On May 8, a seminar at the Faculty of Law, Thammasat University reminded students why it is worth hearing opinions different from our own on subjects of global impact. The seminar, hosted by TU Faculty of Law, the Thai Association for International Understanding, and the Institute of Diplomacy and International Studies, Rangsit University, dealt with current political issues in the USA and the world. Its title was Trump, the Deep State, and the Challenge of Open Source Everything. The recently elected President of the United States has naturally caused a lot of debate. Deep state, when discussed about the U.S.A., refers to career government employees who try to influence governmental policy, rather than accept decisions by leaders who were elected by the people. At first, the term deep state referred to situations in European countries which seemed to be run by groups other than the officially declared governments. Many observers see the use of the term deep state in America as a mere conspiracy theory. The phrase Open Source Everything refers to a dream that one day everything, from money to military intelligence information, will be open sourced. These complex and sometimes confused world issues were confronted by a panel of distinguished Thai thinkers, including Professor Dr. Krasae Chanawongse, Thai Association for International Understanding; Professor Dr. Sompong Sanguanbun, Dean of the Institute of Diplomacy and International Studies at Rangsit University; and Assistant Professor Dr. Kittisak Prokati, Faculty of Law, Thammasat University. Of these, Dr. Krasae was the first speaker. He is a physician and professor of medicine who in 1973 was honoured with the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Community Leadership, one of Asia’s most distinguished honors. As its website explains,

The Ramon Magsaysay Award, Asia’s premier prize and highest honor, celebrates greatness of spirit and transformative leadership in Asia.  In the past five decades, the award has been bestowed on over three hundred outstanding men, women and organizations whose selfless service has offered their societies, Asia, and the world successful solutions to some of the most intractable problems of human development.

Not being discouraged when problems are intractable, or difficult to deal with or control, is clearly one aspect of high achievement. The award referred to Dr. Krasae’s work in rural areas of the Kingdom:

In his 12-year crusade for sanitation, preventive medicine and curative treatment within the means of his Health Center, KRASAE has established a rare rapport with his remote community and has educated the people to a new and vital awareness of what they can do for themselves with meager means. He has earned their love and pride by his ennobling example. In electing KRASAE CHANAWONGSE to receive the 1973 Ramon Magsaysay Award for Community Leadership, the Board of Trustees recognizes him for demonstrating that a doctor dedicated to service can overcome the most stubborn of obstacles in bringing effective health services to neglected and impoverished rural people.

Accepting the award, Dr. Krasae responded, in part:

I am indeed very pleased to be the recipient of the Ramon Magsaysay Award. It never occurred to me that I should receive such a great honor. It is far more than I could ever have hoped for in my position as a doctor in rural Thailand. I am even more impressed by the greatness of the honor given me when I consider the man—Ramon Magsaysay. His selfless devotion to the task of improving the lot of his countrymen is an inspiration to the whole world, and my receiving this Award has again brought to the notice of the Thai people this great man and the principles he stood for—principles of freedom and democracy and of the importance and dignity of every individual person. I must say that I admire the diplomatic way of working employed by the Board of Trustees of the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation. Usually, competitors receive the prize when the race is finished. For me, this prize doesn’t mean the end of the race but it will be a spur to even greater endeavor on behalf of the people of Muang Phon, and, therefore, of the vast population of rural Thailand.

Dr. Krasae has also served as Foreign Minister of Thailand and Minister to the Office of the Prime Minister. Born in Phon District, Khon Kaen Province, northeastern Thailand, he studied medicine at Chulalongkorn University and the Faculty of Medicine Siriraj Hospital, graduating in 1960. He earned a diploma in tropical public health at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, as well as a doctor of public health degree from Columbia University. After working as a physician in Phon and leading a rural mother and child health program in Khon Kaen province, he served as director of the ASEAN Institute for Health Development in Bangkok and research and development director of Naresuan University. Among books by Dr. Krasae in the TU Libraries collection are Rural Development Management: Principles, Propositions, and Challenges; Understanding Primary Health Care Management: From Theory to Practical Reality; English for Medical Students, Nurses and Medical Secretaries; Primary Health Care: a Continuing Challenge; and Mobilizing University Graduates for Health and Social Development: A Learning Experience From The Graduate Health Volunteers and the Graduates Return Home Projects, the last two co-authored texts. On May 8, Dr. Krasae told listeners at the TU Faculty of Law that he was interested in the subject of discussion because:

I try to ask myself, why Trump and who is Trump, and what is the meaning of deep state.

He added that such public discussions have value, referring to an American speaker who had previously worked for America’s Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)

helping us to learn not only about the CIA, but to learn to know ourselves as Thais. The CIA is very important, but at the same time very dangerous. Meaning I don’t know what is going on with the performance of the CIA.

Yet spending some time with such challenging subjects is worthwhile, Dr. Krasae concluded,

To help us in our understanding of ourselves.

Another speaker echoed these thoughts, Assistant Professor Dr. Kittisak Prokati, a scholar in comparative law, civil law, and philosophy of law at the Faculty of Law, Thammasat University. Dr. Kittisak is an alumnus of the Faculty of Law, Thammasat University, after which he earned a diploma in comparative law at the University of Strasbourg, France, followed by a master’s degree and a research doctorate in law from the University of Bonn, Germany. He has served as president of the Thammasat University Faculty Senate and as a Thammasat University Councillor, among other responsibilities. Dr. Kittisak also initiated the establishment of a Centre for German Legal Studies and a German Academic Exchange Service lectureship at the Faculty of Law, Thammasat University. He also sits on the supervisory board of the German-Southeast Asian Center of Excellence for Public Policy and Good Governance (CPG), based at Thammasat University.  In 2009 he was awarded the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (Bundesverdienstkreuz) for his work furthering exchange and co-operation between the legal systems of Thailand and Germany. Among books by Dr. Kittisak in the TU Libraries collection are Research Report on Application of Islamic Law in Thailand and Non-liability for the Purchase of Movable Goods according to German and Thai Law, the latter book published in German language. Dr. Kittisak also told the audience on May 8 that disagreement in discussion is to be expected:

It is academic freedom to listen to each other even when, and especially when, we disagree. Lectures can cause us to reflect on how openness is part of good governance.

(All images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)