What's Good For Thaksin May Not Be For Thailand

[webfact]

EDITORIAL

What's good for Thaksin may not be for Thailand

By The Nation

The foreign minister needs to focus on diplomacy and helping the country's international standing, not doing personal favours for his political boss

When it was known that the current foreign minister, Surapong Towichakchaikul, would be appointed to his current post, the man was all humble. He told the hounding press that he might not know much about diplomacy but he was all ears. Indeed, humility proves to be an important virtue when one is put in such a tight corner.

His critics said he was appointed to the Foreign Ministry post because of his close ties with the Pheu Thai Party's de facto leader, Thaksin Shinawatra.

Surapong insisted, however, that he had Thailand at the heart of his interest, not Thaksin. But before he even set foot in the Foreign Ministry, he was already lobbying the Japanese government to grant Thaksin a visa to visit tsunami victims, and then tried to say that it was Tokyo who wanted Thaksin there.

It was nothing less than a humiliating episode, but then again, what the boss wants, the boss gets.

Obviously, the concept of a people's mandate has got to the Pheu Thai Party members' heads. Never mind that Thaksin is a convicted criminal.

But having the majority of votes should not be a green light to turn Thailand into a playground for Thaksin and his quirky ambitions. What's good for Thaksin may not necessarily be good for Thailand.

Surapong is in New York now for the annual United Nations General Assembly meeting. The days of humility are gone, and now it's time to turn up the heat for the boss. This means Thaksin's brainchild, the Asia Community Dialogue (ACD) is back on top of the agenda. The much-derided ACD was proposed by Thaksin a decade ago. It was supposed to be his shortcut to international stardom. Needless to say, he didn't make it, and neither did the ACD.

This time around - either Surapong is doing his duty of fulfilling Thaksin's ambitions or Thai diplomats don't have the courage to tell him to put a lid on it - the Thai foreign minister is suggesting that the ACD be upgraded to be similar to the Asean Community.

"Asia should seize the opportunity for closer economic cooperation within the continent through the ACD. It is time for us to set a clear direction for the ACD. We should focus on actual tangible outcomes we wish to achieve from this forum," Surapong said in his statement as a coordinator of the grouping.

If the ACD wants to move towards institutionalisation, it needs to do something collectively. The problem with the ACD is that people want to be mentioned but nobody wants to do any real work. The 31 members have nothing much in common and one wonders over this past ten years since it came into being, what has the group done except provide a forum to talk and talk and talk.

Like any member organisations, the forum only is as good as its members want it to be.

Perhaps Surapong should go back to being his humble self and take up the advice of a panel of experts who met recently at Ramkhamhaeng University to talk about his ineptitude on foreign affairs.

Panellist Kiatichai Pongpanich said Surapong's first month in office was mostly about Thaksin's homecoming and little on the direction of the country's diplomacy.

And then, of course, there was talk about getting the fugitive ex-premier his passport back. Couldn't Surapong wait a little longer until the dust settled? Or is he afraid that the longer they wait, the harder it will be to push anything through. After all, there is only one honeymoon period for any government.

The panel at Ramkhamhaeng also pointed out that Thailand has lost its prominent position within Asean due to its domestic political conflict.

If the Pheu Thai-led government is serious about Thailand's image abroad and its role in Asean, it needs to get away from its campaign to save and salvage Thaksin at all costs.

-- The Nation 2011-09-24

[OzMick]

From SMH

Thailand's Foreign Minister, Surapong Tovichukchaikul, also wants to return Thaksin's Thai passport revoked by the previous government two years ago.

"A passport is like an identity card. Even prisoners in Thailand still hold their ID card," Mr Surapong said in New York, where he is leading the Thai delegation to the United Nations General Assembly.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/world/thaksin-lectures-cabinet-amid-calls-for-his-return-20110923-1kpbl.html#ixzz1YpDUgr12

Yes fugitive criminals need a passport so that they can travel freely.

It should be a diplomatic passport of course, to avoid having to wait in line like lesser mortals, and so that the holder can purport to be a diplomatic representative of the country from where he was convicted, and when other major charges await him.

Even prisoners in Thailand still hold their ID card, the major difference being that they are serving their sentences. A fine difference that seems to evaded the FM.

[looping]

But having the majority of votes should not be a green light to turn Thailand into a playground for Thaksin and his quirky ambitions. What's good for Thaksin may not necessarily be good for Thailand.

