Thaksin: A Continuing Menace

[animatic]

Q.

"Had Thaksin had his way, he would have swept them aside here... and would that have led to a greater, fairer and stronger democracy in the end?"

A.

No.

Thaksin in total control of the military is the largest menace for Thailand imaginable. A military lead has to listen to subordinates and DEMAND feedback and accurate information from them. This is one of Thaksins weakest points.

[ Thaksin stated after, I believe, Somkid Jatusripitak quit his cabinet:

"It doesn't matter if any of them quit, I am the only one doing and work here anyway."

You're right about the feedback part. This was one of the problems in the Deep South. Thaksin took advice from his selected advisers who had no real knowledge of what was happening on the ground, whilst ignoring those who had deep knowledge and contacts because he decided he couldn't trust them as he suspected they were close to the Democrat party or the amaat. Added to the fact that Thaksin only tends to skim documents and make snap decisions, rather than reading deeply & widely to gain understanding & perspective... well, recipe for disaster, really. He'd completely misunderstood the situation.

Didn't Jakrapob say that in the cabinet meetings no one would criticize Thaksin or offer advice unless he specifically asked for it?

Exactly yes, and he didn't like being contradicted whether by truth or not.

Somkid was on of those with reasonable information and it wasn't surprising he jumped ship earlier than most.

One of Thaksin's clear traits was being LESS likely to take advice or feedback the more the pressure mounted, and besides this been extraordinarily bad in a national leader, it also made him have greater and greater isolation from facts, as he expected his underlings to filter out things he didn't like. Not getting a clear view of reality the more stress you are under...

I can't help but have the view that: if I, as a farang studying the culture, was seeing this stuff clear as day back in 2006, those in the upper circles of Thai power had a glaring view of his act in action. And that vantage points observations is what lead directly to the coup in no uncertain terms.

His actions and pronouncements take in aggregate, and specifically during times of stress or pressure SINCE then, have done little to dispel this sense of erratic, monomaniacal power hoarding, and isolation from unpleasant facts in his daily life, and decision making processes. A skewed view of reality. There was a time I was a fan of his, but the more I learned, and viewed from multiple sources, made it clear that I had only been give the PR version and not the reality.

Edited March 21, 2011 by animatic

[scorecard]

I promise that I will make all Thai people rich within six months

I'm listening! Wow! That's change you have to be insane to believe in.

Surely no-one will believe this .....

Then again, many believed that the village loans were gifts from the man himself. Boy were they upset when the (Samak) government went asking for some repayments.

Same as the red shirt proganda from their rajaprasong stage insisting they had documentary proof that thaksin paid off the IMF loan with his own money. In fact thaksin did not pay the IMF with his own money and the IMF payment has lots of complications which thaksin deliberately hid.

[metisdead]

An off topic post and a reply to it has been removed.

[maewrocks]

Good old ThaksinVengeance.com. Sorry guys, no matter how much you hate him, he is still (according to various polls) the most popular Thai politician. By continually deriding him you are simply belittling and ridiculing a huge section of Thai society. Call them naive, easily fooled, or whatever you want, but the simple fact is they have a vote and you don't. This government isn't and has never been a government of the people and just like every election since 1992 they will lose convincingly. Thaksin has been politically persecuted by a group of extremely well connected people who knew the only way to get power was by getting rid of him. Regarding his 2 year jail term; "In January 2007, the Financial Institutions Development Fund complied with the Assets Examination Committee request to file a charge against Thaksin and his wife over their purchase of four 772 million baht plots of land from the FIDF in 2003. The charge was based on alleged violation of Section 100 of the National Counter Corruption Act, which specifies that government officials and their spouses are prohibited from entering into or having interests in contracts made with state agencies under their authorisation. However, Section 4 of the Act indicates that persons committing malfeasance must be direct supervisors of the damaged party - in this case, the FIDF. At the time, Bank of Thailand Governor Pridiyathorn Devakula directly supervised the FIDF, not Thaksin.Section 29 of the Bank of Thailand Act of 1942 stated that the Prime Minister did not have jurisdiction to oversee the FIDF, because those managing the fund had sole authority for policies, control, oversight and regulations governing the agency. Pridiyathorn's testimony to the court occurred in secret - Thaksin's legal team was not allowed in the room. The FIDF later noted that the land was sold to the Shinawatras at a price greater than its appraised value." The Nation

[Insight]

^ Yawn. He also spends shitloads on PR too.

Isn't your online nickname missing the word "smokes" in the middle?

[rubl]

Good old ThaksinVengeance.com. Sorry guys, no matter how much you hate him, he is still (according to various polls) the most popular Thai politician. By continually deriding him you are simply belittling and ridiculing a huge section of Thai society. Call them naive, easily fooled, or whatever you want, but the simple fact is they have a vote and you don't. This government isn't and has never been a government of the people and just like every election since 1992 they will lose convincingly.

Thaksin has been politically persecuted by a group of extremely well connected people who knew the only way to get power was by getting rid of him. Regarding his 2 year jail term;

... rest removed

K. Thaksin, everybody's hero, saviour, brain, etc., etc.. Whatever.

As for the 2-year conviction and land case, it doesn't matter if the land plot was sold to k. Potjaman at a price which was higher or lower than estimated value. It also doesn't matter whether k. Thaksin had to sign some papers as legal husband of k. Potjaman. It was a case of a PM to be held to a higher standard and to the letter of the law. An example figure as it were.

2006-11-10 "LAND CONTROVERSY

Blow to Pojaman on status of FIDF

Agency considered to be part of the state, which could affect her purchase of pricey city plot"

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2006/11/20/headlines/headlines_30019425.php

2007-01-16 "FIDF to sue ousted premier, Pojaman

The Bank of Thailand's financial-rescue arm FIDF yesterday decided to file a charge against ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his wife Khunying Pojaman over a Bt772-million land purchase."

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2007/01/16/headlines/headlines_30024246.php

2010-10-08 "Thaksin’s Ex-wife Receives Bt823 Million after FIDF Decision"

http://www.pattayadailynews.com/en/2010/10/08/thaksin’s-ex-wife-receives-bt823-million-after-fidf-decision/

[Scott]

Posts accusing posters of being paid to post on ThaiVisa have been deleted. Such posts are off-topic and inflammatory.

Responses to the posts have been deleted as well.