The Country of Hypocrites

With increasing consumer and household debts over the last few years, the PM stated that it is important to control credit card lending and proposed increased scrunity on credit card approval procedures. On a hindsight, quick cash loans from other services were not mentioned at all.

With increased debt and inflation partly due to rising oil prices, there has been mention about tightening our belts on spending, yet on a hindsight, just for a mobile cabinent meeting, a 2 million baht meeting room was created just for the sake of one single meeting, before being demolished.

A few days before that, a certain minister came out explaining that it is important that our country must conserve energy and sets up a target to lower energy consumption by 20%. Yet on the day the mobile cabinent meeting was setup, the temporarily meeting room required a power generator that could supply electricity to a 10 story apartment to aircon the whole facility.

The country started to talk about moral issues, including the development of a moral center, yet it is so ironic that certain vices such as gambling has been long practiced by our members - in which new forms of lottery have been immensely popular.

No matter how successful the lottery was, the strange hindsight is that the same old government is not going to create a casino based on moral ground.

Yet when we look back on moral grounds, it is funny to see certain TV shows such as BigBrother and the Miss Universe show being arranged straight in the backyards of that country. Isn't showing women in skimpy outfit unmoral?

Though this is a moral country, it is like a slap in the face to see local politicians taking money from the lottery funds to donate to charity, yet siphoning it off to other causes - in which there has been little backlash from the PM as they belong to the same party. An even worse offense, was when a relief fund was completely stolen by some diabolic parties who decided enriching themselves is better than helping the life of thousands of people.

Also when there is huge campaign against smoking, somehow its funny to note that one of the largest tobacco company is actually state owned.

Corruption is a huge sin, which is practiced by new and inventive forms by the government, but it just pains to see many younger people so indifferent to this idea.

When people talk about privatization to improve performance of state enterprises, somehow it makes me wonder why not the unprofitable enterprises so that they can finally profitable, and not the profitable ones - unless the motive was for money?

When we talk about media openness in the country, somehow it is ironic to see so many shows - both radio, TV, and newspaper being pressured for being critical. We see foreign jounalists been deported from the country. Also to drive the final blow is that our community radios are being closed down - yet the PM goes on talking on his radio show about freedom.

In our country, talk is plenty, and it is cheap as usually little action proceeds from the talk. Pledges for disaters have only been pledges, and it ends there when the media attention is long gone.

Somehow its funny to think about all of this. Its a country of hypocrites, and somehow it just irks me to know that I'm closer to it than I can imagine.