Thaksin: A complex leader in a hurry

[george]

Thaksin: A complex leader in a hurry  

BANGKOK: Thousands of journalists from the Pacific Rim are in town. Since the APEC press center opened last week, they have been hard at work filing stories on all aspects of Thailand.

Like other Thai journalists registered to cover the APEC meeting, I have been asked quite frequently: Will Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra be the next ASEAN leader? Is he going to be the next Lee Kuan Yew or Mahathir Mohamad? Is there a culture of fear? How much money did it cost to put a Potemkin village in the heart of Bangkok?

In retrospect, it is not easy to answer all these questions because Thaksin has been in power for only 32 months. He has been busy concocting new things all the time. It is hard to know these days what he has up his sleeve. Like a magician, he draws "oohs and aahs" whenever he pulls something out. He spits fire when he opens his squared jaw.

His leadership has not yet been proven even though Thaksin's aficionados, a lot of them, have claimed victory, declaring that he has become the most successful and powerful leader in Thailand. Thaksinomics should be on the shortlist for the Nobel Prize for economics.

It is only a matter of time, they contend wholeheartedly, until his leadership style will transcend Thai frontiers. They point to all his popular campaigns including the three-month orgy of extrajudicial killings during the anti-drug campaign.

This 48-hour slot will be extremely important for the future legacy of the can-do prime minister. He believes he can pull this gigantic meeting off alone in front of the 21 invited regional leaders. Recently, he told Thai and foreign business leaders that after the Bangkok meeting, APEC would not be the same.

Please do not mention Dr. Supachai Panitchpakdi as there was a snafu when Supchai Panitchpakdi, director-general of World Trade Organization, was left off the invitee list. Otherwise, Thaksin has everything planned down to a T, including the right way to serve tom yum kung to suit the Western palates among the APEC leaders.

No one could blame the prime minister for being too confident; after all, everything he touches has turned into cash or loans or, even better, a debt moratorium. His words shake stock indexes. The Pacific Rim leaders will find out what he has in store.

In the past few days, I have repeatedly told my foreign colleagues that Thaksin has no desire to be another Lee Kuan Yew or Mahathir clone. He has his own mind and ambitions. For him, the sky is the limit. His only dilemma is that he has not yet made up his mind about what kind of leadership he would like to pursue.

Doubtless, whoever has met face-to-face with Thaksin has come away with a strong impression. Being an outsider, I have identified three split and sometimes overlapping and interchanging personalities. Thaksin is what I would call a "three-in-one" leader.

First of all, at times, he is very much like the media savvy Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. Thaksin is a telecom tycoon; he would love to have the same control of the media as his Italian counterpart. Both shoot from the lip rather than the hip.

Unlike Berlusconi, Thaksin does not seem to have an ideology; he is neither right-wing nor left. He is a person who is willing to take in any ideas or plans that can extract swift benefits. His populist approach has its origin in Latin America. In that sense, he is more like President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, who is trying to contain the fallout of his failing policies.

But he is more than Berlusconi and Chavez combined; he also has the Mugabe syndrome in him. Over the past two years, he has shown the determination of strongman Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe. Whatever he wants, he must have.

He has reiterated to the foreign press that he is not a dictator. Indeed, he does not need to be as he has an absolute majority in Parliament, not to mention a host of other lawmakers and uniformed leaders under his influence. While he claims he is not a dictator, he keeps eating into the political space occupied by the civil-society organizations and undermining political freedom.

Beyond the leadership issue, foreign journalists wanted to know how much money the government has spent in preparing for the APEC meeting as they cannot get a real figure. Most official replies simply stated that the expense was well worth it for Thailand's reputation and its booming tourism industry.

However, one official gave a rough estimate that the cost was around a few billion baht, including corporate sponsorships. Some money was spent on permanent construction and beautification of the city. But the rest was just for various Potemkin villages.

I always end up my comments to them with a note of caution. Given the fact that Thaksin has not yet decided on his leadership legacy, any views about him could end up dead wrong - including my own. After the APEC meeting, who knows - he might have the confidence, coupled with fresh global recognition, to become a liberal democratic leader, breaking the mould of long-reigning, heavy-handed leaders within the region. He could do it just to prove his critics wrong.

As such, he could easily become one of the world's statesmen - a democratic leader who presides over a resourceful country, even if he is a bit forgetful. He might even end up listening to other people's views. That, of course, would be a real "World of Differences" - Thai people in a real future partnership.

By Kavi Chongkittavorn

The Nation / Asia News Network

[Axel]

Yep, he is in a hurry, just got this beauty. I pay taxes in Thailand, so it is my money:

A handy guide on how to seriously dump tax payers money

in three easy lessons by a CEO-run government

Picture the following:

mid October 2003, Bangkok/Thailand and, yes, it’s APEC time

said government going absolutely ape shit over this onference

Asia’s infamous capital of notorious traffic jams and grid locks wants to look exceptionally GOOD hence said government is willing to do practically ANYthing to win

“The mother of show-off shows”

Austria’s Vienna airport: Is that a sky-train car for Bangkok ?

Wrong, it’s the first of three subway cars for Bangkok!

Unwilling to re-assemble undercarriages at destination, the subway cars fly completely built-up

The car design allows only one car to fit into the aircraft,  leaving certainly ‘enough’ breathing space for the crew !

 16 hours later: Welcome to  Bangkok !

Three subway cars = three airlifts

ah, I forgot to mention, that the subway will be opened to the public on Thai New Year 2546 This being April 13th, 2004 – my gosh, in six months already !

and, yes, the operation went for a bargain snap of only one million – no not Thai Baht, US-dollars that is

Buddies, this expense needs a match first  !

[email protected]

October 17th, 2003

[chaladmak]

who isn't complex nowdays? but surely he isn't in hurry now.

[chingy_]

everybody is in a hurry now aday

[aletta]

As time passes i do become more of a fan of Mr Thaksin for his handling of the economy but wish he would be a little more patient and gentle in the South.

[chingy_]

hey! as long as the economy is good it good for all of us, if its goes down even better for me, my income doesn't come from Thailand anyway, why would i care.