Yingluck's Charm Goes A Long Way In Indonesia: Thai Opinion

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BURNING ISSUE

Yingluck's charm goes a long way in Indonesia

Supalak Ganjanakhundee

The Nation

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra earned a passing grade on the international front when she attended the Asean Summit on the Indonesian resort island of Bali. However, this might be because luck was on her side.

Before the Bali trip, Yingluck was fiercely criticised at home for her poor command of the English language. In fact, former senator Somkiat Onwimon, who is also a mass-communication guru, had said that Yingluck's command of the Thai language was pretty bad as well, and that she would do herself a favour if she kept her mouth shut.

Obviously it is unfair to compare Yingluck's language abilities to those of her predecessor Abhisit Vejjajiva, who is a professional politician who was born in the United Kingdom and went to prestigious schools. Yingluck is not a career diplomat or politician - she's a business executive.

Besides, language skills can be quite useless on the diplomatic front if leaders - no matter how fluent they are - are unable to use this ability to pull their country out of conflict with other nations.

Yingluck's language skills did not matter at this summit because she was able to communicate with other leaders and understood what they were talking about. The substance of the meetings was much more important than how things were said.

Indeed, Yingluck did not even have to speak to many people because all the leaders knew about the situation in Thailand and her planned proposal.

In fact, all our leader had to do was look pretty and keep flashing her charming smile to earn sympathy for the problems her government is facing.

Her proposal to seek regional cooperation to tackle natural disasters was welcomed and supported. Foreign Minister Surapong Towichukchaikul said Thailand had filed this initiative just one week before the summit kicked off and obtained full support. It's very rare for Asean to give a nod to any proposal that is raised at such a short notice, he said.

Thailand has been hit by severe flooding this year, with many provinces inundated for a long time. So far, more than 560 people have been killed and millions of others affected, as well as agriculture and industrial production bases badly hit.

A senior official at the Foreign Ministry who helped prepare discussion points for Yingluck said the prime minister was totally focused on the disaster and knew that she needed to make the region understand that protecting Thailand was necessary because it is key to regional and global industry.

Yingluck was able to link the disaster to food security and climate change, which are already part of the global agenda, the official said.

She discussed this issue with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda and US President Barack Obama and also brought it up at the meeting on Japan-Mekong cooperation held on the sidelines of the Asean summit.

Also, Yingluck was luckier than her predecessor Abhisit was at a previous regional forum, because her Cambodian counterpart Hun Sen did not bring up the annoying issue of the border conflict.

Though the problem between Thailand and Cambodia has not been settled yet, the Cambodian delegation did not speak a word about the subject and Yingluck did not have to hold special bilateral meetings with Hun Sen.

-- The Nation 2011-11-24

[whybother]

Before the Bali trip, Yingluck was fiercely criticised at home for her poor command of the English language. In fact, former senator Somkiat Onwimon, who is also a mass-communication guru, had said that Yingluck's command of the Thai language was pretty bad as well, and that she would do herself a favour if she kept her mouth shut.

Obviously it is unfair to compare Yingluck's language abilities to those of her predecessor Abhisit Vejjajiva, who is a professional politician who was born in the United Kingdom and went to prestigious schools. Yingluck is not a career diplomat or politician - she's a business executive.

You would think that a business executive that has worked their way up to president or CEO of a company would be able to communicate with both their bosses and underlings, not to mention customers and suppliers.

... Oh ... Wait a minute ...

[scotbeve]

Well done PM!! The Nation would do well to publish the correct number of people who died during these floods!! I see the Nation is keeping it's usual shoddy standards in journalism....

[whybother]

Well done PM!! The Nation would do well to publish the correct number of people who died during these floods!! I see the Nation is keeping it's usual shoddy standards in journalism....

Com on Scot. You can't expect journalists to keep up with the news, can you?

[FOODLOVER]

"Before the Bali trip, Yingluck was fiercely criticised at home for her poor command of the English language. In fact, former senator Somkiat Onwimon, who is also a mass-communication guru, had said that Yingluck's command of the Thai language was pretty bad as well, and that she would do herself a favour if she kept her mouth shut".

