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The recent problems of East and South-East Asia bring out, among many other
things, the penalty of limitations on democratic freedom. This is so in two striling respects,
involving the neglect of two important instrumental fredoms, viz. "protective security" and

"transparency guarantee."
First, when the financial crisis in this region (from 1997 onwards) let to a general
economic recession, the protective power of democracy not unlike that which prevents fam-
ines in democratic countries was badly missed in some countries in the region. Those who
were newly dispossessed in, say, Indonesia or Korea did not get the hearing they needed. The
vic times in Indonesia the unemployed or those newly made economically redundant may not
have taken very great interest in democracy when things had been going up and up. But when
things came tumbling down for some parts of the population, the lack of democratic institu-

tions kept their voices muffled and ineffective. The protective umbrella of democracy is
strongly missed exactly when it is most needed. Not surprisingly, democracy became a major
issue precisely at a time of crisis, when the economically dispossessed felt strongly the need for
a political voice. As the positive experience recently of South Korea shows, the workings of a
democracy even when revived only under an economic emergency can confront. with com-
mendable speed, severe problems of privation and insecurity.
Thailand too has made major progress in the direction of a fuller practice of

democracy. The new constitution of Thailand, adopted in the period of crisis ridden 1997, is
a very significant attempt to make Thai democracy more functional and effiicient. Indded,
given Thailand's wonderful record in economic growth (preceding the recent crisis), its tradi-
tion of using reasoned debates (rather then violent confrontation), the high level of literacy in
the population at large (rather than having to cope with large scale illiteracy as in South Asia),
and other favourable factors, Thailand's progress in democratic governance will attract atten-
tion and interest across the world. I personally think that this is one of the most important
events in the social progress occurring in the contemporary world.
The issue of democracy relates also to a further a second connection, that between

the lack of democracy and the causal factors leading to the recent economic crisis. The
financial crisis in some of these economies (such as Korea or Indonesia) has been closely
linked with the lack of transparency in business, in particular the lack of opportunity of public
scrutiny in reviewing financial and business arrangements. An effective democratic forum
could have been influential in preventing malpractice, especially at the top (involving, for
example, underhand arrangements between high ranking government officials and business

families). Efficient arrangements for public scrutiny of the activities and influences of selected
families or groups could have made a big difference.
Financial arrangements have many complexities, and the problems faced in differ-
ent East and Southeast Asian economies are by no means the same. But there is evidence that
in some of these economies, such as Indonesia or South Korea, the pattern of extraordinary
risks and improper investments could have been placed under much greater scrutiny if demo-
cratic critics had demanded that. But of course neither Indonesia nor South Korea had, over