Thai Rak Thai Kicks Off Anti-poverty Campaign

[george]

Thai Rak Thai kicks off anti-poverty campaign

BANGKOK: -- In what is part electoral campaign and part a master plan to revolutionise the structure of Thai society, the ruling Thai Rak Thai Party today launched a drive to eliminate poverty from the kingdom within the next four years.

That the campaign represents one of the most important stages in the party's history was evident at once from the location of its launch - the Hua Mark Interstadium.

Party members began trickling in from 14.00hrs, a full three hours before the arrival of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his wife, while across the country, similar events were being held in Chonburi, Nakhonratchasima, Khon Kaen, Chiang Mai and Phattalung provinces.

As journalists crowded into the stadium, party members thrust booklets into their hands comparing the achievements of Thai Rak Thai and Democrat governments, in order that there was no mistaking the party's message of 'Four years of repair, four years of creation, and four years of poverty elimination'.

Taking to the stage at 17.00hrs, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra presented the image of a perfect family man, surrounded by his wife and his two daughters.

But this was not before he grabbed the chance for a more personal photo opportunity, making sure that he was seen chatting to the victims of drink-driving accidents gathered for the event, as well as members of the public who were standing outside the stadium having failed to get in.

As he approached the stage, the shout went out and resounded through the stadium. Just one word, repeated over and over. "Thaksin!" Watched by the 20,000 crowd, the prime minister was given a reception fit for a hero.

Unusually perhaps, the prime minister began his speech with an admission. "Today people are saying that we are on our descent. This is true. This is perfectly normal. On our descent we can still walk. Unlike the Democrat party, which is going upwards, upwards in an Isuzu".

After showing a video of the party's performance, the prime minister made a request to the people - to allow the Thai Rak Thai Party to remain in office for another four years, four years in which the party would work to eliminate poverty.

Admitting that the past four years in office had left him tired, the prime minister went on to say that it had all been worth it to see Thailand emerge from crisis.

In a frank speech perhaps unusual for a man who has made no bones of the fact that he intends to remain in the top government post for the next four years, the prime minister conceded: "Today I have grown old. The amount of time I have with my family has gone down…I don't have much time. Sex has gone down the drain".

But then he appeared to bounce back, saying: "But not to that extent. I still have strength. Looking at the next four years and calculating them, I'll be absolutely fine".

Referring to allegations of impetuousness, the prime minister admitted that he could be hot-tempered, but blamed this on his refusal to countenance anything that was not right. Nonetheless, he said that he was now a cooler more controlled person who was fully open to suggestions.

In a move calculated to deflate opposition attack, Mr. Thaksin launched into a critique of his government's past performance, saying that over the past four years many projects had not proceeded as quickly as he had hoped. These included educational reform, corruption, traffic issues, flooding, the distribution of land deeds and violence in the southern border region.

But in what was part carrot and part stick, he reminded the public that by electing the Thai Rak Thai Party to office for a further term, the party would ensure that all its projects bore successful results. He also noted that many events of the past four years were outside the government's control, including terrorism and its global consequences.

But he was equally quick to praise the government's success stories, including the launch of its 'war on drugs', the Bt30 healthcare scheme, the Village Fund scheme, the One Tambon One Product (OTOP) scheme.

On the economic front, the government had boosted foreign currency reserves, restoring the nation's financial credibility while hugely increasingly per capita income.

Using the rally to launch the government's new 'Poverty Caravan' campaign, Mr. Thaksin noted that under the SML (small, medium, large) scheme, all villages and communities would be given their own budgets, over which they had complete control.

He also noted that on 6-10 November the government would launch its 'Look back, look forward - from the grassroots to the taproots' campaign, while introducing a public forum to allow members of the public an open arena to criticize the government.

The government hopes that its 'Poverty Caravan' scheme, which will bring together schools, vocational colleges, and government departments responsible for labour, agriculture and industry, will enable the government to gain access to all households registered under its anti-poverty scheme. Children too poor to go to school will be given scholarships, while parents with no jobs will be given skills training.

"And if after four years poverty still exists, I really will not know what to say", the prime minister told his audience.

He said that the government would also establish an organization to secure loans on behalf of ordinary members of the public, in order to ensure that farmers no longer had to rely on loan sharks. Rather than being offered in the form of money, the loans would be given in agricultural products, so that farmers did not have monetary debts.

At the same time, the government would expand areas of land given over to rubber and oil palm cultivation, and use taxes on alcohol and cigarettes to help fund the Bt30 healthcare scheme and build new hospitals.

Again on the medical front, the government would bring healthcare directly into the homes of the people, while supporting medical research and development. On the housing front meanwhile, the government would make sure that everyone had their own homes, and that no-one would be turned off their land if they were living there innocently.

In Bangkok, the prime minister said, the government would spend Bt1 trillion over the next four years to solve the capital's traffic woes, with the extension of Skytrain and underground railway services.

He also pledged that the government would not neglect its environmental responsibility, and would eliminate bad wastewater management practices at the same time as preventing both flooding and drought and providing tap water to the 16,000 villages currently without.

Turning to education, Mr. Thaksin said that his government would ensure that there were sufficient school and university places to meet demand, while promoting science and research, particularly in the use of alternative energy.

He also announced the launch of a second 'caravan' over the next four years which would introduce new teaching methods to young children. By the year 2009, he promised, the government would have completely changed the education system. Parents would also be given training on how best to raise their children. In the future, young people would no longer have to pay upfront for their studies, but would be able to get government loans, repayable once they were earning a certain income threshold.

Further changes over the next four years would come in the structure of taxation, with tax breaks for companies earning less than Bt1.8 million.

The crunch point, the prime minister admitted, was money, but he countered his critics by saying that he was fully capable of getting money - "not like other parties who have gone bust because they're all talk and no action".

Capitalizing on the hero worship at the gates of the stadium, the prime minister vowed: "If you choose Thai Rak Thai, you will get Thaksin for another four years. I will work harder than before, and I won't just do what I promise - I will do more than that".

Mr. Thaksin, who described the next four years as an opportunity to build up the country's roots, also forecast that the stock market would grow by 100 percent over the next four-year period, offering a personal guarantee that anyone who played the stock market would not go bust. But, he warned: "the condition is that you select me as the prime minister".

But despite, or perhaps because of, the almost cult status accorded him at the rally, the prime minister reminded his listeners that he was not the father of the nation. That status, he said, went to His Majesty the King, whom Mr. Thaksin promised to serve.

He also took pains to stress that his Thai Rak Thai Party was a public endeavour, predicated on the choice of the people. Noting that the party's victory was a people's victory, he brushed aside accusations that his party represented a dictatorship by pointing out that it had been elected by the majority of the public.

As the prime minister closed his speech, party stalwarts rushed onto the stage to join him in a show of support, while in the rallies being held across the country, fireworks were lit to show the party's readiness to fight the next election.

--TNA 2004-10-17

[Dickie]

The UK hasn't eliminated poverty in all the years the left-wing have had to do so, so I'd love to see the Thai gov do the same in four years.

[ovenman]

The UK hasn't eliminated poverty in all the years the left-wing have had to do so, so I'd love to see the Thai gov do the same in four years.

No doubt Mr. Big will declare Thailand to be poverty-free after the four years are up whether or not there is actually one less poor person in the Kingdom at that time.