Pm Thaksin Resigns

[Jai Dee]

'I want to see Thais love each other, be united and let bygones be bygones. I would like to thank PAD members and beg them to join us in pushing for political reform to ensure the best politics for Thailand and for all the Thais.' — Caretaker Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra

Source: Bangkok Post - 6 April 2006

[Jai Dee]

Outgoing prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra fights back tears as one of his supporters sobs on his shoulder at Thai Rak Thai headquarters. Many of Thaksin’s supporters find it hard to cope with Thaksin’s decision not to seek another term as premier.

Source: The Nation - 6 April 2006

[Jai Dee]

Thaksin to fly to England on Saturday

Outgoing Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra would accompany his daughter, Pintongta Shinawatra, back to London on Saturday, a Thai Rak Thai Party source said.

The source said Thaksin would stay in London until after the Songkran holidays before returning to Thailand.

Pinthongta would go back to study for a master degree.

The source said Thaksin would fly to Chiang Mai on Saturday and return to Bangkok on Saturday to play golf with some of his Cabinet members. He would leave for London with Pinthongta Saturday night.

Source: The Nation - 6 April 2006

[LaoPo]

Thaksin to fly to England on Saturday

Outgoing Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra would accompany his daughter, Pintongta Shinawatra, back to London on Saturday, a Thai Rak Thai Party source said.

The source said Thaksin would stay in London until after the Songkran holidays before returning to Thailand.

Pinthongta would go back to study for a master degree.

The source said Thaksin would fly to Chiang Mai on Saturday and return to Bangkok on Saturday to play golf with some of his Cabinet members. He would leave for London with Pinthongta Saturday night.

Source: The Nation - 6 April 2006

Quite a busy schedule....I wonder: does he have his own jet?

LaoPo

[Jai Dee]

There will be by-elections on April 23rd in 5 constituencies of the Andaman provinces of Phuket, Phang-Nga and Krabi.

The Election Commission has decided the dates for by-elections as April 23rd to allow new candidates to run and give them time to prepare. The candidacy will be opened during 8th & 9th of April.

In Phuket, Kittipong Tiengkunakrit, the Phuket Director of the Election Office announced that all 2 constituencies needed the by-elections as the two Thai Rak Thai sole candidates failed to receive 20% votes from the April 2nd general election, but there will not be an advance poll available this time he stressed.

There was only one constituency in the Andaman provinces of Phuket, Phang-Nga and Krabi, namely constituency no.2 of Phang-Nga, which manged to get an MP elected while the other 5 needs to have by-elections.

Source: Andaman News TV11 Phuket City, broadcast to Phang Nga, Krabi & Phuket provinces, 10.05am Thursday 6 April 2006

[sriracha john]

Here's a bulletin that slipped through yesterday because the server was down:

PM picks up his personal belongings at Govt. House

Earlier this morning, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra chaired the special meeting with his Cabinet members. Following the discussion, the premier traveled to Thai Koo Fah Building, to have a discussion with the core leaders of the Thai Rak Thai Party, including Deputy Leader Sudarat Keyuraphan, Secretary-General Suriya Jungrungreangkit, and Deputy Leader Newin Chidchob.

Later on, Pol. Lt. Gen. Thaksin assigned the officials to get his personal belongings in the office, as he is prepared to leave the Government House.

Source: Thai National News Bureau Public Relations Department - 05 April 2006

ahhhh... and it was a goodie one too, Jai Dee... thanks for posting it up.

Here's a bit more on the dearly beloved one's departure:

Thaksin bids emotional farewell to supporters, says he'll stick by them

Caretaker Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra yesterday bade an emotional farewell to supporters who streamed into Thai Rak Thai party headquarters to give him moral support. ''Let every drop of your tears speak to selfish people, that there are people who truly love democracy and His Majesty. Let every teardrop be worth its while and bring reconciliation,'' he told the supporters, mostly the Caravan of the Poor and motorcycle taxi drivers.

Mr Thaksin reiterated the apology to the 16 million people he said had voted for him in the snap elections.

''I've made sacrifices, but it's like I've gone back on my word made to 16 million people who voted for me to be the prime minister,'' he said.

The Caravan of the Poor also presented him with cloth banners marked with the names of his supporters. He promised not to abandon them, saying he would ensure that Thai Rak Thai belonged to the poor and could be counted on.

''I'll do this job, to repay you for preserving democracy,'' he said.

Mr Thaksin took a verbal swipe at the photographers who swarmed around as he hugged and shook hands with his supporters.

''That's enough. We've taken more than enough pictures. Let me take some moments with my people,'' he said.

Early in the day after a special cabinet meeting yesterday, Mr Thaksin packed his belongings, mostly documents and pictures, and loaded them onto two pick-up trucks.

Some cabinet members, including Newin Chidchob and Sudarat Keyuraphan, and 10 police officers based at Government House, saw him off.

Mr Thaksin was picked up by his son Panthongtae. Mr Thaksin earlier teased photographers and cameramen before the cabinet meeting began. He suggested they take a picture of him quickly because this could be their last opportunity.

He also told them to compare the photographs of him when he took up the job five years ago and now to see how old he has become.

