It passed!!!

Dear All Supporters:

When I initiated this campaign to mobilize overseas Thai support for the Constitution, I had no idea that the response would be so overwhelming. Each of the first few days after the first email was sent out, my account was flooded by more than 200 positive responses a day. It was exhilarating to see that we, the Thai people who reside abroad, care so deeply about Thailand at this particular time. Although I had requested prospective supporters not to send text messages, I still received notes of varied length saying how ugly Thai politics has become and how we must act to make things better. Many messages expressed gratitude for the OTC forum. Some said they did not have detailed knowledge of the draft constitution, but still want to support its passage because it's the best hope for Thailand right now. I would like to say here that everyone's support for the campaign is very much appreciated. And if I did not reply in length, it was only because of the lack of time and resources.

CAMPAIGN RESULTS

I received more than 1,000 emails in ten days, all supporting the draft constitution's passsage. Based on the appearance of the email addresses, supporters are predominantly Thai students in higher education doing their MAs and PhDs in the USA, UK, Australia, and Japan. However, I gathered from further enquiries that there was also a significant number of Thai professionals working abroad in countries like Denmark, Norway, Portugal, India, Germany, France, the Netherlands, apart from the USA and UK. These professionals include professors, chemists, computer system analysts, engineers, doctors, nurses, and so on. And there are many more than these, since most supporters whose email addresses were non-academic gave their names without indication of their profession. The emails from educational institutions also encompassed the globe, save South America, the Middle East, and Africa!

Regrettably, since the campaign has been conducted through email, most overseas Thais were excluded. But the campaign was not intended to be exclusionary. Email was used only as a means of manageability and viability. So if you know fellow overseas Thais without email who want to sign up, they can try to do so at the web site below. Of course, it would have been ideal to put posters around the world to conduct our campaign, but it was not workable. If we can galvanize upwards to 2,000-plus supporters in two weeks just through email alone, I'm sure the number would multiply many times if we had a more accessible mode of communication. All the names and email addresses have been alphabetically compiled into one list, which will be posted on the OTC's homepage by Sept 15th. I do apologize in advance if some of your names or email addresses are misspelled or mistakenly omitted. If you do not find your name, please simply re-register at the web site below.

THE OTC's HOMEPAGE

Among the emails offering assistance to the campaign, I luckily ran into Vara Varavithya, a PhD candidate at Iowa State University. With Internet space provided by the generosity of the Thai Students Association at Iowa State, Vara volunteered to set up a web site for the OTC campaign. It is now up and running, looking sharper by the day, thanks to his Internet expertise. Please check the OTC's web site regularly during the next few weeks, as it contains key issues which need your input The site, which is , also has relevant and up-to-date information on the constitution and the issues involved in its passage. You will also find that many additional supporters have signed up, including domestic Thais and farangs from all over the world. From now on, please do not direct emails to my account unless necessary. You can use the `Message board' in the web site as an interactive forum. I realize not all of us will have WWW access readily at hand, but please do try to gain access at least once or twice a week if you can. Our campaign is global in organization, with the Internet as the key to communication.

THE NEXT STEP

While it's in full gear, our campaign has been overtaken by political events in Thailand. We can no longer simply say we `support the constitution.' The question has become `Whose constitution do we want?' The one drafted by the Constitution Drafting Assembly without changes? Or one which is amended according to what the politicians want? Should there be any changes to the draft constitution? If yes, what changes? And when? For many weeks, Prime Minister Chavalit refused to make a clear stand on the draft. Then, in August, he told Time magazine that he's for the constitution. Subsequently, on 4 September, he and a group of senators and Government MPs petitioned to amend Article 211 of the present (not the draft) constitution, so that they can alter the CDA's draft. (This is when the Baht plunged to 38.60 per dollar.) Under pressure from the military and the public, Chavalit and his allies reluctantly reversed their position and agreed to pass the draft. But when pro-constitution senators and Opposition members asked him to do so as soon as possible, Chavalit and his allies maneuvered for a 15-day wait before voting on the draft. Now the draft will not be voted on until 27 September, one day after parliament's no-confidence vote (see `Summary of current situation' in the homepage). To be effective, our campaign has to keep up with this kind of game. We will have a new constitution, but its final version may not be the one we want. To ensure that we end up with the CDA-drafted constitution, we need to press for:

• prompt ratification on Sept 27th without further delay;
• an election held as soon as possible after passage;
• no amendments until after an election is held, and
• the amendment process must involve CDA input. These points are designed to deter manipulation and distortion of the draft by politicians. If they can change one article among the draft's 336, the politicians may alter other clauses as well. These points will be posted on the web site by Sept 15th with a more detailed background explanation in the link called `Position statements.' With your involvement, they will be incorporated into a press release and distributed to newspapers in Thailand by Monday, Sept 22nd. Once again, thank you for your support. Thai democracy will be what we, not the politicians, make of it.

-- Thitinan Pongsudhirak.