The old saying that "acquiring know-how matters less than who you know" is not only prevalent but is practised in its most blatant form in elite study courses, according to observers.
The courses are a breeding ground of the patronage system, with "students" jockeying to make connections to advance their political and business interests, the observers added.
A recent news report about two senior Supreme Court judges calling for the abolition of the popular advanced justice administration (AJA) course for high-level executives was an instant attention grabber.
The judges wrote to the Supreme Court president, who chairs the top-level justice administration committee, calling for the course, which has attracted many rich and powerful businesspeople, to be discontinued.
They also urged the court president to ban judges from enrolling in other high-profile courses such as the national defence programme, the politics and governance for democracy course for executives, and a course for executives organised by the Capital Market Academy.
They claimed the courses were not conducive to judges' and justice officials' line of work.
Such study programmes could also potentially undermine judges' moral and ethical integrity while condoning a patronage system that could compromise judges' impartiality, they said.
Relationships forged with fellow programme attendees could foster preferential treatment and compromise a judge's ability to perform impartially.
The two judges also expressed concerns the budget the Office of the Courts of Justice spends hosting the AJA may not be worth the cost.
Most importantly, according to the judges, the course could chip away public trust in the credibility of the courts of justice.
The observers noted the petition story saw little response from politicians, who are the main participants in the courses.
However, the petitioning judges were immediately praised by former finance minister and former Democrat Party deputy leader Korn Chatikavanij.
Mr Korn said the judges deserved praise for recognising the critical importance of judges giving politicians and business figures a wide berth.
In a Facebook post, he suggested the AJA was the most "conscience-defying" of all the debatable study courses.
Most businesses fight for a place on the AJA course, hoping to hobnob with judges and admit them into their circles. "One doesn't need to expand on the implication of such new-found friendships to understand what is wrong with them," the senior politician said.
Manufacturing friendships with judges through participation in these courses, rather than attaining knowledge, may well serve as the ultimate goal of many politicians and business attendees, according to Mr Korn.
The courses have their merits, although the cons may outweigh the pros, in that they set the stage for participants to secure personal connections on which the patronage system that feeds abuse of power and corruption thrives.
The connections are highly sought-after by course participants to further their business or political ambitions. But such advantages are built on "know who", not the application of "know-how", which does not bode well for meritocracy.
Mr Korn explained that personal connections are exploited to obtain the upper hand in fighting for bigger slices of the cake. On the other hand, creating know-how is to increase the size of the "cake" or resources, which sets the country on a fair and sustainable development path.
"In the past 30 years or so, the movers and shakers of various organisations in the country have worked overtime at fostering "know who" prowess and this trend is on the rise," Mr Korn said.
Executives are eager to pay hundreds of thousands of baht to do a popular study programme with extra-curricular activities thrown in to heighten connections among influential attendees.
Participants of some programmes even take over a golf course to host tournaments to raise funds to pay for get-together events for class members. It was not uncommon for certain programmes to organise such tournaments several times in a row.
Mr Korn said some business-owning friends confided in him that they half-heartedly joined the programmes. They admitted, however, that it was in their best interests to get onto the courses as they opened many doors.
The friends maintained they must blend in or find themselves at a disadvantage in doing business.
"I'm not denying that having friends is important in any culture. Most people we keep as friends are classmates from school or our alma mater. In Thailand, though, that pool of friends is not big enough," he said.
Mr Korn noted many people have gone on to make more friends while attending professional courses as they invest in creating connections in the name of self-interest.
The former finance minister admitted he had referred quite a few people for some of the study courses while he was in office. He also lectured during such study programmes.
"But when someone has stepped forth to say enough is enough with this system, I stand firmly behind them.
"We should instead spend more time innovating the "know-how". That will thrust our country forward," he said.
Thamanat: Successful in PAO polls
Will Thaksin veto Thamanat?
As Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra nears six months in office, speculation is mounting that the Pheu Thai Party-led government may soon face a cabinet shake-up.