He apparently told cabinet he could easily go anywhere without the press troupe following him around after this.

Mr Thaksin said reporters should stop harassing him from now on. If there were queries about national administration, they should ask his deputy Chidchai Wannasathit, who has been appointed interim prime minister for day-to-day affairs.

''I am glad to be able to serve the country as prime minister. However, we might have started some projects which were too advanced for some people.

''So when there were some changes, resistance was inevitable,'' Mr Thaksin was quoted as saying.

- BP

------------------------------------

Adios, Maew

[sriracha john]

Thaksin to fly to England on Saturday

Outgoing Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra would accompany his daughter, Pintongta Shinawatra, back to London on Saturday, a Thai Rak Thai Party source said.

The source said Thaksin would stay in London until after the Songkran holidays before returning to Thailand.

Pinthongta would go back to study for a master degree.

The source said Thaksin would fly to Chiang Mai on Saturday and return to Bangkok on Saturday to play golf with some of his Cabinet members. He would leave for London with Pinthongta Saturday night.

Source: The Nation - 6 April 2006

Quite a busy schedule....I wonder: does he have his own jet?

LaoPo

He did have this billion baht taxpayer purchase, but not sure if resigned, caretaker PM's are entitled to it's continued use:

Air Force One thread

[Jai Dee]

Here's an interesting editorial opinion from today's Nation:

Thaksin's 'political pause' is only the first step

A few hours before Thaksin Shinawatra announced on Tuesday evening that he wouldn't accept the premiership when (if?) the new House was called to pick a new leader, I wrote this commentary based on his television appearance the evening before:

You can never be too sure whether Thaksin Shinawatra is making a serious proposal or expressing his personal feelings when he mentions "national reconciliation". In fact, if you are familiar with his famous "quick promises, quick reversals", then you probably would want to treat his public statements on this issue just as a source of entertainment.

"If I am the real source of the country's ongoing conflict, I am ready to quit," he said. But did he mean it? Nobody knows. But if one goes by his record, one would have to take it with a bottle-full of salt.

The fact that Thaksin was still wondering whether he was the real problem - one day after the April 2 snap-election results showed an unprecedented 10 million people registering their anti-Thaksin votes by marking the abstention box on the ballot - showed that he still didn't get it. Or didn't want to get it at all. This, despite the fact that thousands of voters had gone one step further to show their anger by writing condemnations of Thaksin on the ballots, deliberately invalidating them.

Thaksin instead chose to emphasise that 16 million people around the country were still on his side, trying desperately to overlook the fact that he can't possibly rule a country where at least 40 per cent of the populace will not accept him as their leader. He simply refused to take note of the fact that this was the first time in Thai political history that such an overwhelming number of voters came out to notify an incumbent leader that his regime was too corrupt and despotic to deserve any trust at all.

Does Thaksin realise that there is a real political stalemate even after this purported exercise in democracy? The signs are too blatant to ignore. But, political chicanery, not adherence to reality, has become his weapon of choice. Thaksin went on television on Monday night to talk about "national reconciliation" as a way out of the current crisis, but it's reconciliation of a bizarre kind. He wants to meet "half-way", but only on his terms.

He said he would name an "independent panel" comprising three ex-chief judges, three former House speakers, and three ex-premiers and/or former university rectors to work on reconciliation. That's typical of Thaksin's way of thinking; as soon as he mentions "compromises" he starts to set his own rules for the game. One simply doesn't set up one's own committee without consulting with the warring parties and proceeding from there to reach a compromise.

It's plain, though, that he realises he has to go. But then, he goes about complicating things by taking one step back immediately.

"But who's to guarantee that if I go, things will be back to normal?" he asked. He was implying that nobody else could set things right in this country. And, of course, that misguided notion has been the single source of nationwide protests against his rule. Does he realise that? He does but he doesn't want to admit it. And that's the source of trouble plaguing the country right now. The election, as pointed out repeatedly by critics from all quarters, not only failed to resolve the nation's rising tension; it dragged the country further down an unfathomable dark hole. If Thaksin cares, he hasn't shown it in any apparent way.

His latest conditions for reconciliation, on the surface, sound simple enough: "Let the opposition parties lift the boycott. Let the People's Alliance for Democracy call off all rallies. Then I will immediately step down."

Sounds easy and clear, but it's not. One would have to first ask the question: "Does he mean it?" Then, if the answer is in the affirmative, the next question is bound to be: "If he means it, why did he talk about setting up an independent panel to coordinate reconciliation talks?" But that's not all. With Thaksin, nothing is as it seems. Your suspicion that something is always up his sleeve inevitably proved right. His next statement, given on television on Monday night, was classic "Thaksinspeak".

"Then, if we agree to all these conditions, the next question is: how do I tell the 16 million voters who cast their ballots for me to remain prime minister that I am not going to comply with their wishes?" he asked, with his typical knowing smile which inevitably carried that obnoxious "See, I can get away with it again, mate?" message.

That, without a doubt, is no message of reconciliation. Obviously, he has 16 million conditions attached to his "one step back" compromise. Sad to say, with that attitude from the man in the centre of the storm, things will get worse before they get better.