Her intellect breaks the language barrier.

Edited November 24, 2011 by FOODLOVER

[scotbeve]

Well done PM!! The Nation would do well to publish the correct number of people who died during these floods!! I see the Nation is keeping it's usual shoddy standards in journalism....

Com on Scot. You can't expect journalists to keep up with the news, can you?

:cheesy:

[sparebox2]

"Before the Bali trip, Yingluck was fiercely criticised at home for her poor command of the English language. In fact, former senator Somkiat Onwimon, who is also a mass-communication guru, had said that Yingluck's command of the Thai language was pretty bad as well, and that she would do herself a favour if she kept her mouth shut".

Her intellect breaks the language barrier.

Well done Somkiat. Good job.

[jayboy]

"Before the Bali trip, Yingluck was fiercely criticised at home for her poor command of the English language. In fact, former senator Somkiat Onwimon, who is also a mass-communication guru, had said that Yingluck's command of the Thai language was pretty bad as well, and that she would do herself a favour if she kept her mouth shut".

Her intellect breaks the language barrier.

I have heard this criticism of Yingluck's poor command of the Thai language several times now and it has puzzled me.I recently asked a Thai friend (Stanford graduate) what the critics were getting at.He said that Yingluck certainly spoke with a Northern accent but that her Thai language capability, as would be expected, was faultless since she was native speaker.He also mentioned this criticism in his opinion was irrational and reflected the hate filled political prejudices of the urban social media crowd and more understandably the contrast with Abhisit who was so articulate.

As to the meeting in Jakarta I have little doubt that Yingluck spoke to her MFA brief, worked the leaders and was generally charming.Talleyrand she's not but whether the haters like it or not Thailand's reputation in the region has improved greatly on her brief watch.Remember the foreign policy incompetence of the last administration with constant squabbling with ASEAN neigbours, usually engineered by that motormouth creepy little terrorist, Kasit.

[Bakseeda]

Well done PM!! The Nation would do well to publish the correct number of people who died during these floods!! I see the Nation is keeping it's usual shoddy standards in journalism....

Yes, the way I like my steak.....Well Done..!

[Bakseeda]

Well done PM!! The Nation would do well to publish the correct number of people who died during these floods!! I see the Nation is keeping it's usual shoddy standards in journalism....

Many people died during the floods.... but that was nothing to do with the floods....... people die all the time, floods or no floods...... did you mean the nunber of peoples who died Because of the floods...?

[yoshiwara]

'A senior official at the Foreign Ministry who helped prepare discussion points for Yingluck said the prime minister was totally focused on the disaster'.

That would be the flood disaster rather than the amnesty for Thaksin disaster no doubt.

[Jingthing]

I strongly reckon the Thai critic of Thaksin's clone PM was talking about her skill in organizing thoughts well in the Thai language for effective political communication. Rather than fluency. Of course she is fluent in Thai. An example for US people, Obama and Perry both fluent in American English of course. Obama a master at organizing his thoughts effectively and thinking/speaking on his feet, Perry a horror comedy show.

Yes, I am guessing what he meant because I also doubt she has any Thai fluency problems.

In her answer in English at the press conference with Clinton about the secret cabinet Thaksin pardon gambit, the horribleness of it wasn't so much the poor English fluency, although that was obvious, it was much more about the atrocious CONTENT of her spoken thoughts.

Edited November 24, 2011 by Jingthing

[rubl]

The "Yingluck was able to link the disaster to food security and climate change, which are already part of the global agenda" seems a bit strange, but it might be easier to do without any knowledge about the three disparage issues. Also "the prime minister was totally focused on the disaster and knew that she needed to make the region understand that protecting Thailand was necessary because it is key to regional and global industry" needs some explanation. Totally focused on the disaster, being in Bali and ignoring what her cabinet members do? Protection of Thailand in regional and global interest? Isn't it more like "safeguard our investment or we'll move"?

BTW the constant squabbling with ASEAN neighbours mentioned by dear member Jayboy was mostly with the traditional adversary Cambodia as far as I remember. Maybe he just referred to the storming of the ASEAN venue in Pattaya last year?

