Thaksin: The toughest time in my premiership

Published on Jan 28, 2004

No outbursts. No finger pointing. The most humble day of Thaksin Shinawatra’s premiership saw him as a very tense man, yet uncharacteristically considerate towards subordinates.

“This has been the toughest time since I became prime minister,” an informed source quoted him as telling his Cabinet. “I’m tired. The heaviest issues have been the South and chicken, chicken and the South, the South and chicken.”

With more than 1,000 schools set to be temporarily closed amid what is feared to be the beginning of a rash of religious crimes in the deep South, and the bird flu “red alert” now covering 21 provinces including parts of Bangkok, Thaksin was somewhat subdued.

He even admitted, with a certain degree of sarcasm, that the “CEO” style was not working at lower government levels. “People just want positions, not responsibility,” he said.

Livestock Department director-general Yukol Limlaemthong, among the top officials under fire because of their suspicious handling of the outbreak of bird flu, received a warm gesture from the prime minister.

“Please go home and get some rest. You have worked hard for several days and will have a lot of explaining to do at tomorrow’s regional meeting,” Thaksin said.

Sources described the Cabinet meeting as tense. The Cabinet approved a compensation package to provide money or new poultry, or both, to farmers whose birds are destroyed. About 10 million chickens have already been culled and 22 million birds in total are expected to be killed. The culling process itself will cost the government around Bt500 million.

Thaksin was also obviously concerned by the situation in the southernmost provinces, where Buddhist monks and novices have been attacked. However, he did not dwell on the issue druing the Cabinet meeting, saying he wanted more first-hand information from ministers who are visiting the region.

After the meeting, Thaksin and his ministers had their lunch ordered from a well-known roasted-chicken restaurant, Nittaya. But there were no chicken dishes on the menu.

A 24-hour hotline – (02) 653 4401 – was flooded with panic calls yesterday.

One caller demanded that officials come to his neighbourhood and destroy all pigeons roaming the area. Another wanted his neighbour’s pet chicken to be immediately destroyed.

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