สำนักราชบัณฑิตยสภา

The Journal of the Royal Institute of Thailand Volume II - 2010 Towards A Culture of Peace in Thai Society 16 “faith in fundamental human rights and dignity and worth of the human person”. Safety and security of the individual, gender equality and other such ideas and legal incitements contribute to inclusion and integration of all people. Where these are present and respected, building of or maintaining trust between the members of society should not prove too difficult. Sharing Authority One way of achieving trust and harmony for its citizens as a sense of having a stake in society, is by setting up formal political institutions, at levels below that of central Government, with a share in authority, power and, with fiscal autonomy to some degree. These would enhance political inclusion and promote local participatory democracy. The Constitution of B.E. 2540 envisaged people’s participation and consultation along the process of administration by assigning responsibility to a lower level of Government by undertaking decentralization and devolution of power. Establishing a lower level of political representation and thus enhancing local ownership such as Tambon Councils was a step in this direction. Decentralizing education and the police force administration were also considered. Another such attempt, at the national level, was the establishment of Independent Agencies provided for and set up under the Constitution. Still, these were primarily ‘top-top’ instruments for advising and checking on those in power. Their implementation was devised on the back of past negative experiences, such as corruption and lack of up-to-date expertise on the part of those with authority. These thus were products viewed with suspicion by ‘the’ people fearing those who govern may not reflect their concerns and therefore may need to be controlled. (An additional draw back is that these agencies, too, comprise of a few selected members who, again, represent the masses.) Raising Awareness Whereas violence and conflict tend to proceed with an accelerating pace, reconciliation and resolution of conflict must be viewed as a protracted and gradual process that starts off rather slowly, but not due to a single event. In the absence of security valves, political opponents need first to be equipped with useful formulae for non-confrontational expression of opinion and low-key dialogue. All this could contribute to pre-empting or keeping conflict at low-level. At the same time, it would also afford law enforcing authorities the time for conducting appropriate training for policing demonstrators or for crowd control, by employing a non-violent