The price we will have to pay is becoming increasingly difficult to predict.

As things turned out, a few hours later Thaksin did prove predictably unpredictable. Contrary to what he suggested, it wasn't all that complicated to find a way to explain to the "16 million voters" why he had to turn down the premiership. And perhaps to his own great surprise, after he promised to remove himself from the political equation, national reconciliation, which had seemed almost unattainable only a few hours earlier, immediately appeared to be within reach after all.

Source: The Nation - Political Opinion by Suthichai Yoon

[penzman]

Now that he has resigned can the EC please come up with the official results of the election?

This morning's Nation article mentions "unofficial".

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/breakingne...newsid=30001056

What's taking so long?

[jaapfries]

'I want to see Thais love each other, be united and let bygones be bygones. I would like to thank PAD members and beg them to join us in pushing for political reform to ensure the best politics for Thailand and for all the Thais.' — Caretaker Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra

Source: Bangkok Post - 6 April 2006

=============================================================

Same shit

Different color

Same stink

Bah !

[h90]

Outgoing prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra fights back tears as one of his supporters sobs on his shoulder at Thai Rak Thai headquarters. Many of Thaksin’s supporters find it hard to cope with Thaksin’s decision not to seek another term as premier.

Source: The Nation - 6 April 2006

my keyboard is already very wet from too much crying.....

bye bye Toxin, take care of yourself and don't come back....

[Orion76]

Thaksin didn't personally bankroll all TRT's expenses - there were/are other major donors, too.

Thai Rak Thai donations exceeds 100 million baht

BANGKOK, Dec 22 (TNA) - The ruling Thai Rak Thai (TRT) Party has received more than 100 million baht in donations for its political campaign this year, according to the Election Commission of Thailand (EC).

In November alone, TRT received a 50 million-baht donation from Khun Ying Pojaman Shinawatra, the prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra’s wife.

<SNIP>

During the 2001 general election, Khun Ying Pojaman donated more than 100 million baht to the TRT.

Technically, you're right, but this one sure walks like a duck and quacks lke a duck.

Those are above the table figures for campaign posters and advertising space etc.

What about the undeclared figure?

Anyone care to guess what it costs to buy enough votes to swing an election?

That's 200 baht times how many million?

[marshbags]

................................................................................

...............................................................

It could take up to 2 years to get another election so this needs to be looked into and a way found to re run soon, or satisfy the opposition and Thai people with participation in the future of re structuring Thai politics.

Thaksin has still to face the question of all the charges laid against him no matter what, also any thing that will come to the surface while they are investigating, never forget this.

Remember this will be an independant committee that will carry this out led by a minister of proven ability and courage to get to the facts.

I also do not believe the TRT on the percentages and what they claim to have won.

The nice thing is democracy has now changed for ever after this, thanks to all the people who took part in the demonstrations.

We can be satisfied for now on what has been achieved, in my humble opinion of course.

marshbags

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

The above was not part of an earlier deletion but a convenient place for Meadish to give me a reply relating to a previous post which i appreciate.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

[Reply to earlier edited and deleted speculations deleted. My apologies, but this type of speculations are not allowed. Thank you for understanding. /Meadish]

[/quote...........................................................................

........................................................................

I accept your judgement Meadish, no offence taken and understood. ( I think )

Respect also paid to a difficult job that must be done by all moderators in these kind of circumstances.

For the record i think they where spot on most of them and relevant if you take what,s happened since posting the observations.

I found it difficult to balance the fine line without censorship but failed this time, my apologies to all.

marshbags

Edited April 6, 2006 by marshbags

[Tolley]

marshbags said

"The nice thing is democracy has now changed for ever after this, thanks to all the people who took part in the demonstrations.

We can be satisfied for now on what has been achieved, in my humble opinion of course."

You have a very strange notion of democracy.

The fact is that the TRT party won this election and the last one as well. They are the democratically elected government.

Who they choose as leader is of course up to the party to decide.

Undoubtedly Thaksin has some serious questions to answer but the demonstrators and the oppostion have no legitimate claim to government unless they are duely elected by the people.

Most Thai people still believe that TRT is the best option regardless of what question marks hang over Thaksin.

[A. BOOZER]

Can't help wondering what visa he will enter the U.K. on!

[LaoPo]

Can't help wondering what visa he will enter the U.K. on!

Diplomatic entry I suppose.

LaoPo

[h90]

as he is not premier anymore? Tourist Visa

At least if he need to show money (like my wife had to do), he can show 76.000.000.000 Baht....

Can't help wondering what visa he will enter the U.K. on!

Diplomatic entry I suppose.

LaoPo

[sriracha john]

The source said Thaksin would stay in London until after the Songkran holidays before returning to Thailand.

Pinthongta would go back to study for a master degree.

I would assume the daughter is going back on a student visa?

I would think his son Pan will do likewise when he applies for enrollment in the master degree program at Oxford.

Edited April 6, 2006 by sriracha john

[jdinasia]

Isn't this about when Brit should be saying ... "The PM aint going anywhere"

[marshbags]

marshbags said

"The nice thing is democracy has now changed for ever after this, thanks to all the people who took part in the demonstrations.

