However, judging by the strong public reaction to the clip, which has spread like fire through the social media, we already have the cure.
The overwhelming response to the clip has been dismay – and even disgust – at the 28-year-old entertainer’s use of violence. Internet users are condemning the celebrity for taking justice into his own hands instead of acting like a responsible citizen by summoning the police.
The criticism grew further after the clip was broadcast on mainstream media, with even fellow celebrities slamming their colleague. Earlier this week GMM TV cancelled its contracts with the programme host with immediate effect, arguing that his actions ran contrary to its policy that celebrities must set a good example for youngsters.
The controversy has revealing lessons for Thai society.
Firstly, it has shown that the majority believes violence is unacceptable and deserves condemnation. It also demonstrates that those who resort to unnecessary and excessive violence risk facing legal action. Police have charged Acharanat with assault.
Meanwhile debate of the incident has introduced many people to the concept of anger management. That knowledge should prove useful to those who have problems controlling their mood. Poor management of emotions, particularly anger, can lead to crises in life and career, as the young entertainer has painfully learned.
The response to the clip also reveals a healthy grasp of right and wrong as well as the need to respect the law. Contrary to some opinions, ours still seems to be a civilised society of mainly law-abiding people.
Some might deny this, pointing to the widespread casual attitude displayed towards traffic rules and other laws. But signs are that Thais do have a strong social conscience, which gives us reason to hope for progress.
The road rage incident also contains a glaring lesson about the nature of celebrity. Entertainers who fall into the trap of believing that fame entitles them to disregard social norms will inevitably pay the penalty. Celebrities have once again been reminded of their important status as role models for the younger generation.
Debate of the incident seems to reflect a general and growing sense that resorting to force to achieve one’s ends is unacceptable. If that feeling spreads to the political sphere then we could see an end to the factional violence that has plagued us for the last decade. No more obstructing people from casting their votes, no more laying siege to state agencies, no more heavy weapons being used against political enemies, and no use of force by authorities against demonstrators.
If people were to really stop tolerating coercive violence, we should see no more cases of torture by officers of the law, the latest allegation of which came this week when a man was beaten to death during a police raid on a gambling den. The national police chief has called this a case of “unnecessary use of force”, according to a police spokesman.
The Army chief also has voiced his opposition to using violence to solve civilian problems. His words offer hope, however modest, that the military will desist from resorting to force in tackling political crises in future. If the country is to develop socially and economically, Thailand can little afford yet another coup.

The National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) yesterday removed the permanent secretary at the Digital Economy and Society Ministry.
Songporn Komolsuradej was transferred as special inspector to the PM’s Office.
The NCPO promoted National Statistical Office director-general Wilailuck Chulewatanakul to replace Songporn at the ministry. Both appointments took effect yesterday.
The changes were made through an order by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, who invoked his power as the junta chief under Article 44 of the post-coup interim charter.
Songporn is the third permanent secretary at the ministry, formerly known as the Information and Communications Technology Ministry, to be removed from the post by the junta.
After seizing power in May 2014, the junta removed ICT Ministry permanent secretary Surachai Srisaracam in the middle of 2014 and replaced him with the then ministry inspector Methinee Thepmanee. Methinee was replaced by Songporn, who was then deputy permanent secretary, in the middle of last year.
Following the renaming of the ICT Ministry as Digital Economy Ministry in September this year, Songporn became the first permanent secretary of the ministry.
The new permanent secretary is expected to focus on hastening
completion of the village broad-band Internet project and push through the mergers of core redundant businesses of TOT and CAT Telecom.
The other priority is to closely coordinate with the National Broadcasting and Telecommunic-ations Commission to continue cracking down on websites containing content deemed insulting to the monarchy. During the meeting of the Digital Economy ad hoc committee chaired by Prayut last Wednesday, Deputy PM Prajin Juntong said the premier and those in charge of the village broadband Internet project were unhappy with the lack of progress.
A government source added that the premier also asked about progress in the ministry’s planned mergers of three core redundant businesses of TOT and CAT.
The village broadband Internet project, aims to provide connectivity to 24,700 villages, and was initiated in January this year by former ICT minister Uttama Savanayana. Uttama resigned to pave way for the establishment of the Digital Economy Ministry of which Prajin is now acting minister.

Reform of satellite industry
TOT was the only bidder for the project but last month the ministry informed TOT its decision to
scrap the project, saying the state agency’s technical bid proposal did not match the procurement terms of reference. However, the ad hoc digital economy committee last Wednesday instructed the ministry to transfer the Bt15-billion budget to TOT to implement the project.
A ministry source said the ministry took time to develop the project in order to ensure the project’s transparency.
CAT president Colonel Sanpachai Huvanandana said recently that CAT had already set a budget of Bt120 million to hire an adviser to study the merger of the three redundant businesses with those of TOT. It is expected to select the adviser this month.
Recently, the State Enterprise Policy Commission urged both TOT and CAT to finalise the hiring of advisers to study the mergers by the end of this year.
The other issue the new permanent secretary is expected to focus on is the plan to reform the satellite industry. The ministry wants to discuss with Thaicom its plan to put the company’s Thaicom 7 and 8 satellites back into the ministry’s existing concession regime.
The ministry believes that the two latest satellites, which operate under the NBTC’s licensing regime, should come under its concession regime, since the concession system is still in force.
Thaicom 4, 5 and 6 operate under the ministry’s concession, which finishes in 2021.

