The latest from the great Ladprao burglary of our near neighbour the Perm Sec of the Ministry of Transport Supoj Saplom is that police now seem to believe that some 100 million baht in cash was stolen from his home (everyone seems to be away from that home now and presumably have taken any liquid assets with them).
So, on the day he was celebrating his daughter’s wedding, Khun Supoj seems to have come a cropper that will blight the rest of his life – the NACC (National Anti-Corruption Commission) has begun an investigation and, given how long these things seem to take in Thailand. he can expect to be under suspicion for many years to come.
People find it very easy to believe the worst – the large house, the fact that the Transport Ministry is considered an ‘A Grade Ministry’ in terms of revenue opportunities and the poor states of transportation in the country (as the floods recede, there seem to be more potholes in the roads, for example) all seem to provide compelling evidence that something must be wrong. Of course, there have been so many scandals over the years (some genuine scandals and some manufactured by certain invisible hands) that it seems inevitable that everyone is at it.
This is one of the causes and the effects of a low trust society such as we have here. We are in chicken-egg territory here to some extent but low trust reduces the possibilities of developing the social solidarity necessary for real change in the country.
