Thailand Mia As Player On World Stage

[PlanetMan]

We have the PM's well-publicized desire to annoint himself the heir to Dr. M and Lee Kwan Yew. He also wants Thailand to be the fashion capital of what, the Mekong basin? Thai soldiers are far afield making Iraq safe for democracy (a task that arguably needs some doing here at home, but I digress.) No shortage of effort spared for Thailand to "punch above its weight."

One place Thailand can and should do well on the world stage is at the WTO, where Dr. Supachai Panichpakdi (with apologies for the spelling) has been the leader for over a year. During his tenure the current round of talks, the Doha round, have fallen apart, largely due to differences between the developed and developing worlds. Since Dr. Supachai took over from Mike Moore of New Zealand, chances of a trade deal have receded further and further.

Now the raison D'etra of the WTO is trying to get back on track and where is the WTO's leader, Dr. Supachai? Not a mention of his name in the article. Mike Moore was in the news all the time on his watch. I even saw him once on a cooking show (he was whipping up a personal favorite, something with lots of meat, as I recall.) You'd think with the WTO trying hard to assert or retain its relevance Dr. Supachai would be everywhere at once: On the news, photo ops with presidents and statesmen, talking with Larry King, making som tam, heck, even gawking at those world class gams if it would help the WTO and the Doha round.

It would be a big coup for Thailand if the WTO accomplished it's mandate in the Doha round of trade talks on Supahchai's watch. So where is the guy?

Anybody else detect the hand of the PM? Mr. Taksin has certainly shown he has the capacity for jealousy and vindictiveness. Maybe he envies Supachai's opportunity to grab headlines and make a name for himself, and so sent him on some obscure boondoggle.

Cheers

[davidm]

I think the plain and simple truth is Supachai isn't all that as a leader or organiser. Mike Moore was the candidate with the right credentials for the job and was supported by most of the developed world. Supachai was a sort of affirmative action candidate put forward by the third world who were miffed at seeing another important post about to be given to a white man.

Thais have never been appointed the head of any meaningful world organisation, so naturally they supported Supachai, too. At the time, the Democrats were the leading party in the coalition government and he was a senior member.

Even though Moore secured a majority of the votes, there were enough countries supporting Supachai to make it clear there would be no unanimous agreement. A compromise was reached whereby the six year term was split in half, with Moore taking the first section and Supachai the second.

Under the circumstances, Moore did a good job. Supachai sank without a trace.

If the WTO had to have a Thai in charge, a much better choice would have been Anand Panyarachun, who is now quite active at the UN.

[Guest IT Manager]

Perhaps Myanmar could locate another U Thant?

[PlanetMan]

Supachai was a sort of affirmative action candidate ...

Touché.

It is somewhat ironic that a poor showing is worse than no show at all. Is anonymity better than ignomy?

Supachai sank without a trace.

Yesterday I Googled a bit for this. The guy occasionally gets coverage in out of the way places. But seems rarely to be present when real news is made.

I'm sure many Thais felt a burst of pride to have one of their own in such a high profile geopolitical role. Other countries, now lamenting an impotent or ineffective WTO at a time when its leadership is desperately needed, may carry the disappointment for a long time, probably doing more harm to Thailand's image than would continued obscurity of not leading an international body.

Better out of sight, out of mind, than wrong-footing such an important opportunity. Too bad for Thailand.

Cheers

[davidm]

Perhaps Myanmar could locate another U Thant?

Another affirmative action candidate to appease the third world. The man had nothing to show for his term in office. That's not to say the poor countries have a monopoly on bad leaders. Kurt Waldheim was a disaster.

[ovenman]

Anybody else detect the hand of the PM? Mr. Taksin has certainly shown he has the capacity for jealousy and vindictiveness. Maybe he envies Supachai's opportunity to grab headlines and make a name for himself, and so sent him on some obscure boondoggle.

I recall reading back around the time of last year's APEC shindig that Mr. Big doesn't see fit to communicate at all with the esteemed head of the WTO. Mr. Supachai is a Democrat and not one of Mr. Big's sycophants. Therefore, it's as if Supachai did not exist.