We can be satisfied for now on what has been achieved, in my humble opinion of course."

You have a very strange notion of democracy.

The fact is that the TRT party won this election and the last one as well. They are the democratically elected government.

Who they choose as leader is of course up to the party to decide.

Undoubtedly Thaksin has some serious questions to answer but the demonstrators and the oppostion have no legitimate claim to government unless they are duely elected by the people.

Most Thai people still believe that TRT is the best option regardless of what question marks hang over Thaksin.

You are of course welcome to your view Tolley.

Thai politics have changed if you care to look back on the events both before and after these demonstrations for democracy and freedom.

The TRT party will never again under estimate the will of all Thai people to have a say without fear of continual censorship, lack of transparency, fair elections, the right to speak and all the other things that where engrained by Thaksin and his party of self enriching colleagues.

If you think things will revert back to this then you must have been somewhere else for the last few weeks.

Democracy is about freedom, change, classlesness and tolerance to all and this has now started to happen in Thailand. " I repeat started "

Thanks to the changes in the mind set of the past and violent intervention of all who spoke out, people will not allow dictatorial rule to continue out of fear.

If Thaksin ever proves he is innocent of abusing his powers and position and returns to politics even he will no longer take society as a whole for granted and again you should know this.

Therefore democratically Thailand has changed forever and you,d better believe it. " Read Began to change "

O.K. so things will take time, but look at the broader picture here and the implications of the last few weeks...... please.

Regarding electing the TRT everyone knows the methods they use in getting the votes, just look at all the intimidational tactics they used this time.

Even though they where the only party standing the polling stations did their best to intimidate the no voters while at the same time blackmailing the Moo Bans with their threats to withdraw benefits from the people in need in places like the North East.

This is the old TRT style and typical again of their hierachy that hopefully will begin to change for the benefit of all no matter what their status in life is.

This was their pledge when they got elected the first time and the party was formed, remember.

Even now Thaksin is continually working behind the scenes and minipulatilng/ pulling strings, you only need to look at who is to act as his replacement.

The factions within the party know this full well and will hopefully apply the pressure to change the perception of how they wish to take themselves forward by electing someone else independant of any ties with Thaksins Thailand.

Let us hope for the sake of Thailands future this is their intentions/aim.

marshbags

Edited April 6, 2006 by marshbags

[sriracha john]

Isn't this about when Brit should be saying ... "The PM aint going anywhere"

still looking to see that post where he concedes the bottle of lao khao...

[britmaveric]

Isn't this about when Brit should be saying ... "The PM aint going anywhere"

still looking to see that post where he concedes the bottle of lao khao...

Well until Thaskin is officially out the door it would be unwise to make good on any wager.

[ColPyat]

Democracy is about freedom, change, classlesness and tolerance to all and this has now started to happen in Thailand. " I repeat started "

Democracy has now started in Thailand?!

I don't think so.

What has been continued was that city people dominate over upcountry people, that the votes of upcountry folks are not worth anything. Just please analyse the last 5 years. Have city people led by an elite split from the ruling TRT (and the powers of the PAD are nothing else) demonstrated after the drug war killings? No.

After Tak Bai? No.

What brought them to the streets en masse was the shin corp sale. Nothing else, only money. Human rights, an essential part of democracy, has not brought anyone of the PAD and their supporters to the streets, and also played only a minor role during the demonstrations. We farang might be enraged about those gross human rights violations, but you won't find many Thais on both vocal sides of the fence who care much about that.

What happens here during this discussion on the web board between mainly farang is that most interprete the present situation from a western, or a Thai middle class background, and globalised set of ideals. What seems to me completely forgotten that this country here has far more than half of the population stuck in abject poverty, and all that goes with this sort of poverty. Their experience of life is far removed from anything modern, behind their daughter's mobiles is an archaic society. Those people had with TRT the first time a political party that at least played lip service to their needs, and actually did something for them.

From their viewpoint, the rich city people took their votes away. The question here is not if Thaksin was an "evil" man, but that a huge sector of Thai society, that only with TRT and Thaksin first experienced the power of their vote, has been shown that their vote is worth nothing when city people, as they view the demonstrators, do force through demonstration their elected PM out.

Thaksin was not brought down by elections, he was brought down by city based demonstrations, and that is all those rural poor supporting Thaksin will remember. Democracy in Thailand is only in its infancy, and more important than an autocratic, but elected PM, is that the whole population takes part in the experiment of democracy. After the de facto resignation of Thaksin the upcountry population supporting him will not for a very long time put any trust into democracy anymore. This might turn out far more harmful to Thailand's future development than a continued rule of Thaksin.

What makes the situation even worse is that the two most powerful men of the PAD - Sondhi and Chamlong - do not exactly come from any democratic background either. Sondhi is a crony capitalist, and Chamlong a Buddhist fundamentalist from a staunchly militaristic nationalist background. Both never carried any respect whatsoever in the countryside.

So far, no other party available has any history or track record of working for the rural poor in Isaarn and the North. They have hardly any support there outside the city centres, no grass roots organisation, no support under the population there. During the recent trouble they have not managed to make any headway in those areas either. Therefore i have certain doubts that they will make the necessary changes in order to get those rural poor to their side.

