WHEN Deputy Prime Minister Plodprasop Suraswadi referred to criticism of his anti-flood schemes as “garbage”, it was — pardon the expression — a watershed. He brought down a curtain between him and citizens seeking honest debate. So the question for today is this: if the government cannot properly manage the political reality of its plan, can the public trust it to fund, build and run the actual water management project?

…The Second Water Summit at Chiang Mai has attracted political and scientific leaders who know their stuff about floods, water management, public opinion and more. …In 2011, the brand new Yingluck Shinawatra government faced the largest floods in the country’s memory. Hundreds of lives, thousands of homes and millions of jobs were lost in two months of devastation.

…What the government has done wrong is fairly simple. It has usurped all power to spend, rejected all offers to help and arrogantly broadcast that it has all the answers to all the problems of water management and flood prevention. Those are breathtaking claims.

…Last week’s report by the National Anti-Corruption Commission should have opened the eyes of Mr Plodprasop and Ms Yingluck. “We neither oppose the project nor accuse the government” of corruption, said commissioner Klanarong Chanthik. But the group found flaws in the plans that are susceptible to graft. Contract-fixing is already suspected.

Flood prevention and water management is not a free lunch for government cronies. Lives, livelihoods, the future of the nation — all are literally on the line. It is unacceptable that the government refuses to discuss the obvious problems that the experts have discovered, and which Mr Plodprasop and others have failed to consider. Ms Yingluck and her government have replaced that “democracy” of her Mongolia speech with a strong dose of autocracy. It missed the obvious opportunity to discuss water management at the summit. It should not ignore outside help and concern any longer.—(May 20)