Page 8 - ELITE PLUS MAGAZINE VOL10

Communi“sm is a partof our history. We were inspired by communist ideals which are not bad at all, and lots of things should be picked up from them. However, we are now a democratic country with a strong6 Elite+open-mar”ket economySome Thais have negative images of Russia, i.e. as a former leader of communist ideology that was against individuality, for abuse of nuclear power, or mafia organizations. What are your views on this?I believe Thais have positive thoughts about Russia, based on my interactions with both Thai high society people such as government officials and businesspeople, and ordinary people on the street. Commu- nism is a part of our history. We were inspired by communist ideals which are not bad at all, and lots of things should be picked up from them. However, we are now a democratic country with a strong open-market economy. We have a strong army and possess nuclear weapons. But we are a peaceful nation and we don’t use nuclear power for destructive purposes. Our nuclear power plants are being built in 30 countries around the world. We have started construction in