Politics Bids Farewell To A Controversial Son: Thai Editorial

[webfact]

EDITORIAL
Politics bids farewell to a controversial son
The Nation

BANGKOK: -- Veteran power broker Sanan Kachornprasart died at a time when he sought to be seen as a moderator in Thailand's deep political divide

According to yellow-shirt leader Sondhi Limthongkul, Sanan Kachornprasart died at a time when his political life was still at a crossroads. In so many words, Sondhi was saying Sanan should have done better. While the assessment sounds rather cruel, it could be true. Yet Sanan might have passed through too many crossroads to bother. The veteran is resting in peace and certainly won't care less whether he achieved professional fulfilment.

Sanan - who died last week after two months in a coma resulting from a blood infection and resporatory complications - had both critics and admirers, friends and foes. That is normal for anyone who spends most of his life in politics. He went through it all. He was one of the country's most influential power brokers, and he earned the unenviable brand of the first "big fish" to be handed a five-year political ban. He died at the sunset of his career, in twilight that couldn't hide controversial past deeds wrestling with his ambition to be remembered as a reformer.

Credit to Sanan: He took it like a man when the Constitution Court handed down the five-year ban shortly after the 1997 "People's Charter" came into effect. In the Thai political context, it looked like a trivial offence as well. He was found guilty of falsifying a Bt15-million debt in his assets report, and his downfall began there and then.

With his power and influence, Sanan could have manoeuvred his way out. His grim acceptance of the ban is one of the reasons why other politicians who faced the same fate cannot credibly portray themselves as conspiracy victims. Some people called Sanan a fall guy, made an example of by constitutional reformers. The point remains that Sanan could have chosen to fight but let the new constitutional order prevail.

Other than that, Sanan was pretty much a typical big-shot politician of his time. He took the blame for doing "dirty jobs" for the Democrats, but he was duly compensated with powerful party and government posts. His name was often associated with negativity in politics, even though most politicians are tarred with the same brush. Following the ban he parted ways with the Democrats, but his career still revolved around factional politics, in which horse-trading and shifts of allegiance went hand in hand.

As Thailand's political divide deepened, Sanan became, like many others, occasionally lost in soul-searching. As the political winds kept changing, it was hard to tell which direction was safe, let alone right. Again, like many others, Sanan found himself swinging both ways.

But at least Sanan sought to end what he proclaimed an unhealthy political phenomenon - or at least managed to convince many that he was trying. Before the heavy smoker fell seriously ill and was hospitalised in November, he tried to sell ideas for reconciliation, stressing that the country could not go on being this polarised. Being associated with the Chart Thai Pattana Party, infamous for always going with the political flow, Sanan's moves were greeted with more contempt than admiration. Billboards sprang up showing Sanan attempting to bring peace back to Thailand but, before he could do anything more concrete about reconciliation, illness cut him down.

Sanan is gone now and reconciliation is still far off, whereas the system that brought about his five-year ban has bred turmoil rather than graft-free politics. That ban might be seen as a scar on him. The way he faced it might deserve some positive reflection. As the man takes his rest in peace, his contributions, good or bad, to what the system was, is and will become, will be remembered.


-- The Nation 2013-02-23

[arthurboy]

This is sycophantic crap. Read it closely; any 'negative' comment is carefully but clumsily tempered by emotive language extolling his apparent life long struggle to do the 'right thing'.

Why on earth is the Nation writing about him? It's just so much tawdry copy.

The man was amoral and corrupt.

[siampolee]

One is led to wonder if the writer of the article lives in a parallel world where left swings to right, right swings to left and good is bad and bad is good. Corruption and power abuse is a virtue and honesty is a vice ?

Amazing claptrap from a fourth estate whelp writer.

Next headline will be that Genghis Khan was a peace loving gentleman

Edited February 23, 2013 by siampolee

[Locationthailand]

This is sycophantic crap. Read it closely; any 'negative' comment is carefully but clumsily tempered by emotive language extolling his apparent life long struggle to do the 'right thing'.

