Jaruvan for interim P.M.??

Khunying Jaruvan tops the list of choices for interim PM

Re: "Search is on for a leader of honour", Editorial, September 22.

Khunying Jaruvan Maintaka is the perfect choice to serve as interim prime minister because:

Having a female prime minister would help ease both domestic and international criticism of the coup.

She would be able to use her excellent public image to help serve the coup's anti-corruption objectives.

She could set up a committee to investigate past cases of corruption.

A prime minister with a clean record could bring a lot of scholars and experts in to help as advisers. There are many, who normally do not want to get dirty by being involved in politics, who may come to help.

I would also like to see Privy Council president General Prem Tinsulanonda return. I know he is old, but since he would only be prime minister for a short period up until the next elections, he would be an excellent choice. Bringing back Chuan Leekpai would also not be a bad move.

Another possibility would be to choose a non-politician with a reputation for absolute incorruptibility. Someone like the current ambassador to Australia Bandhit Sotipalalit maybe, though I think he'd make a better foreign minister.

But these are all long shots, so I'm betting on MR Pridiyathorn Devakula.

Witaya Sungkarat

BANGKOK, Thailand (CNN) -- In the wake of this week's military coup in Thailand, former central bank Governor Chatumongol Sonakul is favored to become the country's interim civilian leader, The Bangkok Post newspaper said Saturday.

An appointment will be made by September 30, the paper said.

Thai army chief Gen. Sonthi Boonyaratglin, who led the military group that ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra in a bloodless coup on Tuesday, has already said he would appoint an interim prime minister within two weeks and the military would then step back.

On Friday, Sonthi, who earlier received the endorsement of Thailand's King Bhumibol Adulyadej, took part in a nationally broadcast ceremony that formalized the monarch's backing, The Associated Press reported.

Friday also saw the first isolated protests in Bangkok against the coup.

The Post newspaper, citing highly placed sources, said Chatumongol Sonakul was regarded as among the best-qualified for the interim job because of his monetary and fiscal expertise as well as his recognition in the world community.

The British-educated technocrat led the Bank of Thailand from 1998 to 2001, when he was sacked by Thaksin in a dispute over interest rate policy, Reuters news agency reported.

Other potential candidates are said to be Supreme Administrative Court President Ackaratorn Chularat, former World Trade Organization chief Supachai Panitchpakdi and central bank boss Pridiyathorn Devakula.

Thaksin was in New York at the U.N. General Assembly at the time of the coup, but he is now in London, England.

On Friday, the coup leaders said they had completed setting up a nine-member commission to review corruption accusations made against the ousted billionaire leader.

They also sacked police officials tied to the former prime minister.

People need reforming, not the constitution

Now that the great Thaksin juggernaut has come tumbling down there is still much work to be done, and how Thailand goes about cleaning things up in the next six months is critical.

To say that political reform is going to solve our problems is naive; the 1997 constitution wasn't that bad. It is the people who interpreted it that need fixing.

The term "checks and balances" has been bandied about a lot lately, but these are not enough to avoid a repeat situation if determination is there to pervert the spirit of the constitution.

The truth is, it is we the people who need to check and balance ourselves. Thailand is suffering a crisis of ethics, not politics, and the nation as a whole is caught in a quagmire of questionable actions and dishonesty. It has infiltrated the highest echelons of society down to junior police officers and civil servants.

No one knows what the right decision is anymore, they're so bound up by patronage, self-interest, personal enrichment and loyalty above decency.

Thaksin may have set a particularly bad example, but there were hundreds beneath him willing to follow suit unconditionally. Where are they all now? Will they simply switch sides and continue being bad apples in the system?