The endresult will be that large sectors of the rural population have not learned the necessary lesson that a populist PM is in the long run not beneficial for them. That means that a few years down the line, the next one, maybe even worse than Thaksin will be coming up again.

Democracy in Thailand has experienced a huge set back right now.

[kyselak]

Thai opposition says Thaksin must quit politics

by Frank Zeller

BANGKOK, April 6, 2006 (AFP) - Opponents of Thaksin Shinawatra

forecast Thursday that he would hold on to power despite stepping

aside and vowed to keep up protests against the former Thai premier

until he quits politics completely.

Thaksin on Tuesday bowed to months of demonstrations demanding

he resign for abuse of power and said he would give up the premier's

post, even though his ruling party won a majority of the vote in

weekend elections.

But the billionaire businessman turned politician also said he

would stay on in parliament and as leader of the Thai Rak Thai

(Thais Love Thais) party he founded and led during his five years in

power.

Speaking on the eve of more protests against Thaksin Friday,

opposition Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva said the outgoing

premier would seek to keep control of the government.

"If he is just taking a break to pull the strings, it is not

exactly stepping aside but staying in control of the new premier,"

said Abhisit.

"Thai democracy will suffer huge damage if one person has a lot

of power without responsibility. That would cause more conflict

among the Thai people."

Thaksin, 56, has appointed his deputy and justice minister

Chidchai Vanasatidya to replace him as caretaker prime minister.

On Thursday he said he would stay in Bangkok for three or four

days to finish up remaining business and get a medical checkup,

denying reports he would visit his northern home city of Chiang Mai

or his daughter in Britain.

"I'm not talking about politics today, it's enough," Thaksin

told reporters in Bangkok, where the streets were quiet on Thursday,

a public holiday, in stark contrast to the tumultuous scenes of

recent months.

Mass protests demanding Thaksin's resignation began in early

February after his family sold 1.9 billion dollars of shares in Shin

Corp, the telecoms firm he founded before entering politics, without

paying taxes.

Thaksin called elections three years early to head off the

protests and give himself a fresh mandate.

But the gamble backfired when the opposition boycotted the polls

and millions of Thais cast protest abstention votes against him.

The People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD), a broad coalition of

civic groups, was planning another demonstration Friday against

Thaksin, whom they accuse of corruption and undermining democracy

through cronyism.

"We aim to bring down the Thaksin regime. He just stepped aside

from the prime minister's post but still rules the country's largest

political party," said Suriyasai Katasila, an alliance spokesman.

"We want Thaksin to be completely out of politics."

Sondhi Limthongkul, a key PAD leader, called Thaksin's tearful

departure a "show" and warned that the protest movement would give

him one more month to step down as leader of the TRT, or organise

major rallies to oust him.

Thaksin's party won nearly 56 percent of the vote in Sunday's

election, with support especially strong in rural areas.

But victory was undermined by the opposition boycott and a

strong protest vote that saw 37 percent of voters cast a "no vote"

or spoiled ballots.

Thaksin said he was stepping down out of respect for revered

King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who celebrates 60 years on the throne in

June.

The events have left Thailand in uncharted political waters and

raised demands for constitutional reform to limit the influence of

the prime minister, strengthen the legislature and introduce more

checks and balances.

By-elections are scheduled for 39 seats on April 23 and the

Democrat Party has also threatened court challenges over election

irregularities.

The Democrats have again refused to field candidates in the

by-elections, creating a hurdle for the TRT because unopposed

candidates must win at least 20 per cent of the vote under election

law.

The tactic casts doubt on whether the seats will be filled and a

parliament will be in place by May 1.

"You have a series of legal complications that may or may not

come up over the next month or so, which is why no one is willing to

speculate about what is going to happen," said James Klein, head of

the Asia Foundation in Thailand.

But some see Thaksin's departure as a milestone for the young

democracy.

"Removing the most anti-democratic figure in Thai politics for

the last 30 years is a great step forward," said economics professor

Pasuk Phongpaichit, who has co-authored a book on Thaksin.

str-fz/sdm/sm

AFP 061229 GMT APR 06

[kyselak]

Thais debate Thaksin's motives in resigning

By Ed Cropley

BANGKOK, April 6 (Reuters) - After three days of high

political drama, Thailand enjoyed the lull of a public holiday

on Thursday, but debate refused to cool about whether Thaksin

Shinawatra's shock resignation as prime minister was for real.

"Total break or simply a canny ploy?" the Bangkok Post

asked in a front-page headline after Thaksin handed power to

trusted deputy and fellow ex-policeman Chidchai Vanasatidya,

who will run an interim government after last weekend's

inconclusive election.

Having won the biggest majority in Thai history a year ago

based on huge support from the rural masses, Thaksin, 56,

attracted more and more enemies in Bangkok, where he was

accused of corruption, cronyism and abuse of power.

A snap election called to stymie mass street protests

appeared to backfire when the poll revealed an unexpectedly

strong protest vote, and an opposition boycott left 39 seats

unfilled -- making it impossible for a government to be formed.

Amid a constitutional deadlock, Thaksin held a brief

audience with revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej, then went on

television to tell Thailand's 63 million people he would be

stepping aside in the interests of national reconciliation.

