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Kop Thai

He's a former policeman turned telecoms billionaire who grinned with delight when Alex Ferguson presented him with a Man Utd shirt. So why does Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra want to plough millions into Liverpool FC? John Aglionby investigates

Tuesday May 11, 2004

The Guardian

Think Thailand and what comes to mind? Paid-for sex? Plentiful drugs? Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra would rather the mention of his country evoked images of world-class football. To help you get the right idea he announced yesterday that he had struck a deal to buy a significant stake in Liverpool Football Club.

The way the 55-year-old tycoon-turned-politician tells it, the acquisition of a global brand as powerful as Liverpool, albeit one that has been through a lean spell, represents the crowning glory of his country's unprecedented makeover. Out, or seriously suppressed, are the vices of illicit sex and readily available illegal drugs - which for years have been two of Thailand's biggest draw cards as far as the legions of foreign tourists are concerned.

Bangkok's nightclubs have had their closing time brought forward so it is now even earlier than strait-laced Singapore. Go-go bars and strip clubs are being closed in virtually all areas, lounges offering sex shows are all but consigned to history and minors can only frequent the few remaining "adult" areas accompanied by someone over 18.

Meanwhile, Thaksin's war on the ubiquitous methamphetamine - known as "yaa baa" or crazy pill - last year reportedly resulted in more than 82,000 villages becoming drug-free and the number of drug cases going to court falling by more than 50% in 12 months.

Replacing these two mainstays of Thailand's international reputation are tens of thousands of football pitches. And inspiring Thais, and foreign tourists, to forsake the dimly lit strip clubs or drug dens for the wholesome fresh air will be Messrs Michael Owen, Steven Gerrard, Danny Murphy and the rest of the Liverpool squad. "Lots of our products need a brand and Liverpool is one that we can use on the world market," Thaksin said yesterday. "It's an established club with a lot of popularity in Asia."

His chief negotiator in the Liverpool deal, deputy commerce minister Pongsak Ruktapongpisal, speaks almost lyrically as he imagines the impact the Liverpool brand will have on his country. "In Thailand there are a lot of Liverpool fans, close to one million probably," he says. "So when we join up with Liverpool it will make many people alert to exercise and sport. It will point them in a better direction and protect them from drugs, especially people living up country in remote areas who might have nothing to do. It's good for them to play sports and so we chose one of the most famous teams to be our brand."

Thaksin's spokesman, Jakrapob Penkair, who has also been involved in the discussions with Liverpool, says his boss is skilfully manipulating the Thai psyche. "Thailand is a country where most people are attracted by good things," he said. "They like to be associated with them. And Liverpool is exactly that. It is much more than just a team or a name. It is a management system, a symbol of gentlemanship [sic]."

The ebullient Jakaprob says Thaksin believes such brand association is the way forward, particularly for developing countries seeking to build a more wide-ranging appeal. "I'm sure other countries will follow," he says. "It's just that Thailand is going for it faster than others."

It is unclear how Thaksin will finance the purchase of Liverpool shares (and specifically whether Thai public money will be involved) but, as the country's richest commoner, he could do it from his own pocket without hardly noticing. After 14 years in the police force, during which he obtained a PhD in criminal justice from a little-known university in Texas, he resigned in 1987, claiming to be burned out.

By then he had already engineered a deal to supply the police with computer software and soon after his retirement he established a software marketing company which he named after himself, the Shinawatra Company. Pager technology was the budding entrepreneur's next experiment and this led into cellular phones and communication satellites.

By 1990 Thaksin was reportedly almost bankrupt, although he always appeared well off for a former police officer. But then he succeeded in obtaining a 20-year concession from the Telephone Organisation of Thailand and his future was secure. Having made his fortune, Thaksin turned to politics in 1994. After becoming disillusioned with the traditional parties he formed his own, Thai Rak Thai, and in the 1999 general election propelled it to the first ever absolute majority.

Many of Thailand's ardent football fans are backing their prime minister's venture into the world of the English Premiership, even if they don't believe he is a true Liverpool supporter - memories are still strong of Thaksin's delight when Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson gave him a team shirt on his 52nd birthday.

"It can only bring advantages for Thailand," says 24-year-old photographer Peerayot Lakkanukul. "It will help Thai soccer develop and build up a team capable of playing at World Cup level."

Rasamee Laohatiensin, 40, a secretary in a private company, hopes the link will lead to cheap tickets. "Hopefully there will be some promotions to book very cheap tickets for fares and for Liverpool matches," she says. "And then we'll be able to buy Liverpool products at very cheap prices."

Rasamee also touches on what drives tens of thousands of Thais' interest in English football - betting hefty sums on results through illegal syndicates. "This [link up] could lead to football gambling being legalised and licensed," she says. "This would be a way to create jobs for Thais."

