ตัวไปใจไม่ตาม

มือ บอกให้ไป มันก็ไป

ขา บอกให้มา มันก็มา

ปาก บอกให้พูด มันก็พูด

หู บอกให้ฟัง มันก็ฟัง

นื้ว บอกให้จับ มันก็จับ

ตา บอกให้มอง มันก็มอง

แต่ใจ… บอกให้ไป มันก็ไม่ไป

บอกให้มา มันก็ไม่มา

มันไปตามภาษาใจ

มันไปของมัน ตามทางที่เพียงใจจะเข้าใจ

ชีวิตมันมีหนทางที่จะต้องเดิน แต่ใจ ต้องปล่อยให้ไปตามทางของใจ

เราอาจจะไม่ได้เดินตามทางของใจ แต่อย่างน้อยเรารู้จักภาษาที่ใจพูดให้เราฟัง

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Rain

I stepped onto the balcony and felt a wonderful breeze. Dark clouds were at a distance and soon I knew the rain would come. So on the balcony I sat and waited and the rain came. And I sat right there watching the rain. I knew it would pass and there I was just sitting. The rain came and just like the way it came, it went on its way leaving its mark on the floor of the balcony. I wonder, does life imitate rain? Just wondering.

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Election and Democracy in Thailand

At the end of the presentations organized by Foreign Correspondence Club on the Resurgence of Thaksin and the Future of Thailand, one of the journalists raised the question, ‘what gives the yellow shirts the rights to disregard election results.’ My reading of his intention was the legitimacy of democratic process implying that if you seek to get rid of a government from the majority, you are disregarding the democratic process. People can’t just ignore the election outcome just because they are not in favor. As a Thai, it is difficult to deny elements within the country that are road blocks to democracy such as corruption, the role of the military, the elites etc. It is also essential to acknowledge the growing gap between the wealthy few and the poor majority. These are issues that need to be addressed as effectively as possible. However there are other concerns as well that came to mind as I sat and listen to questions being raised pertaining to the current election within Thailand. It seems that there is a danger in confusing capitalism with democracy. It seems as well that economic growth is not equal to progress toward democracy. Democracy is not just a constitution. It is a state of being, the collective psyche of the nation. It is a sense of emotional maturity that comes with contentment. It is the ability to acknowledge differences and live with disagreement, the willingness to compromise and the courage to live with things when they do not go the way we want it to go without being taken advantage off. It is not a policy that can be implemented. It is about people and what they hold within their hearts. You can’t create democracy. You create people with a sense of security and maturity. You can’t go ahead of them either. They need to move at their own pace. It seems that the process of democracy is the everyday things we do in little things we engage in to help people around us gather a sense of security and maturity. To know that disagreement does not take away a sense of value. And this is where I think we need to be careful because, philosophically, capitalistic materialism strives to prove superiority of one over the others. While it is difficult to hold back the force of capitalism, it is important to regulate. The US, while viewing herself as the champion of democracy, has witnessed the force of unregulated capitalism generating a deep sense of insecurity. We have seen our tax money being spent rescuing financial institutions that took high risk for its gain. And those with big capitals continue to gain while unemployment increases and the average Americans suffer. I sometime wonder if we, in the US, really have the freedom we think rightly belongs to us? It seems to me the challenge of democracy in Thailand is not who gets the most votes, who is elected, who runs the country, how to stimulate economic growth. It seems to me, the challenge of democracy in Thailand is a sense of security not in what they have but who they are, not in their productivity but in the potential for mutual respect, not in action derived from a sense of inadequacy but in action that comes from contentment. I suspect democracy is rooted in a system that does not need more in order to be adequate.

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