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| Southeast Asia |
| Thailand PM vows to fight on |
| 2006-02-06 |
| Thaksin Shinawatra, the Thai prime minister, says he intends to finish his second term in office while his opponents insist they will increase calls for him to quit. Tens of thousands of protesters held an all night anti-givernment rally in Bangkok on Saturday to call for the resignation of prime minister Thaksin, accusing him of corruption and using political power to further his personal business interests. However, Surapong Suebwonglee, a spokesman for the prime minister, said on Sunday that Thaksin intended to continue in his role for another three years and rejected opposition calls for him to stand down or hold new elections. The prime minister's defiance comes despite the resignation of two junior ministers in as many days from a rebellious faction within Thaksin's ruling party. Surapong said that Thaksin had no plans to reshuffle his cabinet but would appoint deputies to fill the vacant posts. "We consider the resignations of two ministers as an internal problem of our Thai Rak Thai party, which is part of the evolution of a political institution. The resignations had nothing to do with the 4 February demonstration," he said. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #5 He seems soft on the Islamist threat - I'd rather someone start "suppressing" it in a vigorous fashion. I'll defer to the Thaists here though |
| Posted by: Frank G 2006-02-06 21:39 |
| #4 .com, I'll save this and write a counter view next time there is a post on Thaksin. |
| Posted by: phil_b 2006-02-06 21:16 |
| #3 phil_b - I guess we are. Actually, I'd say that democracy peaked at Thaksin's initial entry on the scene - and has slowly, incrementally, declined since. I spoke last night to a couple (American guy / Thai wife) who are headed back after a few months in the US. Thaksin was once a God to the Thai poor, but his overt corruption (this story being just one of many examples) and lack of action in the South has finally begun to erode this base. They know that he has given them a few baubles - beads for Manhattan as a corollary - in exchange for the power to run roughshod in the PM slot, but he's surprised them with his venality. He actually believed he and his party would own Thailand for the next 20 years or more. But the shine is off, now. I presume you know how Thailand "works" - with the King being the pivot point on which everything turns. Bhumibol is incredibly popular with the Thais - for good reasons. I was there in May 92 when the two generals, competing to control the country - one with military rule and the other pro-democracy, were televised on their knees before the King. It was really something to see - and the junta guy was gone the next day. End of military rule, birth of democracy in TL. Well, things have reached a point with Thaksin that the King is now making noises about intervening. It's sad that he's so old, now, because I believe (from input via many Thais) that he would've intervened by now if he was the Rama IX of the 70's and 80's. From an old 1998 article: "His son, the Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn (born 1952) is the heir-apparent but his younger sister, Princess Sirindhorn (born 1955), has been given equal rank because of her tireless work on the Royal rural projects. In one interview Queen Sirikit seemed to foreshadow the possibility that the Princess might be chosen as successor. Her brother seems to prefer soldiering. Since 1974, Thai law has permitted a woman to succeed to the throne, and the Queen herself acted as Regent while the King left his duties to spend some months as a monk. (The other Royal children are Princess Ratana, born 1951, and Princess Chulabhorn, born 1957.)" The Monarchy is, ironically, Thailand's ace-in-the-hole regards preventing the devolution of democracy into strongman politics. From TL's history, and given Bhumibol's record and wild popularity, this has proven true - thus far with this King. My Thai friends all agree that they need the King to rein in Thaksin - or toss him out on his ass. They worry about who comes after Bhumibol... Most say that Princess Sirindhorn, very popular for her good public works, would be the best ruler by far (the word on Prince Vajiralongkorn is not good), but also doubt that the poor Thais, Thaksin's actual base, will accept a Queen, i.e. a femalian ruler. The Ace, whomever that turns out to be, needs to make a play on Thaksin - to slap him down a few notches and signal his malfeasance is unacceptable. Gone or restrained, whichever, would be better for TL - or so I'm told. I'd like to hear what Lone Ranger and other TL-based posters say about this, too. |
| Posted by: .com 2006-02-06 11:34 |
| #2 .com, you and I differ about Thaksin. He aint perfect but then what politican is? What we are seeing is peaceful protest and dissent in what is increasingly a real democracy. Compare and contrast with other parts of the world. |
| Posted by: phil_b 2006-02-06 05:41 |
| #1 Corrupt he is, yes. Gone he should be, hmmm. |
| Posted by: .com 2006-02-06 02:08 |