Thaksin The Loser In Televised Head-to-head

[thedude]

thaksin may be far from perfect, but he is the elected PM whose leadership played an important role of bringing thailand out of the crisis.

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If this is the 1997 financial crisis you are referring to, Thailand was in most respects out of that crisis when Thaksin took over, thanks to Chuan.

But who was in charge when the crisis happened???? TRT may be a new party, but it is largely consisting of the very same players that brought Thailand to its knees in '97.

Deja Vu?

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thailand was the first into the crisis and almost the last to get out because Chuan's (bless his good heart) coalition was too weak to effect any real or substansive changes. the IMF loans were not fully paid back until 3 years into Thaksin's first term, and they were repaid almost 2 years ahead of schedule. surely you can get over your prejudice enough to give him some credit for that. the thing he did well (suited for that time but possibly not now) was his populist pump priming policies which injected money directly to the grassroots, enabling a shot in the arm kick-start through consumption spending which fueled the economic recovery until late last year.

the democrats would never have come up with that because it flies in the face of prudent and conventional fiscal management doctrine. they'd prefer to spend the money on longer term education policies (which i so totally agree with). but clever policies does not mean good administration and i readily concede that thaksin's success probably had more to do with strong politics than anything else. remember that he spent much of the first term doing political mergers and acquisitions, which, coupled with his populist backing, saw him amass the power he presently wields.

i am a little less idealistic now because i know that sometimes you do need a little less democracy to get things moving. what is important for thailand is STABILITY and CERTAINTY, because it creates an environment where doing business is predictable and will hence keep investments in the country, and help the country grow. furthermore, i am comforted when considering that thailand has had a long and often turmultuous history of military dictatorships which held more direct power than Thaksin could ever hope for under the present democratic system, but still thailand has survived. and so i understand that Thaksin is but a step in thailand's great history. lastly, while thaksin may appear greedy and his administration may be corrupt, i do not think that he is an evil person and he understands the need to keep his electorate happy. the most important thing for thailand is stability and certainty, and if you as a foreigner are not contributing to that, then please just shut up.

[The_Moog]

The masterminds of TRT are the Business Elites that withstood the Financial crisis.

They decided they couldn't rely on established Politicians to protect the business environment in future.

They set up TRT, ....bankrolled it.

Yes there are old school politicos like Chavalit there, as they needed to co-opt rural voter blocs.

[WhiteShiva]

[ the most important thing for thailand is stability and certainty, and if you as a foreigner are not contributing to that, then please just shut up.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Listen buddy - I pay taxes here, work for a Thai company, have a Thai wife, and two Thai kids. I have as much a right to voice an opinion on this subject as anyone else.

A corrupt dictatorship with absolute powers (which is what we seem to be moving towards) would give us both stability and certainty, but it is not the kind of environment I'd like to see my family living in.

Why don't you move to North Korea - they seem to have all the qualities of the type of system you desire.

[sriracha john]

^^^^ well said.