During his 12 years as honorary consul, Mr Naumann, a former pharmaceutical executive who turned to dealing in art, built a firm reputation for talking straight, raising serious issues in Phuket with high-level officials.
Problems do not go away by ignoring them, and shooting the messenger is just as ineffective, as Mr Naumann often rightly pointed out – whether officials liked it or not.
In this, the leaked memo of the “terror alert” issued by the Governor’s Office last weekend begs the question of whether questioning the officials who leaked the memo is questionable in itself.
If the public is in danger, they have the right to know without delay.
Kudos to Phuket Provincial Police Chief Teerapol Thipjaroen for recognising the need to publicly validate whether or not the memo was genuine. However, providing the reason why the order to ramp up security was issued in the first place would have gone a long way to inspire confidence among the public.
Confidence is nothing more than faith, and faith is built on trust. And it is very difficult for anyone to trust any other person, organisation or institution unless there is transparency and the behaviour matches the words spoken.
That seems to be a big part in the lack of confidence expressed among dispirited readers in officials competently handling any major issue that rears its ugly head in Phuket. Pick any issue – traffic, crime, sea gypsy land, public projects, the list goes on – and the lack of transparency is apparent.
Perhaps a leaf should be taken from the school manual of Winai Suriyaprakan, Director of Plookpanya School, who issued a safety warning to parents on Tuesday over only posts on Facebook reporting an attempted child abduction in front of his school.
Mr Winai publicly admitted that the reports had not been confirmed and that the incident was being investigated, but still issued the alert just in case. And he had the guts to sign the order and send it out to parents himself. Praise to him.
If officials want to gain the trust – that is, “confidence” – of the public, perhaps openness, honesty and prudence like that of Mr Winai would be a good place to start.