THE BIG ISSUE: A TRILLION HERE, A TRILLION THERE

The government introduced its bill to borrow 2.2 trillion baht for the key second reading in parliament. The Democrats outlined their strategy to delay, but the official opposition was clearly resigned to losing both the parliamentary battle and the overall war — although not without making a spirited and principled stand.

Somewhere, there is a man who doesn’t know the basics of the 2.2-trillion-baht loan. The other 65 million people have no problem with the facts, or in forming an opinion. It’s pretty simple.

The government has the outline of a master plan to build a countryful of infrastructure — roads, railways, ports, mass transit systems, communications and so on. It wants everything part of this one plan, run by the prime minister’s office and the finance ministry, meaning a key necessity is to gather all the money needed for the whole kit and caboodle — 2.2 trillion baht.

Others, certainly the official opposition, want the same infrastructure, but built as always, as independent projects, supervised by the relevant department of the responsible ministry. It wants projects to be funded from the regular budget, on an annual basis, and using deficits if required. The plan to borrow 2.2 trillion baht is the biggest, embossed invitation to corruption, mismanagement and failure in Thai history.

Choose one. No authority or prominent person has picked neither, and both is not an option.

The projects are not a sticking point. Opposition leader Abhisit Vejjajiva opened Thursday’s debate by saying how terrific they are. ‘‘The Democrats support many of the projects proposed in this borrowing bill,’’ he began.

The unique reason for barrels of ink being splashed on tonnes of newsprint to report and opine on millions of words uttered in hundreds of hours of parliament and street rallies is the loan. But just how much is 2.2 trillion baht?

If you had been alive when the Buddha was born, and you received 2.2 trillion baht and an injection for perpetual life, and you began spending one million baht every day without a rest until this morning, you would still have lots of money left under your mattress.

Yet the government proposes to bor- row, spend and pay back 2.2 trillion in less than 50 years, or somewhere around 110 million baht a day, every day, without a rest. That is in addition to the regular budget, which is already spending close to two trillion baht annually just to keep the country running with such basic necessities as an aircraft carrier, spiffy clocks for parliament and enough black paint to cover up all the national airline’s logos, just in case.

The argument that the government’s plan is too expensive doesn’t really work. The Democrats also want to spend that same 2.2 trillion baht, but they want to increase the budget and budget deficit to do it. Their economic guru and former minister Korn Chatikavanij laid out a plan on Thursday to spend the entire 2.2 trillion baht, but to finance it over a few years, starting with a 20% layout this year, or 400 billion baht.

The Democrats also claim they could account for it better, because budgeting a (relatively) small amount on each project is easier to track and smack the hands of thieves than to have one huge pile of money, lightly guarded by fewer responsible ministers. The government insists there can’t be any corruption on its watch because . . . well, because.

That is where we are. The government has a majority in parliament which can easily pass the borrowing bill, along with the support of the business community. The Democrats can’t win a parliament showdown, and there is little chance the courts will help. So they hope they have righteousness and a large slice of public opinion and, just possibly, the strength of street protests, although that seems fantastical for now.

The government has so far been treating the loan bill with the same halting enthusiasm as amnesty and constitutional amendments. That is, it will debate the issues, but will not go for a final showdown vote, in fear of inflaming serious conflicts.

The government has also applied the same slipshod, occasional explanation of its loan bill as it has for other issues. Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has never gone whole-heartedly to the country to support any issue, including the loan.

The premier is at another crossroads, and must decide whether to pass and proceed with the biggest funding for the biggest project in the country’s history, or put it off again in the hope of a better political atmosphere.