Useful Lesson in Democracy Drawn From Thailand's Election by Phairath Khampha 24 January 2001 Thailand's Janaury 6 election may have been the dirtiest in country's history, but it was a useful lesson in democracy for Asia. "Asia is facing a turbulent time. The creation of more transparent and more accountable governments is clearly going to be difficult. The weekend's election will be a big boost for people pressing for change," said Sunai Phasuk, a political scientist at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok. Although the election watchdog said that record sums of cash were dumped on voters, many old-style politicians lost their seats in the avalanche of votes which swept relative political newcomer Thaksin Shinawatra's Thai Rak Thai party to victory - and possibly to an unprecedented absolute majority in the 500-seat House of Representatives. The institutions set up to check poll-rigging appeared to function well enough, given Thais' penchant for dishonest behaviour, and Thailand's new anti-corruption constitution requires votes be counted at district offices rather than at polling stations. A host of other rules and the greatly increased vigilance of the Election Commission allowed an unusually high number of fresh faces - perhaps 40 percent - to enter Parliament. "It's quite a remarkable election. It looks as if the tone of politics in Thailand has turned quite sharply," said one diplomat. The self-serving ways of many Asian politicians came under fire following the economic crisis that was started by the baht's tumble in mid-1997. The frustration of Thailand's urban elite with corrupt and incompetent MPs reached breaking point after the crash and spawned the new constitution. It is these greedy, venal elites, stealingall the wealth that is generated, that spark such economic crashes in Asia when they steal much, much more wealth than the economy ever generate. Although many Thais were dismayed by the rise of populist politics under Mr Thaksin and feared a backlash when his bold promises had to be paid for, they took comfort in the notion that the old-style Parliament appears to be gone--at least for now, and perhaps forever. But some relics of the past remained. Assadang Panikabutra, a political analyst at Ramkhamhaeng University, said: "They will have to adapt. They won't be able to get away with what they did in the past." Mr Sunai said: "People may have to accept that in a developing democracy every three steps forward can lead to two steps back." Yet, as countries such as Thailand help lead the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations towards a hopefully more democratic future, hardline authoritarian regimes in Indochina and Burma might look increasingly out of step.