But excited Thai Liverpool fans may be blind to a less palatable explanation for their leader's newfound interest in Anfield. With an election less than a year away, the prime minister has in recent months been watching his once sky-high popularity take a significant dive as increasing numbers of Thais start to see through the populist, sugar-coated policies of cheap healthcare, soft loans to all villages and a debt moratorium for farmers.

Critics say he is in desperate need of some good, fun news to distract Thais who are starting to see the extremely thin-skinned prime minister for what he really is. Kavi Chongkittavorn, a senior editor at the Nation newspaper, sums up the prime minister as: "A combination of the corporate dominance of [italy's Silvio] Berlusconi, [Venezuela's Hugo] Chavez's populist approach and the thuggery of [Zimbabwe's Robert] Mugabe."

It is the latter characteristic that is drawing the most concern. In last year's much trumpeted war on drugs, more than 2,500 people were killed, of whom more than half were innocent civilians, believes Pradit Chareonthaitawee, a prominent member of the national human rights commission.

"Families blame the police [for the killings]," he says, describing one allegedly typical case when an old man's three sons were killed in broad daylight in the middle of a village. "They say the police just blocked the road and killed these three sons. One of the sons was stabbed in the mouth, the second electrically burned on the left side of the body and the third shot in the back."

Following this "war" in which no perpetrators were brought to justice, Thaksin turned his attention to the "dark influences" of corruption and vice. But again, those close to him seemed to remain untouched while other, seemingly innocent people were sentenced to lengthy prison terms."

As the Bangkok Post said in an editorial at the time: "A swift, efficient and non-corrupt justice system is the only way to build a civil society, but Thaksin has not shown any interest in reforming Thailand's weakened, graft-prone judiciary."

By the end of the year, criticism, and Thaksin's refusal to acknowledge it let alone mend his ways, had reached such an unprecedented level that the nation's deeply revered king, Bhumibol Adulyadej, made a rare foray into daily politics and told his prime minister to listen to his critics.Instead, Thaksin replaced the editor at the Bangkok Post and engineered for one of his cronies to take over a significant stake at the Nation.

Then bird flu struck. Millions of poultry were slaughtered but not one of Thaksin's ministers lost their jobs, despite admissions of a month-long cover-up that probably cost several people, including children, their lives.

Just as the nation was coming to terms with watching another news bulletin of sackloads of hens being buried alive, government officials started to be gunned down in the three Muslim-dominated southern provinces. Not wanting to scare away tourists, Thaksin blamed criminal gangs and smugglers from neighbouring Malaysia. But as the death toll rose to more than 60, talk of a resurgence of an Islamic separatist insurgency mixed with a police-versus-army turf war proved harder to stifle. Then, on April 28, the security forces gunned 108 young Islamists who were trying to attack 15 security posts to steal guns. Most were armed with little more than machetes, prompting accusations of unjustified brutality that have yet to be answered.

"So when you look closely at Thaksin you can see why he needs Liverpool as much as the club needs his millions," said a community leader in a Bangkok slum who asked not to be named. "Paying billions of baht [hundreds of millions of pounds] is nothing if it gets people to forget what's really going on and wins you the next election."

'They write nice letters': a Thai Liverpool fan writes

I bet nearly half of Thai football fans support Liverpool and to many the fact that Liverpool hasn't won much lately does not really matter as long as Liverpool is their Liverpool.

It is not just Thai guys who support Liverpool. A good proportion of Thai football fans are girls and not all of them know much about the game. For these girls, what appeals most is what footballers look like. So footballers' response to their fluffy letters is the key to keeping this kind of fan - and Liverpool players seem to be very good at that.

I was first introduced to Liverpool 10 years ago by a group of Liverpool girl fans-or rather nuts. I had listened to them talking about the letters they got back from Liverpool players and became curious about what was so interesting about football and Liverpool.

I did not know much about football then, and still don't but my father, who is crazy about the sport, helped educate me on this subject. As that "educational process" went on, I drew my own conclusion about why this team is so well-loved. I figured then that it was because Liverpool is a big "pool" of talented players. I enjoy watching them play and whether they win or lose does not really matter to me.

In fact, their pattern of starting off brilliantly early in the season and slipping towards the end makes it fun to guess and stick to the end to see what will happen. I would have given up on them years ago when it seemed that they would never be able to break this pattern. But I stick with them because the club is full of talented players, and so it seems to me that there is always a chance that they will reclaim their position as "the champion". Steve McManaman used to be my hope because of how good he is at keeping the ball at his feet and passing it to the right person to score. Now it's Michael Owen, whom I hope would help rescue the team.

The other thing I like about this club is how it sets its image - quite down-to-earth. I have never seen any of its players boast in the public. If any of its players happens to catch the media's attention, it would be about the player's essence, his ability - not his new hairstyle. Plus, according to my friends, Liverpool players' letters to their fans are not just some cut-and-pasted sort of sentences. So, the Liverpool, to me, is not just a football club full of famous players, but a sort of "public figure" that is reachable, tangible and real. Which is why I'm still its fan after 10 years and so few cups.

Kruakae Pothong