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday after an emotional rally

at his Thai Rak Thai (Thais Love Thais) party headquarters, the

former policeman said he wanted to be left alone.

"You can stop following me now. I will be just an ordinary

citizen," he said after taking photographs of his family from

his Government House desk and being showered with roses by

hundreds of weeping supporters chanting "Thaksin, fight,

fight".

"Please think about the heart of the country, which is the

king," Thaksin said, appealing to their sense of patriotism at

a time of national crisis. "I don't want any bloodshed."

But The Nation, critical of the telecoms billionaire since

he came to power in 2001, said the exit demanded by his

opponents after Sunday's Pyrrhic election victory would not

mean the end of policies that have split Thailand between town

and country.

"Despite the emotional announcement, the tears, the planned

vacation and the designation of a new caretaker leader, Thaksin

Shinawatra has built a political legacy too deep-rooted,

massive and enigmatic to be undone," the newspaper said.

Former Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai of the opposition

Democrat party agreed. "The Thaksin regime is still there,"

Chuan told reporters. "We must understand that."

CONSTITUTIONAL MONARCH

King Bhumibol, 78, made a rare public appearance on

Thursday at a wreath-laying ceremony honouring the start of the

Chakri dynasty that has ruled Thailand for more than 200 years.

Chidchai, dressed in a white uniform, led other ministers

in laying a wreath at a monument to the dynasty's first king.

It is not clear what role, if any, the constitutional

monarch played in Thaksin's decision to quit, a move

unthinkable seven months ago when the urban demonstrations

first started.

His promise to quit sent the stock market to a two-year

peak and the baht hit a one-year high against the dollar, but a

sharp increase in the currency's volatility sent a different

signal -- that the immediate future could be more, not less,

uncertain.

Many questions remained unanswered -- in particular when a

new prime minister will be appointed, given that nobody knows

when parliament can meet.

The constitution says it must meet within 30 days of the

April 2 election -- but it also says all 500 MPs must be

present.

Hot favourite to be elected prime minister if and when

parliament does meet is Commerce Minister Somkid Jatusripitak,

an ex-finance minister well respected in the business

community.

By-elections are due to be held on April 23 in the empty

seats, all but one of which are in the south, stronghold of the

Democrats who spearheaded the main election boycott.

Despite Thaksin's exit, they are sticking to their guns,

and demanding wide-ranging political and constitutional reform

before they return to the ballot box.

"We will send our candidates only after political reform,"

deputy Democrat leader Chulin Laksanaviset said after meeting

co-boycotters, the Mahachon and Chat Thai parties.

The opposition has not spelled out what reforms it wants,

but the parties accused Thaksin of undermining the checks and

balances of the 1997 constitution. Analysts say they may also

want to curb the powers of the prime minister.

REUTERS

061334 Apr 06

ENDOFMSG

[Orion76]

Democracy has now started in Thailand?!

I don't think so.

Maybe if we tear down a Thaksin statue and beat it with sandals democracy will flourish in Thailand?

[Siripon]

Democracy is about freedom, change, classlesness and tolerance to all and this has now started to happen in Thailand. " I repeat started "

Democracy has now started in Thailand?!

I don't think so.

What has been continued was that city people dominate over upcountry people, that the votes of upcountry folks are not worth anything. Just please analyse the last 5 years. Have city people led by an elite split from the ruling TRT (and the powers of the PAD are nothing else) demonstrated after the drug war killings? No.

After Tak Bai? No.

What brought them to the streets en masse was the shin corp sale. Nothing else, only money. Human rights, an essential part of democracy, has not brought anyone of the PAD and their supporters to the streets, and also played only a minor role during the demonstrations. We farang might be enraged about those gross human rights violations, but you won't find many Thais on both vocal sides of the fence who care much about that.

What happens here during this discussion on the web board between mainly farang is that most interprete the present situation from a western, or a Thai middle class background, and globalised set of ideals. What seems to me completely forgotten that this country here has far more than half of the population stuck in abject poverty, and all that goes with this sort of poverty. Their experience of life is far removed from anything modern, behind their daughter's mobiles is an archaic society. Those people had with TRT the first time a political party that at least played lip service to their needs, and actually did something for them.

From their viewpoint, the rich city people took their votes away. The question here is not if Thaksin was an "evil" man, but that a huge sector of Thai society, that only with TRT and Thaksin first experienced the power of their vote, has been shown that their vote is worth nothing when city people, as they view the demonstrators, do force through demonstration their elected PM out.

Thaksin was not brought down by elections, he was brought down by city based demonstrations, and that is all those rural poor supporting Thaksin will remember. Democracy in Thailand is only in its infancy, and more important than an autocratic, but elected PM, is that the whole population takes part in the experiment of democracy. After the de facto resignation of Thaksin the upcountry population supporting him will not for a very long time put any trust into democracy anymore. This might turn out far more harmful to Thailand's future development than a continued rule of Thaksin.

What makes the situation even worse is that the two most powerful men of the PAD - Sondhi and Chamlong - do not exactly come from any democratic background either. Sondhi is a crony capitalist, and Chamlong a Buddhist fundamentalist from a staunchly militaristic nationalist background. Both never carried any respect whatsoever in the countryside.