Why on earth is the Nation writing about him? It's just so much tawdry copy.

The man was amoral and corrupt.

Yes. And this "... five-year ban has bred turmoil rather than graft-free politics". Now that needs a lot of explanation by The Nation if it believes when Thai Rak Thai was ousted and banned the corruption started then... Edited February 23, 2013 by Locationthailand

[arthurboy]

One is led to wonder if the writer of the article lives in a parallel world where left swings to right, right swings to left and good is bad and bad is good. Corruption and power abuse is a virtue and honesty is a vice ?

Amazing claptrap from a fourth estate whelp writer.

Next headline will be that Genghis Khan was a peace loving gentleman

Orwell's 1984 sets a frightening example of how the rewriting of 'history' is used to such an extent that people no longer even notice that any change has occurred and simply believe whatever they read or see in the media.

Sound familiar?

La la land maybe, but the darkest of dystopia's. Be afraid, very afraid.

[Bluespunk]

Delete.

Edited February 23, 2013 by Bluespunk

[Bluespunk]

Article doesn't mention was gaoled for taking part in failed coup. Bought his way out after a year.

[scorecard]

This is sycophantic crap. Read it closely; any 'negative' comment is carefully but clumsily tempered by emotive language extolling his apparent life long struggle to do the 'right thing'.

Why on earth is the Nation writing about him? It's just so much tawdry copy.

The man was amoral and corrupt.

Agree.

Not nice to speak ill of the dead, but this character had the ability to keep in the spotlight over a long period of time, in reality he did nothing whatever of note for Thailand and along the way was convicted for election transgressions and given a five year ban.

Edited February 23, 2013 by scorecard

[nevets]

Yep good job he is dead pity a few more could not have gone with him.

[bigbamboo]

The most important question regarding the legacy of a Thai politician is how much money did he leave?

[ratcatcher]

I was never quite sure where his allegiance lay. Maybe someone knows?

[mrtoad]

Good riddance

[Arkady]

Just another corrupt scumbag politician in Thailand's dirty politics who had no loyalties and cared for naught except lining his own pockets by whatever means possible. It's not surprising his posturing moves about reconciliation was greeted with more contempt than admiration.

Good riddance to bad rubbish.

Edited February 23, 2013 by Arkady

[mca]

Just another corrupt scumbag politician in Thailand's dirty politics who had no loyalties and cared for naught except lining his own pockets by whatever means possible. It's not surprising his posturing moves about reconciliation was greeted with more contempt than admiration.

Good riddance to bad rubbish.

I take it they won't be asking you to give an eulogy at the funeral mate.

[Dap]

He maintained one hellova' wine cellar.

Doesn't he get any points for that?

Edited February 23, 2013 by Dap

[arthurboy]

Just another corrupt scumbag politician in Thailand's dirty politics who had no loyalties and cared for naught except lining his own pockets by whatever means possible. It's not surprising his posturing moves about reconciliation was greeted with more contempt than admiration.

Good riddance to bad rubbish.

The deal for me is that I cannot understand and never will why Thai people accept people like this as their representatives.

Are they really that uncaring or that unconcerned or that unthinking or that scared of saying no or is the sakdina/ kreng jai/ barrami thing really that powerful?

Edited February 23, 2013 by arthurboy

[Thereisnoif]

As long as Thai people keep on sucking up to absolute scumbags like this piece of horse shit mafia don , they deserve to be slaves to gangsters .

[khaowong1]

I was never quite sure where his allegiance lay. Maybe someone knows?

sanan 1.jpgsanan2.jpgsanan3.jpg

It would appear that he was quite flexible in his allegiance.. Edited February 23, 2013 by khaowong1

[Artisi]

One less comedian in politics, unfortunately in this country 1 dies and plenty of others fight and scramble to step-up and replace them. Anyone would think there was lots of money involved somewhere.