PS Anyone here who managed to get a copy of the booklet about PM Yingluck, handed out during the Bali meeting?

[FOODLOVER]

"Before the Bali trip, Yingluck was fiercely criticised at home for her poor command of the English language. In fact, former senator Somkiat Onwimon, who is also a mass-communication guru, had said that Yingluck's command of the Thai language was pretty bad as well, and that she would do herself a favour if she kept her mouth shut".

Her intellect breaks the language barrier.

I have heard this criticism of Yingluck's poor command of the Thai language several times now and it has puzzled me.I recently asked a Thai friend (Stanford graduate) what the critics were getting at.He said that Yingluck certainly spoke with a Northern accent but that her Thai language capability, as would be expected, was faultless since she was native speaker.He also mentioned this criticism in his opinion was irrational and reflected the hate filled political prejudices of the urban social media crowd and more understandably the contrast with Abhisit who was so articulate.

As to the meeting in Jakarta I have little doubt that Yingluck spoke to her MFA brief, worked the leaders and was generally charming.Talleyrand she's not but whether the haters like it or not Thailand's reputation in the region has improved greatly on her brief watch.Remember the foreign policy incompetence of the last administration with constant squabbling with ASEAN neigbours, usually engineered by that motormouth creepy little terrorist, Kasit.

Please tell me your not talking about Thaksins business associate from Cambodia. Of course he wanted the former PM out of office! Thaksin has big money business dealings with the Hun Sen and these activities would not move forward under the previous watch. Him and T were in cahoots! Did not matter that Thai lives would be lost, Only that Abithist be removed at any cost. The oil deals alone would make both Thaksin and Hun Sen rich yet again! So the argument that the previous administration was the cause for Hun Sen actions are horse hockey, imho.

[jayboy]

I strongly reckon the Thai critic of Thaksin's clone PM was talking about her skill in organizing thoughts well in the Thai language for effective political communication. Rather than fluency. Of course she is fluent in Thai. An example for US people, Obama and Perry both fluent in American English of course. Obama a master at organizing his thoughts effectively and thinking/speaking on his feet, Perry a horror comedy show.

Yes, I am guessing what he meant because I also doubt she has any Thai fluency problems.

In her answer in English at the press conference with Clinton about the secret cabinet Thaksin pardon gambit, the horribleness of it wasn't so much the poor English fluency, although that was obvious, it was much more about the atrocious CONTENT of her spoken thoughts.

Yes you're probably right, and I have no doubt it's a fair criticism.What puzzled me was the reference to her her poor Thai language skills - a criticism I have heard several times.If the issue is her lack of structured thought process (which it probably is), I wonder why it wasn't made clear.

[scotbeve]

Well done PM!! The Nation would do well to publish the correct number of people who died during these floods!! I see the Nation is keeping it's usual shoddy standards in journalism....

Many people died during the floods.... but that was nothing to do with the floods....... people die all the time, floods or no floods...... did you mean the nunber of peoples who died Because of the floods...?

pedantically... "due to the floods"... happy?

[Oberkommando]

Thaksin has big money business dealings with the Hun Sen and these activities would not move forward under the previous watch. Him and T were in cahoots! Did not matter that Thai lives would be lost, Only that Abithist be removed at any cost. The oil deals alone would make both Thaksin and Hun Sen rich yet again! So the argument that the previous administration was the cause for Hun Sen actions are horse hockey, imho.

Many Thais have business dealings with Hun Sen, including those higher up the tree than Thaksin.

The ultra-nationalist faction in the Democrat government which were part of the PAD are wholly responsible for the Preah Vihear debacle. There's no need for conspiracy theories when the truth is irrefutable.

Thankfully that negative influence has been removed and Thailand and Cambodia can move forward.

[Scott]

Off topic posts deleted.

[bigbamboo]

Thaksin has big money business dealings with the Hun Sen and these activities would not move forward under the previous watch. Him and T were in cahoots! Did not matter that Thai lives would be lost, Only that Abithist be removed at any cost. The oil deals alone would make both Thaksin and Hun Sen rich yet again! So the argument that the previous administration was the cause for Hun Sen actions are horse hockey, imho.

