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| Southeast Asia |
| Thai bombing may not be linked to insurgency |
| 2006-03-11 |
A small bomb was placed in front of the house of the KingÂ’s closest personal advisor and former Prime Minister, Prem Tinsulanonda, on Thursday, wounding two western tourists. It is unlikely that it had anything to do with the Islamist insurgency in the south. Though there is considerable concern that the insurgents will at one point move beyond their area of operations and take their war to Bangkok and tourist venues, to date there is little evidence that they are doing so now. Simply their current strategy and tactics is working. ThursdayÂ’s bombing was more likely perpetrated by political operatives bent on creating greater political instability in Thailand. Prem is known to dislike Prime Minister Thaksin, the billionaire telecommunications mogul turned politician, and his speeches are often seen as reflecting the KingÂ’s own sentiments. Thaksin had come under increasing political scrutiny despite his partyÂ’s historical sweep of the polls in national elections in February 2005, winning an unprecedented 375 of 500 seats in the parliament. The luster wore off quickly owing to his handling of the economy, southern insurgency and corruption allegations. Yet what set off the current unrest was the sale of his familyÂ’s stake in the countryÂ’s largest telecommunications conglomerate, the Shin Group to SingaporeÂ’s state-owned holding company Tamasek. The sale netted the Thaksin family $1.9 million tax free (there are no capital gains taxes in Thailand). Other irregularities such as a Bermuda based holding company and assets controlled by his son, further inflamed passions. Under mounting popular opposition and the largest demonstrations since 1992, Thaksin dissolved parliament on 24 February and called for new elections on 2 April. Thaksin simply hopes to use the elections as a referendum on himself. Though his Thai Rak Thai (TRT) party was set to lose some of their seats, ThaksinÂ’s populism continues to garner TRT staunch support in the countryside where 80 percent of the electorate lives. Money politics and populist public works and other programs, are in full swing now. The opposition parties raised the stakes by announcing that they were boycotting the polls and calling on the electorate to follow suit to de-legitimize Thaksin. There have been increased calls for ThaksinÂ’s resignation. The blast came as thousands of people rallied in Bangkok for a fifth consecutive day to demand the resignation of caretaker Prime Minister Thaksin. More importantly it came the day after the ThailandÂ’s beloved MonarchÂ’s Privy Council met to discuss what steps or role the King should take. Their report, subm,itted to the King was not made public; but segments of the population have called on the King to ask for ThaksinÂ’s resignation and appoint a care-taker prime minister. It should also be noted that it was the fifth small bomb in Bangkok in the past few months all related to politics, not the southern insurgency. One of ThaksinÂ’s fiercest critics, another media tycoon, Sondhi Limthongkul implicated the prime minister in the bombing, saying that it was a warning to deter Prem from mediating in the conflict between Thaksin and his opponents. Others suggest that it was likewise perpetrated by pro-Thaksin forces, to justify imposing the July 2005 Emergency Decree which would give the government to shut down certain media and detain individuals without trial. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |