I always seem to agree with your posts, and I do not doubt what both you and OneMoreFarang say about Thaksin, but my mind goes back to when I first came to live in Thailand in the later stages of his Premiership.
I compare Thailand with what it was like then and the way it is now. All my farang friends back then were happy, with most of them doing a 90 day borders hop and the odd one or two with the 800,000 Bt in their bank.
Now, as I do not agree with that method, I have agents fee's and 90 day reporting to do which was not the case under Thaksin.