The uneducated incapable of rational decisions?
The “uneducated” label is as revealing as it is damning. Its political purpose is to justify the ineligibility of the predominantly Northern voters. It implies that the Northerners are unable to make decisions based on reason and rational thought. Why? Because the people there are uneducated and are hence easily charmed by the populist promises of Thaksin.
So much for a perfect case of circular logic. That the real response needed may be a relentless focus on education in the rural areas completely escapes Thailand’s urbanized elites. In fact, in collusion with the government bureaucracy, they have seen to it for many decades that the Northerners remain uneducated.
In contrast, Bangkok and the South know better. That’s because people living there have received an advanced education, either from Chulalongkorn or Thammasat University or they have gone abroad to study. Most of the time, it is a combination of both.
If you have only met this bunch of “privileged” Thais, you would be forgiven for thinking that all Thais are well educated and speak English with an impeccable American accent.
In reality, the Thai example aptly demonstrates the mismatch between enrollment and quality of education. That enrolling all students does not necessarily guarantee a high quality of education is an intrinsic challenge of Education for All (EFA).
EFA is the international initiative designed to bring the benefits of education to “every person in every society,” first launched in Thailand in 1990. The urgency of this learning crisis has also been recently covered in the 2013/14 EFA Global Monitoring Report.