Guns and Angels

'Thirty years ago, the career that almost every Thai boy wanted to follow was in the armed forces or police. -...the fact that the big people with power and influence in the society were all people in uniform made this the ideal career for Thai youth.' (Ex-prime minister Thaksin 1995)

The attraction that the armed forces and police has as a career path hasn't waned. In an all-boys school that I taught at the first choice vocation was to be policeman, closely followed by a soldier. The desire to be a businessman came in a distant third, a doctor a poor fourth.

I found the same first two choices most popular in a commercial college, however the want to be a computer programmer knocked businessman down a spot and none of the boys here wanted to be a doctor. However a few of the girls had their sights set on carrying a stethoscope, some wanted to be nurses but, perhaps because of the nature of the school, accountancy and cooking were the most popular career choices. Still, quite a number of the girls wanted to be in the police, and a few wanted to join the armed forces. One insisted she was going to be an angel.

It's not difficult to see why the forces still hold much appeal for young Thai; the recent coup shows their power still remains and the wealth and high-status ranking officers have is obvious to all. That wealth comes from different sources; generals, because of their influence, are often preferred candidates for board directorships of both private enterprises and government organisations, and the army still retains financial interests in radio and television companies.

A  future career in the Thai navy isn't so popular. Perhaps this is because the navy has had little to do with recent political events; their perceived lack of influence doesn't make them an attractive option. And, I suppose, it's not the sailor who has the power to pull you to the side of the road and squeeze a few baht from your wallet.

That's a little depressing- many young Thai just like their fathers and grandfathers seek power and dubious influence over other more noble goals. More depressing though is a likely future shortage of architects, journalists, surgeons, educators and scientists.  At least there will be one angel though.