<p>This column highlights the fact that Thais brought up as children under authoritarian regimes are more likely to reflect authoritarian values – the ‘<a href="http://www.pnas.org/content/112/26/7931.abstract">Nazi effect</a>’, which turns children into <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right-wing_authoritarianism">Right-Wing Authoritarians</a>. The result is that Thailand is a ‘swing state’ between democracy and authoritarianism, making it a crucial battlefield for values in Southeast Asia.</p> <p></p>

<p dir="ltr">The UK, once almost entirely reliant on coal-fired energy, had its<a href="http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/world/1236514/uk-has-first-day-without-relying-on-coal-for-power-since-1880s"> first coal-free day</a> since 1880 this month (Friday 21st April), meaning it is on schedule to be completely coal free by 2025. More coal-free days will depend on the availability of solar, especially in June and July. Approximately half the UK’s energy comes from gas, 30% from renewables and inter-country agreements, and the rest from nuclear.</p>

<p dir="ltr">“The trigger gave; I felt the smooth underside of the butt; and there, in that noise, sharp and deafening at the same time, is where it all started. I shook off the sweat and the sun. I knew that I had shattered the harmony of the day...”, Albert Camus, L'Étranger.</p> <p></p>

<p>In early March, the Project for a Social Democracy launched its national media campaign with two major op-ed columns in the national English-language media. The <a href="http://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/opinion/1209473/social-democracy-offers-a-third-force">first</a>, in the <em>Bangkok Post</em> of Monday 6 March, was followed the day after by <a href="http://www.nationmultimedia.com/news/opinion/30308127">another</a> in <em>The Nation</em>.</p>

<p>In a sign of what the future may offer, two major reports on Myanmar’s education system released by <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&amp;rct=j&amp;q=&amp;esrc=s&amp;source=web&amp;cd=2&amp;cad=rja&amp;uact=8&amp;ved=0ahUKEwjpz7601aPSAhVKo48KHaUfA-IQFggcMAE&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fthailand.savethechildren.net%2Fsites%2Fthailand.savethechildren.net%2Ffiles%2Flibrary%2FModel%2520of%2520Education%2520in%2520Hard-To-Reach%2520Areas-Final.compressed-2_0.pdf&amp;usg=AFQjCNGOB0yjo8c_ZvRqDs3a6lqUJ9WMNA">Save the Children</a> and the <a> </a></p>

<p>The recent announcement that the Ministry of Commerce <a href="http://www.nationmultimedia.com/news/national/30306190">is pursuing 20 billion baht</a> in allegedly ‘fake’ rice deals in terms of compensation from six senior individuals, namely former commerce minister Boonsong Teriyapirom; his former deputy Poom Sarapol; Manas Soyploy, a former director-general of the Department of Foreign Trade; his former deputy Tikamporn Natvorathat; and Akrapong Theepvajara, ex-director of the Foreign Rice Trading Office, makes one wonder how deep the rabbit hole goes.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.prachatai.com/english/category/human-rights-watch-hrw">Human Rights Watch</a> (HRW) is the Thai junta’s least favourite international human rights non-governmental organization, just below <a href="http://www.prachatai.com/english/category/amnesty-international-ai">Amnesty International</a> (AI). HRW’s 2017 report, covered in this recent Prachatai English <a href="http://www.prachatai.com/english/node/6836">news report</a>, which includes some choice quotes from Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch, is quite damning.</p>

<p>As reported in this excellent <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-12-23/thai-junta-introduces-idealogical-boot-camp-for-kindergarten/8145362">ABC News column</a> drawing on a Matichon Online story, the Royal Thai Military has begun the systematic militarized indoctrination of kindergarteners.</p> <p><strong>Systematic Military Indoctrination of Thai Kindergarteners Begins</strong></p>

<p><em>“As far as we can discern, the sole purpose of human existence is to kindle a light of meaning in the darkness of mere being.” C. G. Jung, Memories, Dreams, Reflections.</em></p> <p><strong>IQ Redux</strong></p>

<p>The McNamara Fallacy:</p> <p align="center"><em>The first step is to measure whatever can be easily measured. This is OK as far as it goes.<br />The second step is to disregard that which can’t be easily measured or to give it an arbitrary quantitative value. This is artificial and misleading.&nbsp; The third step is to presume that what can’t be measured easily really isn’t important. This is blindness. The fourth step is to say that what can’t be easily measured really doesn’t exist. This is suicide.</em></p>

<p dir="ltr">For the past few years, the issue of human trafficking in Thailand has continued to be front page news. But instead of focusing on the many successes of the counter trafficking response, these articles have tended to highlight more of the inadequacies of the on-going efforts. As one of the first countries to bring the issue of human trafficking to the world stage in the early 1990s, this has been a terrible embarrassment among those who feel that Thailand’s past achievements have been forgotten in recent times. One thing is clear.</p>

<p><em>"All so that it would be a stronger world</em></p> <p><em>A strong, though loving, world</em></p> <p><em>To die in"</em></p> <p>John Cale</p>