Dear Mr. Prime Minister:
On behalf of Thai people living in the State of Washington & Oregon, please accept our congratulations & utmost appreciation on your success in restoring the peace & order in Bangkok & many provinces affected by the riots brought about by the ignorant red-shirted thugs. Good fellow Thais all over the world were sadden in the past several days by the unrest in our homeland. For us who live overseas far away from home, we’ve been following the events very closely with grave concern. In our mind & heart, we’ve prayed individually & collectively with monks in Thai temples for the safety of innocent Thai people & of your good self in particular. We prayed that you would be able to bring back peace, prosperity & harmony to our people & country very soon & with little bloodshed or no loss of live. We were so relieved that our prayers were answered; the dark clouds have been dispersed while peace, law & order as well as stability have returned. People throughout the kingdom were able to traditionally celebrate Songkran, the New Year. But it’s you who have been the instrumental & positive force leading to the desirable outcome with minimal bloodshed & loss of life, much less than we feared for.
It’s a very remarkable for a young person like you to remain cool, calm, composed, compassionate, courageous, courteous, committed/resolute, & restrained while conscientiously working hard to defuse the explosive situation & seemingly uncontrollable riots even your own life & safety were in serious jeopardy from the real threats merely inches away at the destructive hands of red-shirted mob gone mad. You spoke clearly, calmly, confidentially, firmly & logically that you aimed to resolve the crisis in the peaceful & best scenario to avoid bloodshed & loss of life because the rioters are also Thai people who were mostly misled. While reiterating your message, you also spoke of the rights of citizens in the compassionate & democratic spirit. You reasonably asked for understanding, cooperation & supports from all Thai people including the rioters, uniformed officers & media. This is in line with Sun Tsu’s teaching on the best way to win the war without really going into war!
This type of rampaging turmoil & nat’l disintegration has brought down many gov’ts & nat’l leaders. Faced with the most difficult duress circumstances, an inept & inexperienced leader would easily collapse. But you rose to the occasion, met the challenges, dealt with them rather effectively & successfully turned things around from the anarchy state & brink of disaster. You’ve been able to handle the crisis far better than other nat’l leaders could, including ex-President George W. Bush during those minutes & hours after the attacks in the US soil by terrorists on 9/11. It’s absolute the right move to invite the generals from all military branches & police to be with you in your public announcement. From the images I & millions of us saw in ASTV worldwide, you projected yourself positively with aura & characteristics of a true leader while those generals, Suthep (Deputy PM) & Satit sat on both sides with dejected faces & distressed state. A good majority of Thais said you were inexperienced, too soft & controlled by the generals. But among the minority, I also saw you differently but positively. Being a true gentleman with kind face & good heart who is compassionate, considerate & reasonable has given your appearance to be a weak person. But I believe underneath your good look & gentleness, you are as firm & stable as the majestic Mt. Fuji (Japan) & Mt. Rainier (in Washington State, USA).
While many doubted your leadership ability, others & I have firmly believed in you, that you’re the true leader despite your youth, inexperience & being civilian. I personally interpreted the gloomy faces of those generals who flanked you as being dismal (if not shame) & feeling bad for failures to do their primary duties to preserve the order, provide nat’l security, support you, protect you & foreign leaders as well as the general public, act/react in a more prudent & timely manner. They likely felt ashamed by their failure to live up to the expectation as older men & seasoned generals who were not as courageous, not as righteous, not as prudent, not as compassionate, and not as firm as the younger man like you.
Spring has sprung for all Earthy inhabitants in the countries above the tropic. Flowers are blooming while birds are singing. With the winding down of Songkarn Day observation, the New Year has arrived for Thai, Lao, Cambodia, Burma, and Mon people in SE Asia. With the riots have been quelled & most rebel leaders in Thailand have been arrested & in detention, normalcy has returned to our beloved homeland. Though the burning fire has been extinguished, the flame of discontents & ill-will remain. There’s no time for total relaxation or room for complacency. It’s the time for Thais to embark on the tasks of cleaning up the messes politically, socially & economically. It’s the time to rebuild our country. With your proven leadership & strong conviction as well as positive vision, while economic issue deserves your top priority attention/action, please take immediate steps to revamp the structure & procedures dealing with the issues of security & crisis/disaster prevention & management. It’s the time to restore law & order, to toughen up on law enforcement, and strengthen the legal system. It is also the ripe time to raise the importance of national unity & patriotism, to set the country on the right track for new politics & real democracy. Many Thais including myself hope that you’ll use your leadership traits, academic backgrounds & practical skills to lead the efforts changing the environments to achieve betterment for our country. By using the resources within you & by recruiting other highly capable dedicated individuals to help you, we believe you are the best person at this point in time & the foreseeable future to lead us to attain betterment on all fronts for Thai people & our country.
You have our supports & our respect. We’ll continue to support you on the good deeds/efforts. Aganin, thank you very much for your sacrifice, valiant efforts & wise actions/inaction solving the crisis during the trouble time.
May Buddha bless you & your loved ones!
Sincerely & respectfully,
Peter