So far, no other party available has any history or track record of working for the rural poor in Isaarn and the North. They have hardly any support there outside the city centres, no grass roots organisation, no support under the population there. During the recent trouble they have not managed to make any headway in those areas either. Therefore i have certain doubts that they will make the necessary changes in order to get those rural poor to their side.

The endresult will be that large sectors of the rural population have not learned the necessary lesson that a populist PM is in the long run not beneficial for them. That means that a few years down the line, the next one, maybe even worse than Thaksin will be coming up again.

Democracy in Thailand has experienced a huge set back right now.

Colonel, if you know Thailand well, you will know Thaksin is unique, in that he has a war chest big enough to buy up most people, plus a gift for forming populist policies without any scruples as to the consequencies.

It would be difficult to find someone with deep enough pockets to replace him.

You constantly refer to the poor loving him, your experience of the 30 baht scheme must be unique because none of my relatives have ever received anything from it.

The 1 village, one million baht- most people could only borrow 10,000 baht a head, at 10 % interest, their children could send them more.

Thaksin at the village At Samart, just handing out money like a feudal lord, no 'teaching a man how to fish', sickening public relations.

No TRT MP ever dare cross Thaksin, the CTX scandal, etc, 'everybody raise their hands, Suriya, he must be innocent'.

Before Thaksin, Chavalit with his New Inspiration party promised an 'Issan green', Amnuay Wirawan, ex-finance Minister even started a party for a while, Thaksin is not the first, and won't be the last, to promise to end poverty in Issan.

The problem in Issan is education, in the south you don't have to buy votes, when Thaksin made his remarks last year in Trang,'chopping pork is easy', he enraged the southerners, and what did he get? one MP out of 53.

But I have hope, education is spreading in Issan, the young are working in Bangkok, Chonburi, Ayuttaya, hard work and long hours, but they're getting experience away from the kanman.

One of the worst things about Thaksin, which perhaps farangs cannot really grasp, has been is intimidation of the media, especially TV.

After 1992's overthrow of Suchinda, ITV was born and there were many intelligent programmes of public affairs, Thaksin stopped all that, dismissing any dissent on TV, banning programmes, regarding newspapers, he threatened to withold advertisements, either for governmental ministries or for AIS, if any opposing views were expressed.

The poor will survive Thaksin, and one day they will stand on their own feet, not depend on a CEO!

Colonel, if you understand Thai well enough, you will know the PAD frequently talk about development of communities, to describe them as only an urban elite is misleading.

Displeasure with Thaksin has been building up for a long time, and the sale to to Themasak was the fuse to light the fire for the middle class, why Thaksin could not see that, I don't understand.

Regarding the drug war, 95% of the population approved of the extra judicial killings.

[Plus]

Surely not 95%. I searched The Nation and found the exact number. It's 90%.

Colonel, your concerns are legitimate, but I think you are a bit overcautios.

Ousting Thaksin is more than winning a battle, it's winning a war, but what we have now is a country completely ruined and in need of rebuilding.

Sondhi and Chamlong's input is vital to a democracy and I don't want them to fade away completely, but the next government should reason with them and explain why their "extremist" views might not be acceptable. They are not stupid, people should listen to them from time to time, and then do completely opposite

There must be public debate on Chang's listing, for example. I bet most of the country, including middle class, don't have an educated opinion. I don't.

[hammered]

Democracy is about freedom, change, classlesness and tolerance to all and this has now started to happen in Thailand. " I repeat started "

Democracy has now started in Thailand?!

I don't think so.

What has been continued was that city people dominate over upcountry people, that the votes of upcountry folks are not worth anything. Just please analyse the last 5 years. Have city people led by an elite split from the ruling TRT (and the powers of the PAD are nothing else) demonstrated after the drug war killings? No.

After Tak Bai? No.

What brought them to the streets en masse was the shin corp sale. Nothing else, only money. Human rights, an essential part of democracy, has not brought anyone of the PAD and their supporters to the streets, and also played only a minor role during the demonstrations. We farang might be enraged about those gross human rights violations, but you won't find many Thais on both vocal sides of the fence who care much about that.

What happens here during this discussion on the web board between mainly farang is that most interprete the present situation from a western, or a Thai middle class background, and globalised set of ideals. What seems to me completely forgotten that this country here has far more than half of the population stuck in abject poverty, and all that goes with this sort of poverty. Their experience of life is far removed from anything modern, behind their daughter's mobiles is an archaic society. Those people had with TRT the first time a political party that at least played lip service to their needs, and actually did something for them.

From their viewpoint, the rich city people took their votes away. The question here is not if Thaksin was an "evil" man, but that a huge sector of Thai society, that only with TRT and Thaksin first experienced the power of their vote, has been shown that their vote is worth nothing when city people, as they view the demonstrators, do force through demonstration their elected PM out.

Thaksin was not brought down by elections, he was brought down by city based demonstrations, and that is all those rural poor supporting Thaksin will remember. Democracy in Thailand is only in its infancy, and more important than an autocratic, but elected PM, is that the whole population takes part in the experiment of democracy. After the de facto resignation of Thaksin the upcountry population supporting him will not for a very long time put any trust into democracy anymore. This might turn out far more harmful to Thailand's future development than a continued rule of Thaksin.