NO SHIT!!! REALLY??? Is this news???

[whybother]

Thaksin doesn't care about what's good for Thailand.

[surangw]

anything that is good for a politician is bad for the citizens

just the way it works

Edited September 24, 2011 by surangw

[kutjebu]

Thaksin doesn't care about what's good for Thailand.

One good thing.He will make the closing hours for bars and night clubs,back to 00.00 am.

Safe a lot of money for the majority of farangs.

[yoshiwara]

There is a problem. If the government was to introduce policies that were positively received then it might be said that Thaksin was not needed back on the premises. Can't have that. So Thaksin appointed ministers whose sole focus was to be his return asap. Unfortunately that is proving to be slower and more difficult than assumed. The result? The government within a remarkably short space of time are looking like a bunch of clowns without a clue what to do except follow the script Thaksin handed to them. The forum Thaksin apologists (the 'this isn't about Thaksin', 'you are Thaksin haters', 'liberation of the poor is the priority' crowd) are reduced to silence as the government falls into disrepute in record time. Wanting to give back the passport to a wanted criminal. Now that's smart! And how about the minimum wage? For the private sector (read North eastern landowners), it ain't going to happen......

Edited September 25, 2011 by yoshiwara

[Groongthep]

Am I the only one who thinks we should give this whole Thaksin/anti-Thaksin paranoia thing a break for at least a little while. No real discussion of the political realities of Thailand can be had without inclusion of the "unspeakable" subject and that institutions very significant influence on Thai politics and Thai society (particularly upper society) as a whole. Attaining any greater understanding of the very complicated workings at the top echelons of the many branches of the Thai power structures whether they be political, economic, military, cultural or social is impossible without real transparency so that those involved in the conversations can argue from informed opinions. Those not privy to the highly protected information held by those most powerful institutions in Thailand are never going to get the whole picture and included in those not privy to that information is just about everyone on this now nearly irrelevant forum. Much of this is because the Thai English language press has either not been doing its job or they are biased one way or another. Articles from this same press is where most of the topics of new threads originate.

There is absolutely nothing, and I mean nothing that any foreigner or group of foreigners on this or any other internet forum are going to do or say that is going to change anything. Whatever "side" you have decided to align yourself with is neither here nor there. Give it up and just enjoy yourself in Thailand before you grow too old from worrying about things you can do nothing about.

Thai politics are indeed intriguing but the amount of ill will and venom that I see regularly spewed out on these pages as a result of differences in opinions often derived from incomplete or outright misinformation from some (possibly paid) posters who joined the forum solely for the purpose of advancing one agenda over another has grown very tiresome.

I would therefore suggest that unless breaking news of the possible return of the great Satan or Messiah; Thaksin (you chose the title according to your opinion) is of utmost and immediate importance to the country and/or the expat community then the mods should limit the amount of threads on this subject to once a week rather than every chance they get. We have been getting nothing but a rehash of the same old arguments from the same old people for literally years now. Enough already.

[rixalex]

Am I the only one who thinks we should give this whole Thaksin/anti-Thaksin paranoia thing a break for at least a little while. No real discussion of the political realities of Thailand can be had without inclusion of the "unspeakable" subject and that institutions very significant influence on Thai politics and Thai society (particularly upper society) as a whole. Attaining any greater understanding of the very complicated workings at the top echelons of the many branches of the Thai power structures whether they be political, economic, military, cultural or social is impossible without real transparency so that those involved in the conversations can argue from informed opinions. Those not privy to the highly protected information held by those most powerful institutions in Thailand are never going to get the whole picture and included in those not privy to that information is just about everyone on this now nearly irrelevant forum. Much of this is because the Thai English language press has either not been doing its job or they are biased one way or another. Articles from this same press is where most of the topics of new threads originate.

There is absolutely nothing, and I mean nothing that any foreigner or group of foreigners on this or any other internet forum are going to do or say that is going to change anything. Whatever "side" you have decided to align yourself with is neither here nor there. Give it up and just enjoy yourself in Thailand before you grow too old from worrying about things you can do nothing about.

Thai politics are indeed intriguing but the amount of ill will and venom that I see regularly spewed out on these pages as a result of differences in opinions often derived from incomplete or outright misinformation from some (possibly paid) posters who joined the forum solely for the purpose of advancing one agenda over another has grown very tiresome.