Reports indicate that individuals close to her father, Thaksin, the ruling party's alleged de facto leader, believe it may be time to make changes to the cabinet and reward allies who have delivered.
Such allies include Capt Thamanat Prompow, chief adviser of the Kla Dharma Party, whose affiliates secured Provincial Administrative Organisation (PAO) election victories in provinces where Pheu Thai did not field candidates.
Kla Dharma won PAO contests in Samut Songkhram, Nakhon Nayok, Nongbua Lamphu and Mukdahan.
According to observers, Capt Thamanat's success in the PAO polls has not gone unnoticed.
Stithorn Thananithichot, director of the Office of Innovation for Democracy at King Prajadhipok's Institute, said the outcome of the PAO polls suggests that the Kla Dharma Party can be a strategic partner for Pheu Thai, like the Prachachat Party, which is dominant in the southernmost provinces.
The party has a strong chance of reclaiming Pheu Thai electoral ground lost to the Bhumjaithai Party in some central and northeastern provinces, said Mr Stithorn.
This would bolster Pheu Thai's chances of securing 200 House seats in the next general election and having much stronger negotiating power when forming a coalition government, he noted.
But bringing Capt Thamanat, who has a questionable background, into his daughter's cabinet as a thank-you gesture may not be a wise move and could even be disastrous.
Capt Thamanat, former secretary-general of the Palang Pracharath Party (PPRP), previously served as the agriculture and cooperatives minister in the Srettha Thavisin administration.
But he was excluded from the Paetongtarn cabinet despite his faction being awarded three cabinet seats in exchange for supporting the government. The post was assigned to Kla Dharma leader Narumon Pinyosinwat to avoid legal complications due to Capt Thamanat's criminal conviction in Australia for a drug offence in the 1990s.
When Mr Srettha was removed as premier by the Constitutional Court for appointing ex-convict Pichit Chuenban as PM's Office minister, it was deemed necessary for Capt Thamanat, to relinquish his ministerial post to Ms Narumon, who has been close to him since their early days in the PPRP.
Both Thaksin and Ms Paetongtarn are reportedly wary of bringing Capt Thamanat into the fold. They have maintained there is no reshuffle plan "for now" and that ministers will stay where they are despite a no-confidence motion expected to be lodged by the opposition at the end of the month.
According to observers, it is believed that Thaksin can persuade Capt Thamanat that the time is not yet right for him to join the cabinet.
Thanaporn Sriyakul, director of the Political and Public Policy Analysis Institute, said Thaksin must weigh the cost of a cabinet reshuffle carefully if he wants to bring Capt Thamanat back into the cabinet as a rewarding gesture.
He said the controversy surrounding Cap Thamanat poses a political risk that Thaksin wants to avoid because the fallout could result in Ms Paetongtarn being ousted like Mr Srettha was.
According to the analyst, there are other risks that could put Ms Paetongtarn's cabinet in peril. These risks are associated with Thaksin and include bringing home his sister and fugitive former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra and booting the United Thai Nation (UTN) Party from the coalition.
In an interview with Nikkei Japan last year, Thaksin said he did not see any obstacles to Yingluck's return, and she might be able to come back just before the Songkran festival, depending on the timing and opportunity.
Last weekend, when asked whether his sister would be able to return this year, Thaksin said, "I'm still looking into it. In fact, she said she wanted to return yesterday."
Yingluck fled the country in 2017, shortly before a court ruling on her administration's corruption-plagued rice-pledging scheme that ran up at least 500 billion baht in losses. She was sentenced to five years in prison for failing to stop graft in the government-to-government sales of rice from the scheme.
Mr Thanaporn believed that Yingluck's return to Thailand around Songkran, as desired by Thaksin, is unlikely to happen given the current political circumstances.
"If Thaksin still hopes to bring Yingluck home soon, removing a key coalition partner is the last thing he should consider. Both father and daughter understand the government isn't solid enough to take that gamble," said Mr Thanaporn.
