Thaksin - Sadly Still Not Finished

[Spitfire]

I know, I know, but it still shows how polarised this country is, he's a massively divisive figure, but this is fresh off the press. Yes, predicably the outback opinion but it seems that he's still an unwelcome factor/thorn in the side of the government. The red shirts are still at it, today included.

Thaksin is back

Philip Golingai
The Star
Publication Date: 27-06-2009

Last Sunday, Thais in a province about 647km north-east of Bangkok voted in a by-election. And what boomed out of the ballot boxes is that Thaksin Shinawatra, the self-exiled former Thai Prime Minister, is back, politically.

The opposition Puea Thai Party, which is loyal to Thaksin, thumped Bhum Jai Thai Party, a member of the ruling coalition, by 83,348 votes to 47,235 in the Sakon Nakhon by-election that was called after a Supreme Court ruling disqualified the incumbent Puea Thai MP.

The by-election result is a nightmare for the Democrat-led coalition government and the power behind the government, noted Pitch Pongsawat, who teaches political science in Bangkok’s Chulalongkorn University.

“It shows that post-Thaksin politics is still very contingent. I’m not saying that Thaksin has an (absolute) influence on the people,” he opined.

“But it is a nightmare because Thaksin – when he really works on something – is able to get the support of the people.”

The Sakon Nakhon by-election was supposed to be a shoo-in for Bhum Jai Thai Party.

“Bhum Jai Thai appeared to have the advantage in that the party controls local officials who include the tambon (Thai for “subdistrict”) and village headmen through its control of the Interior Ministry,” Veera Prateepchaikul wrote in the Bangkok Post on Monday.

While Bhun Jai Thai has control of the interior ministry, Puea Thai Party has Thaksin, the darling of Thailand’s northeasterners who had benefited from his populist policies when he was in power from 2001 to 2006.

Self-exiled (probably in Dubai), the billionaire politician personally telephoned tambon and village headmen, pleading with them to support his party.

“Thaksin used his charismatic asset (to win over the voters),” said Pitch.

A big message from the by-election, according to the political lecturer, is that the people voted for the opposition.

“In Thailand, we are made to believe that you better vote for the government if you want (your constituency) to receive government projects,” he explains. “So it is a big deal when the people voted for the opposition.

“The voters had enough guts to vote for the opposition because they felt that the Red Shirts and the Isaan people (northeasterners) were unfairly treated during the Bangkok protests in April.”

The Sakon Nakhon by-election was also seen as a Thaksin vs Newin Chidchob fight.

Newin? He is a Thaksin loyalist who betrayed his boss. Newin and about two dozen MPs from People’s Power Party (PPP, the dissolved ruling party which is the predecessor of Puea Thai Party) formed Bhum Jai Thai Party to enable Abhisit Vejjajiva, the Democrat leader, to put together a seven-party coalition government in December last year.

Puea Thai Party distributed leaflets with photographs of Newin hugging Thaksin (taken three years ago when the then prime minister Thaksin announced he was taking a temporary break from politics) as well as Newin hugging Abhisit (taken in December 2008 when they embraced to show that Newin supported Abhisit’s push to be prime minister).

The leaflets carried the headline: “Sakon Nakhon residents: Oppose this disgraceful man (Newin).”

Pitch noted: “This is another version of moral politics in Thailand – the voters gave Newin a lesson – you can’t be disloyal to your patron.”

The Sakon Nakhon result also put a speed bump on Newin’s ambition to replace Thaksin as a major force in the northeast and north of Thailand.

On Tuesday, The Nation wrote: “This result might put a smile on Abhisit’s face, because even though Newin helped him form the government, he and his Bhum Jai Thai have been clashing with the Democrats over some government projects.

“Maybe this time Newin will be less aggressive and tone down his power-bargaining tactics and ambition.”

Pitch thinks otherwise. “I don’t think they want Bhum Jai Thai to lose as when its coalition partner loses, the Democrat Party also loses,” he said, adding that the Democrats hope Newin will extinguish Thaksin’s influence in the northeast.

