Earlier last week, disturbing footage of a school director in Petchabun molesting an underaged female student made headlines throughout the country.
The case sparked an outcry in the online community, enraging thousands of netizens who demand that the 59-year-old director be fired and sent to prison.
Clearly, that is the outcome you would expect in any civilized country.
But that hasn’t been the case.
After the alleged molester – identified as Narongwit Phakham – surrendered himself to the police, he was released on bail the same day.
The Office of the Basic Education Commission initially ordered an investigation and according to its secretary-general, the director could be fired if found guilty.
Yet accusations that the OBEC was trying to sweep the case under the rug persists.
To the average Thai, this revelation is hardly surprising.
Indecent deeds done by the powerful patriarchs of society rarely have any repercussions.
This kind of outcome has become so common, that most just shrug off the various injustices.
But the fact that this is a recurrent theme in our country speaks volumes about the kind of society we live in – one that ignores and disregards the pleas of the weak, supports indecent crimes done by the patrons and powerful, and contributes to a backward society grounded on inequality and oppression.
And quite frankly, we should all be ashamed.
We should all be ashamed and really ask ourselves: is this the kind of society we want to live in and leave behind for our children?
How many other indecent deeds are we going to let slide and normalize?
When will our daughters, mothers, sisters truly ever feel safe?
More appalling than any crime, more destructive than any action is a culture of impunity where perpetrators are at best ignored and at worst encouraged.
Thailand’s culture of impunity when it comes to sexual violence reinforces predatory behavior because most men feel that there is little consequence to their action.
In fact, you can even see it written on their faces.
When reporters from Thairath went to Narongwit’s home to ask him about the allegations, the school director feigned ignorance and claimed that he was near-sighted and merely had to lean in closer to the student.
With no hint of guilt or shame on his face, Narongwit went as far as claiming that he could not even remember the name or whereabouts of the student and said that he would sue the person that had started those ‘rumours.’
Perhaps worse than the impunity that the infamous enjoy in our country is the propensity for those in power in our country to resort to the all too familiar victim-blaming.
Justice has never been found in Thailand, not socially, not politically and particularly not for women.
The victims, more often than not female, will have to live in guilt and shame and pay the price of a crime she never committed.
Something that was out of her control, something that should have been someone else’s ignominy has become her own.
She may never truly understand why it had to happen to her, or why her life and body means so little that the infamous can go on and live their lives carefree and without worry.
A survey conducted last year by research firm YouGov reported that up to one in five Thais experience sexual harassment, and according to the United Nations, nearly 90% of rape cases go unreported.
Last Tuesday, the country stepped up efforts to tackle sexual harassment by encouraging more women to report on sexual assault and promising to protect those who come forward.
This is indeed a step in the right direction, but it is gravely vague and far from enough. There should be clear, concrete policies to effectively punish perpetrators and check those in power.
This starts by recognizing that we can no longer afford ignorance, excuses, and indifference – sexual abuse is a crime, no matter the context or who was involved.
Clearly, this shouldn’t be too hard. We live in a self-proclaimed Buddhist country that preaches empathy and compassion. Yet this self-proclamation has in the past been said with a hint of hypocrisy.
Compassion means inclusivity for all, and we should start practicing it.
Ecrasez l’infame.
