When as a kid something had been broken at home, and my mother wanted to know which one of us kids was the culprit, she got from me and my siblings the standard answer "Not me!“ That was the name of the culprit responsible for everything unpleasant that happened.

 

This Mr.” Not Me" must be particularly feeling at ease in Thailand, because you will meet him everywhere you go in this country. Whatever goes bad here, nobody will admit to be responsible, and the blame is always put to somebody else, or the unknown Mr. "Not Me". This is what the craftsman says, who does not comply with a fixed date promised, and that makes the bus or truck driver, who after an accident will inevitably escape, if he still can hobble away. Why this is so, nobody can explain. There is in Thailand neither a law that guilty drivers will be executed on the spot, nor that they are mistreated by the police, but it is simply the reluctance of Thais, to take personal responsibility for something unpleasant. The politicians in Bangkok are masters in the art to deny any responsibility. During the financial crisis 1n 1997 they blamed not the avarice and incompetence of politicians and bankers in their own country for the dismal economic situation, but foreign financial speculators such as Soros, or the World Bank.

 

Nobody assumes responsibility for something that went wrong, and the Farang trying to analyze the case and find out who are the real culprits may expect some troubles. That was e.g. the case for an Australian auditor, who had to check the financial disaster in the largest sugar company in the country. He was taken away by paid assassins, and until now, no one has been held responsible for this crime.

 

Even when I in our family business want to know why something has not happened as planned, I never get the right reason, but usually some lame excuses. It is not only the fear of punishment, but even more so the fear of losing face, if one admits to have done wrong. If it is really inevitable someone times to criticize somebody, I take the sinner aside and admonish him where no one else will hear it. A correction before other people, even if it is justified, is deemed as offensive, and can trigger violent reactions.

 

While we Farang in general are trying to find out to whom we can point the finger, even if it is ourselves, Thais are always trying to go out of the way of conflicts. And will therefore usually without protest accept silly excuses, or the designation of a scapegoat. Whether in a landslide caused by chopping down all the trees, more than a hundred people are killed, or a Farang at night stumbles in an open channel lid on Sukhumvit Street in Bangkok and breaks his bones, one can only sue Mr. “Not Me" because nobody was responsible for cause.

 

The Thai bureaucracy has a reputation of being corrupt to the core. Civil servants culpable of corruption must not fear to be punished, but they will be moved to “Inactive Posts”. Nobody knows what they do there, but it is certain that their salary will continue to be paid. The punishment is that someone on an “Inactive Post” has no longer to make decisions, and thus looses the opportunity to get bribes. This typical Thai-solution saves the sinners caught red-handed, to admit their guilt in a court hearing, and cause them to lose their face.