the new Army-led government to show that it was acting in the public good when it took power on September 19 have failed.

The military regime insisted that it had taken over to avert a national crisis, but in the following months it has failed to produce any evidence to show that widespread violence was imminent, as it had said in order to justify its actions.

The Army is now working hard to build a fictional constitutional order, re-securing power for the military elite while trying to give the opposite impression.

And although it has expressed commitment to the rule of law, its actions are all demonstrations of the opposite.

The interim government has emphasised the many human rights abuses of the former administration but played down the complicity of the Army and other state agencies in these.

The interim prime minister has apologised for the killing of some 84 persons in Narathiwat in 2004, but not acknowledged the liability of the Army in the deaths, least of all the 78 who died in its custody.

He has ordered security forces to cease using "blacklists" to hunt for suspects, but not yet explained anything about how they were made, who used them, which abuses occurred as a result of them and what investigations of wrongdoing due to the use of lists will follow.

The continued application of emergency regulations in the southern provinces, martial law across about half of the country, continued killings and forced disappearances, and the persistent failure of the authorities to solve killings and disappearances, including the abduction of lawyer Somchai Neelaphaijit over two years ago, are some other areas of concern.

There are also as yet no laws to prohibit torture and forced disappearance, or an effective witness protection scheme; even a National Human Rights Commissioner who was seriously threatened obtained no protection from the state, nor did his case arouse any official concern.

We intend to release a detailed report on human rights in Thailand during 2006 in the new year.

Asian Human Rights Commission

Hong Kong

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Bureaucrats need to be kept safe from politicians

 Chai yo for the National Counter Corruption Commission's investigation of Revenue Department head Sirote Swasdipanich and four others. The highest levels of civil servants are most duty-bound to strictly apply rules and regulations without fear or favour, looking at the spirit as well as the letter of the law. If they are, indeed, guilty as charged, they must be dealt with to the full extent of the law, especially the director-general, as he should have been a shining role model for his subordinates

And, yet, in our civil service, politics permeates everywhere. How can we expect every director-general, every department head, to have the guts to rule, for example, that the then-PM's wife and brother-in-law were liable for millions in taxes - when the director's future would be at stake? If he did so rule, could he count on his superiors to protect him - when his superior, himself, could have been removed at the then-PM's whim?

Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont should change the underlying processes of civil service evaluation and promotion, to make them independent of the government of the day. Like Privy Council President Prem Tinsulanonda said of the military, the civil service should be like a race horse, with the owner being king and country, and the government being only the jockey. In both cases, their loyalty and duties are to the monarchy and the nation at large - not to any politician.

Burin Kantabutra

Bangkok

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Punish tax officials to get clean-up of society going

 I refer to the recent saga involving the Revenue Department chief and four other officials being guilty of serious negligence of duty for failing to collect tax incurred from a share transfer between Pojaman Shinawatra and her stepbrother.

It is a disgrace to note that the wife of the ex-prime minister is involved in such atrocities which obviously smack of tax evasion. It is an even bigger disgrace that the Revenue chief, Sirote, is found negligent of duty for failing to collect tax in the share transfer.

I find it incredible that the other four state officials failed to exercise proper judgement in their capacity. All five of them should be charged with crimes against the state, as it is obvious that they colluded with the owners of the shares who, in all probability, must have greased their palms.

As an ordinary taxpayer who has been paying his taxes regularly for the past 30 years, I find it extremely unfair for these rogues to get away with crimes against the state. They should be severely punished as an example to other potential offenders. As the Thai saying goes: "Cut the chicken's throat to show an example to the monkey".

In fact, I have personally witnessed businessmen giving lavish parties for their Revenue Department friends. Thai society and business circles still have a long way to go before they can unshackle themselves from the evils of corruption that pervade every facet of Thai government and commerce.

Sumeth Goriawala

Bangkok

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NGOs should join the effort to clean up governance

 Pondering Wednesday's report that non-governmental organisations are unwilling to be involved in the actual preparation of a new constitution because they did not approve of the coup, one is reluctantly forced to conclude that this is an utterly childish and irresponsible attitude to take. The coup leaders had the guts and felt a moral obligation to oust a government that, among other wrongdoing, it turns out was robbing the nation blind.

The very popularity of the coup among the educated should speak volumes to those opposing it. How else was the country to be rid of that scoundrel government? In fact, NGO members should be grateful that the dirty work was done for them and should be more than willing, if given the opportunity, to become involved.

Those who experienced the repression of the last coup in 1991 will realise that what is quite unique about the current one is the willingness of the leaders to permit the country to function almost (if not quite) as if nothing had happened. We now have what seems to be an honest government in power, though admittedly placed there. An honest government makes quite a change! And it is noted from many of The Nation's articles that the media has the freedom to criticise without hindrance - also quite a change! Though why they should be quite so critical is baffling. There is a great deal of truth in the old adage "more haste, less speed".

Democracy is simply a meaningless word unless there is a willingness and determination by all, especially those in authority, to actually defend it - not, as we have seen over these past five years, to tear it to shreds. For this reason, if possible, the new constitution should have built into it the most dire consequences for those who interfere with the letter or the very spirit of it.

It should be remembered too, that waiting in the wings, intent on getting re-elected, are many of those self-serving rascal politicians who ripped the country off before. They are just waiting for the chance to do it all over again. Somehow, they have got to be stopped.

Henry Ashe

Bangkok

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ADB needs to clean up its stance on climate change

 Will the Asian Development Bank finally stop funding climate change?

In Manila on Friday, Greenpeace activists and a Thai community leader hoisted a balloon bearing the message "Stop funding climate change" at the entrance of the Asian Development Bank headquarters. The group is calling on the ADB, one of Asia's largest institutional lenders, to stop supporting fossil fuel and dirty energy projects that cause climate change, and instead aggressively fund renewable energy initiatives in the region. The demand comes as the Philippines tries to recover from the devastation of super-typhoon Durian, a portent of violent weather events that the world is likely to experience more as a consequence of climate change.

The ADB is currently finalising its energy policy, to be released in the next few weeks. The previous version of the policy supported the development of huge coal-fired power plants in the region, including two of the dirtiest: Mae Moh in Thailand and Masinloc in the Philippines.

The ADB must stop funding fossil fuel projects, especially coal plants, whose greenhouse gas emissions are the main cause of climate change. The Philippines and many other Asian countries are increasingly being ravaged by extreme weather events brought by climate change. The bank is also in a very powerful position to challenge Asean leaders to tackle climate change with strong renewable energy and energy efficiency targets and laws as well as mitigation measures.

The ADB has earlier pledged US$1 billion (Bt35.5 billion) for clean energy projects, but this will not be available until 2008. The ADB's definition of clean energy projects sadly includes coal and huge dams, which are widely criticised by civil society groups.

Coal plants have destroyed our lives and now threaten the wider Asian community with the impact of climate change.

The UN Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change has pointed out that developing countries, like those in Asia, are expected to suffer most from climate change in terms of loss of life and effects on the economy. Extreme weather events such as strong typhoons, flooding, landslides, and droughts are predicted to occur more frequently and with greater severity.

Unfortunately, unlike the G8 group of countries, Asean has never put climate change on top of its agenda in spite of all the scientific evidence pointing out that it is a region bound to be hit hardest by climate change.

Arthur Jones Dionio

Manila

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