Ashburton Guardian Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit SATURDAY, DECEMBER 3, 1949. FORCE RULES IN SIAM

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 70, Issue 45, 3 December 1949, Page 4

Ashburton Guardian Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit SATURDAY, DECEMBER 3, 1949. FORCE RULES IN SIAM

Siam, or Thailand, as it is better known to-day, is a land of contrasts. It is also a country governed largely bV force. This state of affairs dates back a few years when a mere handful of revolutionaries wrested power from the Crown in a bloodless revolution, and 1 power, influence, and government are still held substantially within the ranks of the survivors and successors of the revolutionaries. Why the people should tolerate such a state of affairs is difficult to understand, but it is due mainly to

the fact that they are almost completely disinterested in what is going on around them. It is a fact that in recent years changes in control have been effected by coup d’etat rather than by election, and these changes have been effected between the rival parties, with the public taking practically no part, and certainly showing little concern. Comment on the reasons for existing conditions has been made by Noel Buckley, an N.Z.P.A.-Reuter correspondent in Singapore. He. says that one explanation may lie in the physical conditions of Siam. Outside Bangkok there are no newspapers, communications are poor and administration consists largelv of leaving well-enough alone. The civil broadcasting station is

under government control, but both the army and the navy have their own broadcasting stations. ,The mass of the Siamese are with out radio and without contact with radio. A deeper reason may lie in the character of the Siamese people. The Siamese are Buddhists. Their creed teaches them to be content with what they have 'and as conditions go in South-east Asia they have quite a lot to be content with. They are farmers: their land is some of the best in the region and there is plenty of it. Estimates say that about 60 per cent, of Siam is still under forest. Under Siamese law all land belongs to the crown and tire land-laws restrict the formation of-large holdings. There is a growing feeling that Thailand needs more realism and greater stability in her politics, but the trouble is how to bring this about. The risk of civil war is constantly present, arid because of that matters are allowed to continue |s they have been for many years.