Time is ticking but alarm already raised over Prayut’s Thai values

As Pliny the Younger noted, “Example [is] the surest method of instruction.”
Prayut should start personifying his own 12 Values, and have his Cabinet do likewise. Thus, the police and army should “show honesty” (Value 2) and” respect for the law” (Value 8) by being transparent regarding the tragic on-campus death of the military cadet “Moei” two months ago, instead of stonewalling their investigation into the cause of death. To be credible, the investigation must be chaired by an independent third party, with outside experts participating. Another way to follow his Values would be to speed up the chase for the Red Bull heir Vorayuth, the confessed hit-and-run killer of a cop five years ago. Among other interminable delays in this case, the cops say they couldn’t translate the indictment for months – yet a private firm did it in three days.
Prayut should also recognise that his deputy Prawit’s flashy display of at least 10 super-luxury watches, whose multimillion-baht value is far beyond the means of his Bt250,000 salary, violates the sufficiency philosophy of HM the late King Rama IX (Value 10) and the virtue of “Strength against greed” (Value 11). This gaudy display has also rightly aroused strong suspicion of a violation against Prayut’s Value of “Honesty”. Thus, Prayut should order his right-hand man to come clean, hastily provide verifiable details as to each watch’s provenance, and live in accord with HM’s sufficiency philosophy.
Prayut should heed General Prem’s words: you can win back your ebbing support if you will just set a good example with your own 12 Values, now.
Burin Kantabutra