Many Thais have business dealings with Hun Sen, including those higher up the tree than Thaksin.

The ultra-nationalist faction in the Democrat government which were part of the PAD are wholly responsible for the Preah Vihear debacle. There's no need for conspiracy theories when the truth is irrefutable.

Thankfully that negative influence has been removed and Thailand and Cambodia can move forward.

If you pick the bones out of those two comments you will be somewhere close to the truth.

Edited November 25, 2011 by bigbamboo

[Buchholz]

Thaksin has big money business dealings with the Hun Sen and these activities would not move forward under the previous watch. Him and T were in cahoots! Did not matter that Thai lives would be lost, Only that Abithist be removed at any cost. The oil deals alone would make both Thaksin and Hun Sen rich yet again! So the argument that the previous administration was the cause for Hun Sen actions are horse hockey, imho.

Many Thais have business dealings with Hun Sen, including those higher up the tree than Thaksin.

The ultra-nationalist faction in the Democrat government which were part of the PAD are wholly responsible for the Preah Vihear debacle. There's no need for conspiracy theories when the truth is irrefutable.

Actually, the irrefutable truth is that countless international and local media articles have written precisely what FOODLOVER spoke of, that the border dispute involved Hun Sen's own reasons for escalating the situation as much as the Thailand side did.

To assign "wholly responsible" to one side, let alone one faction of one side, is to turn a blind eye to the reality that FOODLOVER accurately describes.

btw, businessmen higher up than Trillionaire Thaksin?

.

[pastitche]

Thaksin has big money business dealings with the Hun Sen and these activities would not move forward under the previous watch. Him and T were in cahoots! Did not matter that Thai lives would be lost, Only that Abithist be removed at any cost. The oil deals alone would make both Thaksin and Hun Sen rich yet again! So the argument that the previous administration was the cause for Hun Sen actions are horse hockey, imho.

Many Thais have business dealings with Hun Sen, including those higher up the tree than Thaksin.

The ultra-nationalist faction in the Democrat government which were part of the PAD are wholly responsible for the Preah Vihear debacle. There's no need for conspiracy theories when the truth is irrefutable.

Actually, the irrefutable truth is that countless international and local media articles have written precisely what FOODLOVER spoke of, that the border dispute involved Hun Sen's own reasons for escalating the situation as much as the Thailand side did.

To assign "wholly responsible" to one side, let alone one faction of one side, is to turn a blind eye to the reality that FOODLOVER accurately describes.

btw, businessmen higher up than Trillionaire Thaksin?

.

According to Forbes Richest list Thaksin is worth $600 million ( August 2011). Do you have better information to justify "Trillionaire"? He doesn't appear in the Thai Richest, obviously because he doesn't live here but would be relatively poor if he did

[hyperdimension]

When Yingluck speaks she reminds me of the charming girls in Soi Cowboy. It doesn't matter how well they can speak or write in English or Thai, nor how intelligent they are, as long as you get what you want from them. So is that U-Tapao airport deal with the U.S. all done?

[hyperdimension]

According to Forbes Richest list Thaksin is worth $600 million ( August 2011). Do you have better information to justify "Trillionaire"? He doesn't appear in the Thai Richest, obviously because he doesn't live here but would be relatively poor if he did

I believe he is using Thai baht units of currency.

I doubt that Forbes counted all of Thaksin's assets, as he'd have assets and bank accounts in various places around the world and held via nominees and trust funds, and is under no obligation to declare them all to anyone.

The trillionaires in US dollars would be the Rothschild and Rockefeller dynasties.

[ETatBKK]

I guess there were lot of gentlemen in this occasion, and they don't want to see a Thai PM crying in front of them :-)

and no one deal to say : 'sorry to hear that your brother is not . . . '

[ETatBKK]

double post deleted.

Edited November 25, 2011 by ETatBKK

[rubl]

According to Forbes Richest list Thaksin is worth $600 million ( August 2011). Do you have better information to justify "Trillionaire"? He doesn't appear in the Thai Richest, obviously because he doesn't live here but would be relatively poor if he did

Relatively poor if he did live here, with 'only' about US$600m? Does this mean that a wage/income of THB300/day is extravagant?