What makes the situation even worse is that the two most powerful men of the PAD - Sondhi and Chamlong - do not exactly come from any democratic background either. Sondhi is a crony capitalist, and Chamlong a Buddhist fundamentalist from a staunchly militaristic nationalist background. Both never carried any respect whatsoever in the countryside.

So far, no other party available has any history or track record of working for the rural poor in Isaarn and the North. They have hardly any support there outside the city centres, no grass roots organisation, no support under the population there. During the recent trouble they have not managed to make any headway in those areas either. Therefore i have certain doubts that they will make the necessary changes in order to get those rural poor to their side.

The endresult will be that large sectors of the rural population have not learned the necessary lesson that a populist PM is in the long run not beneficial for them. That means that a few years down the line, the next one, maybe even worse than Thaksin will be coming up again.

Democracy in Thailand has experienced a huge set back right now.

Colonel, if you know Thailand well, you will know Thaksin is unique, in that he has a war chest big enough to buy up most people, plus a gift for forming populist policies without any scruples as to the consequencies.

It would be difficult to find someone with deep enough pockets to replace him.

You constantly refer to the poor loving him, your experience of the 30 baht scheme must be unique because none of my relatives have ever received anything from it.

The 1 village, one million baht- most people could only borrow 10,000 baht a head, at 10 % interest, their children could send them more.

Thaksin at the village At Samart, just handing out money like a feudal lord, no 'teaching a man how to fish', sickening public relations.

No TRT MP ever dare cross Thaksin, the CTX scandal, etc, 'everybody raise their hands, Suriya, he must be innocent'.

Before Thaksin, Chavalit with his New Inspiration party promised an 'Issan green', Amnuay Wirawan, ex-finance Minister even started a party for a while, Thaksin is not the first, and won't be the last, to promise to end poverty in Issan.

The problem in Issan is education, in the south you don't have to buy votes, when Thaksin made his remarks last year in Trang,'chopping pork is easy', he enraged the southerners, and what did he get? one MP out of 53.

But I have hope, education is spreading in Issan, the young are working in Bangkok, Chonburi, Ayuttaya, hard work and long hours, but they're getting experience away from the kanman.

One of the worst things about Thaksin, which perhaps farangs cannot really grasp, has been is intimidation of the media, especially TV.

After 1992's overthrow of Suchinda, ITV was born and there were many intelligent programmes of public affairs, Thaksin stopped all that, dismissing any dissent on TV, banning programmes, regarding newspapers, he threatened to withold advertisements, either for governmental ministries or for AIS, if any opposing views were expressed.

The poor will survive Thaksin, and one day they will stand on their own feet, not depend on a CEO!

Colonel, if you understand Thai well enough, you will know the PAD frequently talk about development of communities, to describe them as only an urban elite is misleading.

Displeasure with Thaksin has been building up for a long time, and the sale to to Themasak was the fuse to light the fire for the middle class, why Thaksin could not see that, I don't understand.

Regarding the drug war, 95% of the population approved of the extra judicial killings.

Your analysis is interesting thank you. I would also add that as about 46% of the electorate voted either no or spoilt their paper with offensive language this must include a large proportion of so called grassroots people ( I wonder how poor southern fisherpeople like this as a label fo Thaksin supporters). The middle and upper classes cant make up anywhere near 46 % of voters.

[sriracha john]

The voting numbers don't back up any over-simplification of the analysis of the results. It goes far deeper than BKK versus upcountry, city versus rural, etc.

What is prevalent throughout the numbers is the unprecedented number of invalidated ballots in every district that has reported results. If we are to accept the idea that these were intentionally invalidated by the voters themselves (and I've not really read any other reasons for it's occurrence from either the media or the EC), then what that reveals is an incredible amount of frustration and anger directed towards the previous ruling party. As mentioned earlier, they are more of a "no vote" than the actual "no votes" themselves.

These unprecedented numbers totaled almost 2 million votes nationwide and numbered up to the tens of thousands per individual districts in both the North and the Northwest. If Thaksin is so well loved in these areas, (some would have us believe it's to the point of his being universally loved and hero-worshipped by all in these areas of Thailand), the number of these extreme forms of displaying displeasure and disillusionment with the previous ruling party, by intentionally invalidating one's ballot, contradict that notion.

Obviously there is much dissent in the North and the Northwest towards Thaksin and his TRT policies. He is NOT unconditionally loved by ALL the people residing in these areas.

These ballots with their ridiculing writings and angry, sarcastic drawings, etc. say to Thaksin, not only do we NOT love you... we despise you to the very core.

Rhetoric telling us he is loved is one thing, but the actual numbers of not only the dissatisfied but the extremely dissatisfied voters are another.

Certainly.. in the end Thaksin’s party did win these districts... but by no means were these wins not without vast numbers of people that thought it best for the previous ruling party to end.

The manner in which they displayed this displeasure was in the strongest possible manner they could have taken.

Edited April 6, 2006 by sriracha john