He says that he has also been especially impressed by the students at the Kennedy School of Government responsible for organizing “Bridge-Builders: 21st Century International Leadership Development,” a series of four events that will be held around the world to foster connections linking the business community to existing efforts to fight the AIDS epidemic. The first of these conferences was held at Harvard last month.

“They invite oppressed people to speak at this school in order to understand the truth. They want to learn from the poor and understand their suffering—this is the most wonderful thing,” he says. “Things always start with a small number, but I hope the students will make a big impact.”

Sulak has made quite an impact himself, over the course of his life.

Born in 1932 in Siam—his preferred name for his homeland—Sulak graduated from the University of Wales. Upon returning home, he founded the Social Science Review as part of his own attempt to understand the issues facing his country and its poor. The publication became Thailand’s leading intellectual journal in the 1960s and 1970s.

Since then, Sulak has been an outspoken social critic—and not just of his own homeland, though his voice becomes energetic and urgent as he talks about what he thinks must be changed about his native country.

“We claim to be a democracy, but press freedom must be real by allowing the dissent to voice their opinions,” Sulak says.

His persistent voice in promoting the rights of assembly and expression antagonized the government; anti-state charges forced him into exile overseas in 1976 and again in 1991. During that time, he continued to write so that his views could drift back home, he says.

But opinions were changing. When he returned to his homeland in 1995 to face trial for criticizing the government, he not only won the case but was praised by the judge as a “defender of the crown.”

“My voice in the last 40 years is now being taken seriously,” says Sulak, “perhaps not by the present government, but the establishment relies on me, because they see that there is a lot of value to what I have to say.”

A Buddhist’s Diagnosis of the World

More than specific rights, Sulak says he believes that “the government must have moral legitimacy.” In other words, the Thai government must look to its cultural roots and prioritize the interests of its people.

“I’m against multiculturalism dominated by American consumerism, or what I call the ‘Coca-Cola–and-jean syndrome,’” says Sulak.

But he says that being true to Thai roots is not equivalent to turning away from technological and economic progress. According to Sulak, “as long as the support is there, the transparency is there, the accountability is there and the compassion is there,” legitimacy in government actions will follow.

“The word ‘development’ is an imperialistic term; the more we are American, the more we are ‘developed,’” says Sulak. He points to the gas pipeline being laid throughout Thailand as an example of an investment that, in the name of “development,” is really just generating paybacks to high governmental officials and a company linked to U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney.

“Villages 700 to 800 years old will be uprooted,” Sulak says. “Most people don’t even know what’s going on, and the government does not care. This is just sad.”