[Buchholz]

Thaksin has big money business dealings with the Hun Sen and these activities would not move forward under the previous watch. Him and T were in cahoots! Did not matter that Thai lives would be lost, Only that Abithist be removed at any cost. The oil deals alone would make both Thaksin and Hun Sen rich yet again! So the argument that the previous administration was the cause for Hun Sen actions are horse hockey, imho.

Many Thais have business dealings with Hun Sen, including those higher up the tree than Thaksin.

The ultra-nationalist faction in the Democrat government which were part of the PAD are wholly responsible for the Preah Vihear debacle. There's no need for conspiracy theories when the truth is irrefutable.

Actually, the irrefutable truth is that countless international and local media articles have written precisely what FOODLOVER spoke of, that the border dispute involved Hun Sen's own reasons for escalating the situation as much as the Thailand side did.

To assign "wholly responsible" to one side, let alone one faction of one side, is to turn a blind eye to the reality that FOODLOVER accurately describes.

btw, businessmen higher up than Trillionaire Thaksin?

According to Forbes Richest list Thaksin is worth $600 million ( August 2011). Do you have better information to justify "Trillionaire"? He doesn't appear in the Thai Richest, obviously because he doesn't live here but would be relatively poor if he did

Forbes is only for those whose wealth is at least fairly legitimate and pretty much accounted for, which leaves off a lot of wealth and wealthy people.

A google of him and his "platinum mine" in Mugabe's "Zimbabwe" is a noteworthy search as he prefers to deal with fellow democracy-lovers.

.

.

Edited November 25, 2011 by Buchholz

[FOODLOVER]

Thaksin has big money business dealings with the Hun Sen and these activities would not move forward under the previous watch. Him and T were in cahoots! Did not matter that Thai lives would be lost, Only that Abithist be removed at any cost. The oil deals alone would make both Thaksin and Hun Sen rich yet again! So the argument that the previous administration was the cause for Hun Sen actions are horse hockey, imho.

Many Thais have business dealings with Hun Sen, including those higher up the tree than Thaksin.

The ultra-nationalist faction in the Democrat government which were part of the PAD are wholly responsible for the Preah Vihear debacle. There's no need for conspiracy theories when the truth is irrefutable.

Thankfully that negative influence has been removed and Thailand and Cambodia can move forward.

I actually don't think that what i posted is a conspiracy theory. Hun Sen did not trust nor consider Abithist an ally where as Mr. Thaksin was and has been invited many times for visits including the opportunity for a bit a football at a lovely pica nic. When the "Clone" was placed in power Hun Sen was ecstatic as his oil deals with Thasin could now move forward. Despite T's statements that no oil deals were being discussed during his visits i somehow have come to the conclusion that he is a LIAR! As for his declared wealth, seems Thais don't like banks and can make furniture out of stacks of cash with no one the wiser. I do have to say that the yellers are just as much at fault about the temple dispute as i guess they had nothing better to do. (Taking over air ports has got to be much more fun)

"But no sooner than the time it took for Yingluck to run a proverbial victory lap to celebrate her electoral triumph did Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen consequently announce that the election results in Thailand signaled a "new era of cooperation" between the two countries. Relations between Phnom Penh and Yingluck's brother Thaksin Shinawatra were quite warm, and remained so even after Thaksin's overthrow when he briefly served as an economic consultant for Hun Sen".

"In his speech, Hun Sen blasted former Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and members of the Thai Democratic Party for accusing Thaksin of having secret oil and gas interests in Cambodia."

"On August 30, the Cambodian National Petroleum Authority released a letter in response to these claims revealing "secret" talks on disputed offshore petroleum and natural gas resources between high-ranking Thai and Cambodian officials during the Abhisit Vejjajiva administration".

Seems Hun Sen was trying to destabilize the Government by leaking secrets weather they were true or not. Quite obvious what the intention was. He wanted Thaksin back or by proxy the baby sister and inso doing would have more lucrative oil deals for their pockets. IMHO

Edited November 25, 2011 by FOODLOVER