Yingluck started selling rice outside Bangkok’s Fashion Island shopping mall with other leading figures from the Pheu Thai Party, with 5-kilogram bags going for Bt100 each.
Each person could buy up to two bags only. Yingluck wrote on her Facebook page that she might sell more rice and ask her followers to wait for an update from the page.
A lot of people queued up to buy the rice from Yingluck, which helped her sell the bags very quickly.
When the former PM arrived at the mall, many supporters surrounded her and took photos with her.

The ruling bans Udomdej Rattanasatien and Narisorn Thongthiraj from holding any political office for five years.
A total of 221 NLA members voted to impeach Narisorn, while 206 voted to impeach Udomdej.
Narisorn is a former MP for Sakon Nakhon and Udomdej |represented Nonthaburi in the |previous House of Representatives.
In accordance with procedure, the NLA will now inform the accused, the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC), the Cabinet and the relevant state agencies.
In their statements made before the NLA, both politicians dismissed separate allegations by the NACC. Narisorn denied having voted on behalf of his party colleagues with their electronic ID cards.
Udomdej denied having submitted a constitutional amendment that had been tampered with to seek endorsement from Parliament.
However, the NACC maintained there was strong evidence against them, including video recordings.
Support from at least three fifths of the 250 NLA members, or 150 votes, is required to impeach |public office holders.
The legislative assembly also acts as the Senate, in accordance with the post-coup interim charter. But the NLA will not have the power of both Houses after the new constitution is promulgated.
Meanwhile, Chief Charter Drafter Meechai Ruchupan said the impeachment of the two former MPs would result in their electoral rights revoked for five years following the anti corruption law. However, this had nothing to do with revocation of electoral rights addressed in the new charter as it no longer addressed impeachment and its political implications.
But as their rights were revoked, that would result in them not being able to hold any political positions in the future.
They would also be barred from holding executive positions of |political parties as well, Meechai said.
Under the new charter, political rights including electoral rights would be revoked if proven guilty through the justice process, not impeachment, the CDC chief said.
The impeachment process relied on votes in parliament which, he said, was a political process that sometimes did not take evidence into account. So, it did not necessarily mean one was actually guilty.
As politics needs some changes and those found guilty should no longer enter politics, the process needed solid proof of guilt and that was the reason why the justice process was taken seriously under the new rule written in the new charter, rather than impeachment.
Meechai said it was possible that impeachment and its implication would later be addressed in the new political code of conduct.
Meanwhile, Chief Charter Drafter Meechai Ruchupan said the impeachment of the two former Mps would result in their electoral rights revoked for five years following the anti corruption law. However, this has nothing to do with revocation of electoral rights addressed in the new charter as it has no longer addressed impeachment and its political implications.
But as their rights are revoked, that would result in them not being able to hold any political positions in the future. They would also be barred from holding executive positions of political parties as well, Meechai added.
Under the new charter, political rights including electoral rights would be revoked if proved guilty through justice process, not impeachment, said Meechai.
Impeachment process, he said, rely on votes in parliament which is rather a political process that sometimes does not take evidence into account, and thus does not necessarily mean one’s actual guilt.
As the current politics needs some changes and those found guilty should no longer enter politics, this needs a solid proof of guilt and that’s the reason why justice process is taken seriously under the new rule written in the new charter, rather than impeachment.
Meechai said it’s possible that impeachment and its implication would later be addressed in the new political ethics code of conduct.

Deputy Government Spokesman Lt-Gen Werachon Sukondhapa-tipak, who spoke to more than |two dozen reporters from major media agencies, explained that Government House needed to be guarded by systematic measures on a regular basis.
He said the new measures were not in response to any threat, apparently trying to downplay ongoing speculation over the tighter controls.
While Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha noted that Government House should be accessible so people could file petitions there, the spokesman’s team has been attempting to organise flows of regular visitors to the compound, such as reporters and civil servants.
The new measures for reporters will mean they have to re-register, with them having to return their media cards in exchange for temporary cards. They will also have to contact the Government House office before interviewing any |officials, and enter the compound through a specific gate.
Any reporter who loses a temporary card should immediately report the loss to police, in an attempt to avoid counterfeit cards.
Reporters were also told that they would be allowed to only enter |certain facilities, as some areas were reserved for the PM and official guests.
Other concerns would be sorted out in time, reporters were told.
But reporters have cast doubts over the measures’ efficiency in practice. For instance, they said that the re-registering process required reporters to exchange their old ID cards for temporary, unspecified cards before new electronic ID cards are issued.
They warned that the temporary cards would be easy to copy, and could be used by anyone.
Reporters will also be required to submit endorsement letters from their organisations to get credentials to report at Government House – a move designed to weed out |freelance reporters.
That means veteran journalist Yuwadee Thanyasiri has been barred from reporting at Government House since Tuesday. Yuwadee, known for firing hard questions at Prayut, is so far the only journalist barred under the new measures.
Many reporters, who had been accustomed to the convenience of working at the compound, are also irked by having to inform the spokesman’s team before interviewing any officials.
This would make it harder for them to conduct exclusive, secret interviews, they said.
Government Spokesman Sansern Kaewkamnerd remained tight-lipped over the matter during yesterday’s meeting with reporters.
He told The Nation on Tuesday, after the weekly press briefing, that the re-registration of reporters at Government House was announced at short notice because of a technical error within the Office of Government House.
That resulted in reporters not being informed of the move before it was implemented, he said.
“But there’s nothing impromptu about this. We discussed this measure several times,” Sansern said.
“But I can’t address all practical errors since I am responsible for only policy.”
Another official said: “For now, we trust our security guards. They recognise all familiar faces at the Government House and there should not be a problem with it.”