It may be a case of how to end stupidity among govt officials

The deputy-provincial governor has already asked for an apology. The military government has ordered a committee to look into the matter of how an internal official letter was leaked to the media. Still, the case of “How to end the people’s stupidity” — the name of a project Khon Kaen local administrative bodies used to name a public education programme — continues to cause damage among residents and the government.

“How to end the people’s stupidity” was the disgraceful mission stated in a March 9 letter, issued by the Khon Kaen Local Administration Promotion Office and signed off by the province’s deputy governor.

It was circulated to other local government agencies ahead of their March 13 meeting to prepare for a planned visit by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha.

One day prior to the meeting, Khon Kaen deputy governor Suchai Butsara circulated another letter, saying the name was inappropriate.

So it was changed t o “How t o equip people with knowledge of the changing world”. The two letters were later leaked to the media over the weekend.

After the leaked letter had sparked criticism and made headlines, Porntip Khamchuen, head of the general administration section of Khon Kaen’s office of local administration promotion office, came out to apologise in tears that her section didn’t mean to offend anyone by that wording in the first version of the letter.

Still, local people hold a grudge.

Tul Prasertsil, president of a local movement group calling itself the people’s anti-corruption organisation in Khon Kaen, viewed the letter incident as an “inflammatory insult” to the people and demanded a clearer explanation from the parties concerned and he believed the explanation from the authority was “lame”.

Amarin Makhot, 25, a Khon Kaen resident, said he really wanted to know who created the wording in that letter and was wondering why on earth the government office handling the letter trusted that person to prepare the letter.

“The Thai people aren’t stupid but they are being prohibited from expressing their thoughts freely,” said Itthitpol Nutaboon, 27, another Khon Kaen resident.

For many critics, the case reflects the “holier-than-thou attitude” of local civil servants. This case well reflected how those civil servants viewed most local residents in the province as they struggle to cope with three basic problems: lacking of knowledge, money, and health care, said Prechapol Pongpanich, a former Pheu Thai MP for Khon Kaen.

“Personally, I think it’s the way those civil servants view the local residents which led to them thinking the PM’s visit was seen as a mission by the central government to correct something wrong here,” Mr Prechapol said.

Democrat Party deputy leader Nipit Intarasombat shared a similar view.

“The bureaucratic system becomes more powerful than usual, which make many civil servants tend to think they are the ones who give orders and the civilians have to follow them.”

“This has been happening everywhere, not only in those provinces seen as political bases of supporters of the red-shirt United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship,” Mr Nipit said.