Now all eyes are on tomorrow’s by-election in Si Sa Ket, a northeast province along the disputed Thai/Cambodian border.

The fight this time is between Puea Thai Party and Chart Thai Pattana Party, a member of the Democrat-led ruling coalition.

Who will win?

“It depends on the Thaksin factor – whether he personally calls the voters,” says Pitch. “And that’s going to be a big challenge to the (political foundation of the coalition government).”

Source - asianewsnet.net

Idea ( ) - Only way out, excluding unexpected death/demise etc, is the changing of the education system which, BTW, will take a generation or so, so 25 years at the least.

Edit: Typos

[STEVE G]

One thing that you can be sure of is that Thaksin is never going to go away whilst he has such large amounts of wealth locked up by the Thai government.
He isn't going to just walk away from that.

[caller]

And if I was a patronised voter, who had seen their elected choice kicked out in a coup, I would be putting my cross in the exact same place!

What else was expected?

And if it means the mindset as described in the above article - where the ruling party are expected to get in, just for the local area to qualify for Govt. money - has been knocked on its head, then so much the better.

Uneducated (allegedly) doesn't equate to stupid, seemingly?

[PeteC]

By MICHAEL CASEY, Associated Press Writer – Sat Jun 27, 12:26 pm ET

BANGKOK – Former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra attacked the government's handling of the economy Saturday and told thousands of cheering supporters not to abandon the fight for democracy in one of the largest demonstrations to hit the kingdom in months.
More than 30,000 supporters braved heavy rains in Bangkok to hear the media tycoon, who addressed the crowd via telephone link from what he said was an undisclosed location near the Thai border. The enthusiastic reception reinforced Thaksin's political strength and indicated the return of the "red shirt" movement that supports him.
The United Front of Democracy Against Dictatorship — known as the red shirts — was silenced in April by threats of a government crackdown following days of street clashes and riots that left at least two dead and more than 120 injured.
Protest leaders said they are continuing to call for Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva's resignation, the dissolution of parliament, and new elections.
"We come here because we want to see true democracy," Thaksin told the crowd. "We loathe injustice. We loathe double standards. We're here to say if you want us to stop, then return justice and true democracy."
Thaksin also complained that he was lonely and serenaded the crowd with a song that included the line "Don't leave me in Dubai" — a reference to one of the cities he has called home since he fled into exile last year after being convicted of corruption.
"Are you going to bring me back red shirts?" he asked. "I'm a grateful person. When I'm back, I'll work for the people right away."
Police mobilized 3,000 security officers and warned the red shirts not to block Abhisit's office, as it did for several weeks in March and April. But protest leaders said they had no plans to march to Government House and there was no indication the crowd was leaving the soggy Sanam Luang field in central Bangkok.
"We want to overthrow the government which has been set up by the establishment," protest leader Jatuporn Phromphan told the crowd. "We want the dissolution of parliament. We will insist on our demands no matter how long it takes."
The protesters accuse the country's elite — the military, judiciary and other unelected officials — of undermining the country's democracy and orchestrating a 2006 coup, in which Thaksin was ousted.
Thaksin's allies remained in power in the two successive governments, but were stymied by "yellow shirt" protesters and separate charges of conflict of interest and fraud, that were held up in court rulings.
The yellow shirts — who took to the streets last year shuttering Bangkok's two main airports — argue that voters in Thaksin's rural base are too easily bought.
Abhisit cobbled together a coalition after a court disqualified the pro-Thaksin prime minister on complaints of fraud in the 2007 election, ending the yellow shirts' demonstrations.
The red shirts responded by launching their own protest in March, but backed down under threat of a military crackdown after their demonstrations became violent.

[PeteC]

Thaksin 2, opposition 0 in the last two by-elections over the past two weeks. First in Sakon Nakhon, and then in Si Sa Ket yesterday. Pete

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/1 ... -si-sa-ket