I would therefore suggest that unless breaking news of the possible return of the great Satan or Messiah; Thaksin (you chose the title according to your opinion) is of utmost and immediate importance to the country and/or the expat community then the mods should limit the amount of threads on this subject to once a week rather than every chance they get. We have been getting nothing but a rehash of the same old arguments from the same old people for literally years now. Enough already.

Whilst i do participate, i agree, it does get tiresome at times, but at the end of the day, there are plenty of threads on Thaivisa, and nobody is with a gun to your head, forcing you to read threads like those you mention. Rather than telling people what they should or what they shouldn't be posting about, why not simply read threads that interest you, and contribute accordingly - and if the threads don't exist, start them. Just a suggestion...

[gemini81]

Am I the only one who thinks we should give this whole Thaksin/anti-Thaksin paranoia thing a break for at least a little while. No real discussion of the political realities of Thailand can be had without inclusion of the "unspeakable" subject and that institutions very significant influence on Thai politics and Thai society (particularly upper society) as a whole. Attaining any greater understanding of the very complicated workings at the top echelons of the many branches of the Thai power structures whether they be political, economic, military, cultural or social is impossible without real transparency so that those involved in the conversations can argue from informed opinions. Those not privy to the highly protected information held by those most powerful institutions in Thailand are never going to get the whole picture and included in those not privy to that information is just about everyone on this now nearly irrelevant forum. Much of this is because the Thai English language press has either not been doing its job or they are biased one way or another. Articles from this same press is where most of the topics of new threads originate.

There is absolutely nothing, and I mean nothing that any foreigner or group of foreigners on this or any other internet forum are going to do or say that is going to change anything. Whatever "side" you have decided to align yourself with is neither here nor there. Give it up and just enjoy yourself in Thailand before you grow too old from worrying about things you can do nothing about.

Thai politics are indeed intriguing but the amount of ill will and venom that I see regularly spewed out on these pages as a result of differences in opinions often derived from incomplete or outright misinformation from some (possibly paid) posters who joined the forum solely for the purpose of advancing one agenda over another has grown very tiresome.

I would therefore suggest that unless breaking news of the possible return of the great Satan or Messiah; Thaksin (you chose the title according to your opinion) is of utmost and immediate importance to the country and/or the expat community then the mods should limit the amount of threads on this subject to once a week rather than every chance they get. We have been getting nothing but a rehash of the same old arguments from the same old people for literally years now. Enough already.

Dude, you just wrote a long winded essay on it! So much for tired of it. Sounds like you're craving it. I've never written an essay on here.

[Groongthep]

Dude, you just wrote a long winded essay on it! So much for tired of it. Sounds like you're craving it. I've never written an essay on here.

Dude, (what are you 14 years old?) my comments where perhaps a bit long winded but the post had a point to it and it wasn't of the ubiquitous, "my opinion of Thai politics is right and anyone not agreeing with me is wrong" category. If you go to my profile and look under "find my content" you will see that I have not posted on a political topic in a very long time. I quit when the dialogue became polarized and toxic. Craving it? Hardly. I'm sick of it.

I looked at your profile and could immediately see that you post only on political topics and that you espouse the same hate filled one-sided opinion over and over again. The photo-shopped Nazi thing on your front page pretty much says it all. Perhaps my reference to the possibly paid single agenda members hit a bit too close to home for you or maybe you are just stupid or immature. Regardless, both you and your antagonists have the right to express anything you wish as long as the sacred forbidden subject is avoided. Go ahead and blabber away, all I'm saying is that you and the other closed minded agenda pushers and paid lobbyists ruin any chance of productive or informative discussion for other members on here who would like to see a civil open minded forum for discussion of political issues.

[Groongthep]

Whilst i do participate, i agree, it does get tiresome at times, but at the end of the day, there are plenty of threads on Thaivisa, and nobody is with a gun to your head, forcing you to read threads like those you mention. Rather than telling people what they should or what they shouldn't be posting about, why not simply read threads that interest you, and contribute accordingly - and if the threads don't exist, start them. Just a suggestion...

Suggestion noted. Thank you.

[mca]

Whilst i do participate, i agree, it does get tiresome at times, but at the end of the day, there are plenty of threads on Thaivisa, and nobody is with a gun to your head, forcing you to read threads like those you mention.

Yeah but rix you know when you get one of those bright red blind spots on the end of your nose and despite it hurting like buggery you have to keep pressing it. TVF's news section is the online equivalent.