Conflict

If we take aside the name of the parties, we would find some similarity between our election and what's happening in Thailand.

Samak Sundaravej, the current prime minister, came to the power by a democratic election. He gained much of the support from farmers in the village and rural areas - because his policy includes major subsidies to the poor and less well developed parts of the country.

His opponents, who are largely middle-class in Bangkok and other large cities, tell another story. The subsides are no different from bribery for votes. (Some say Samak does buy for the votes.) Policies that are in favour of the poor also mean they put the middle-class people into disadvantage, and the voice of the latter group is never represented because they are out-numbered in a fair election system of one-person-one-vote.

Yes, you may say there is much corruption amongst government officials of Thailand. Nonetheless the conflict at hand is not because of a corrupted government, but that the current government, by her corruption or policy, harms a few badly but gives a trace of sweetness to many - with the officials pocketing all the margin.

Well, I decide not to declare there exists any difference in our own government - once I think of the recent happenings of Leung Chin-Man (梁展文).

PS. Another similarity is, of course, the presence of an ultimate power - the King Bhumibol Adulyadej in Thailand. I shall not elaborate further.