Thai editorial: Are there really any political heroes?

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EDITORIAL
Are there really any political heroes?
The Nation

Our politicians perform U-turns with such regularity, is it any wonder they are held in such low esteem by the public?

BANGKOK: -- Thailand's turbulent politics has created real-life characters that could have inhabited "The X Files". Among them is General Sonthi Boonyaratglin, who has gone full circle. He led the Army when Thaksin Shinawatra was in power, spearheaded the coup that overthrew him, and then made another U-turn to support the Pheu Thai Party's contentious "reconciliation" plan. Sonthi now advocates rewriting the Constitution promulgated after his 2006 power seizure. The newspaper Matichon recently called Sonthi a "real man" who is brave enough to admit his "mistakes" and try to fix them.

There are countless high-profile 360-degree turnarounds in our political crisis. It is largely forgotten that Sondhi Limthongkul, Thaksin's arch enemy, was once his chief cheerleader. Chamlong Srimuang, Sondhi's closest anti-Thaksin ally, ushered Thaksin into the political limelight by letting him take over his Palang Dharma Party. Snoh Thienthong was a Thaksin ally, then became disillusioned to the point where he cringed at sharing a celebratory stage with him and joined the Sondhi-Chamlong camp, only to end up coming under Thaksin's wing again. The list goes on.

There are also former activists - known for their anti-American stances in the 1970s and '80s - who now never hesitate to invoke "democracy" in their defence of Thaksin. Thaksin himself was no fan of democracy while he ruled. He once said he was unconcerned about rights or authoritarianism as long as the country progressed and the people were happy. "Democracy is a good and beautiful thing, but it's not the ultimate goal as far as administering the country is concerned," he said. "Democracy is just a tool, not our goal. The goal is to give people a good lifestyle, happiness and national progress."

On another occasion Thaksin warned voters that his government would ignore constituencies favouring his rivals. Perhaps he was being overly emotional after a minor polling setback, but those words might also reflect his conception of democracy.

Matichon praised General Sonthi after he backed a charter amendment to revamp the Senate. It is debatable whether his about-face was noble, just as the merit of making the Senate "more democratic" can be challenged. The Senate's composition and means of formation has haunted Thailand for decades and is now made more complicated by Thaksin.

The man in exile allegedly wants to clip the powers of "independent bodies" that were set up under the 1997 Constitution and allowed to continue under the post-coup 2007 Constitution. To do so, tighter control of the Senate, which oversees membership among those independent organisations, would be essential. It seems there is more to it than meets the eye when Sonthi supports just such an amendment.

Is he brave? Is he a "real man" admitting his mistakes? Chamlong has said he blundered by letting Thaksin into politics. Sondhi has endured mockery for having once been Thaksin's "pom-pom girl". If admitting mistakes is what it's all about, Sonthi is not the first and won't be the last. It's the intention that counts, and that's where someone should be considered courageous or not. And that's why Sonthi still has a very long way to go.


-- The Nation 2013-10-12

[AbuBacon]

No. And there is no English language this daily that offers unbiased reporting. What is the Nation's print run nowadays? 8 at last count I heard.

[ramrod711]

Are there really any political heroes?

Not in Thailand, or anywhere else as far as i can see.

[JoeThePoster]

Chamlong is a despot of a turd. Ask any BMA employee and they will tell you old jackfruit face was hitler on meth

Calling him a jackfruit is taking things too far, I say.

[h90]

Chamlong is a despot of a turd. Ask any BMA employee and they will tell you old jackfruit face was hitler on meth

yes he made no friends by rooting out corruption and single handed canceled signed contracts because he know it is complete overpriced.

An Anticorruption Hitler on Meth ....

More such people are needed...not nice speaking handsome boys that studied in oversee but only want to stay peaceful.

[noitom]

Another meaningless diatribe Thai editorial. Posing the same old same old Thai nonsense.

[Wimbledon]

ARE THERE ANY POLITICAL HEROES? .... Answer the f....king question ! YES THEY ARE DEAD! Whats left should likely be TOO

[AbuBacon]

A better and by far more fun editorial, complete with tweets and farcebook would be ' who is the worst Thai politician ?" Could be annual awards for such. Or which Thai politician has his snout deepest in the trough ? Still think Prem qualifies for his decade of doing sweet FA. Suspect Dr T will win on this forum though .

[steveyinasia]

They are only heroes in their own circle, measuring how much they can rip off from the system. A hero would be working tirelessly for the people, therefore the answer would be a resounding No.

[tomross46]

Yes there is a former statesman and soldier, who has worked for Thailand all his life. He has protected the monarch from assigns, the country from foreign imperialism, and brought peace with the CTin Issan. This hero of Thailand is General Prem Tinsulanonda.

[mrtoad]

Surely this topic should have some comments regarding The Great Chalerm, a hero in his own glass.

[hammered]

Not the old good people and bad people nonsense that cannot handle a real world where all are various shades of grey. All politicians are evil is usually code for "I support coups that will install what I see as good men" (they are always men) meaning they will put some authoritarian and probably useless clique into power who will support the worldview and business interests of the person saying or writing he opinion. Personally whatever the faults of elected politicians I would prefer them to unelected and therefore unaccountable people. That though is just about do you support democracy or not, and do you believe all of the people of a coutnry should have a say in it or just some.

Edited October 12, 2013 by hammered

[ratcatcher]

Are there really any political heroes?

This one gets my vote. Then again, I forgot Yingluck.

[zydeco]

Chuwit.

[indyuk]

A least one commentator has mentioned PM Yingluck. I admit that she is not a seasoned politician. However I watch carefully and I am sure that she is made of stern stuff. One would expect her brother to support and advise her. Are all of the PTP initiatives straight from Thaksin's mouth? I doubt that very much. She works hard. She is a talented administrator. She is cordial almost all of the time. She is fair. She recognizes many of the social issues that need to be resolved and appears to be acting upon such issues even though she has a blistering schedule keeping all of Thaksin's international contacts online. She is a creative thinker, sensitive to difficult situations and perplexing problems. When challenged she stands her ground without favor or malice for anyone. I am 70% convinced that PM Yingluck is not corrupt. She is our prime minister now and I believe that it is in the best interests of Thailand and that she should remain so for the foreseeable future, or at the very least until the Democrats appoint and new leader and have built a credible parliamentary party that is fit to be elected and govern. You dear reader probably believe that I am being naive. Maybe you're correct in that view. But I like her and trust her irrespective of the issues surrounding her brother. Of course she wants to bring him home. And so do I as long as he dose't cramp his sisters style.

[Stradavarius37]

A least one commentator has mentioned PM Yingluck. I admit that she is not a seasoned politician. However I watch carefully and I am sure that she is made of stern stuff. One would expect her brother to support and advise her. Are all of the PTP initiatives straight from Thaksin's mouth? I doubt that very much. She works hard. She is a talented administrator. She is cordial almost all of the time. She is fair. She recognizes many of the social issues that need to be resolved and appears to be acting upon such issues even though she has a blistering schedule keeping all of Thaksin's international contacts online. She is a creative thinker, sensitive to difficult situations and perplexing problems. When challenged she stands her ground without favor or malice for anyone. I am 70% convinced that PM Yingluck is not corrupt. She is our prime minister now and I believe that it is in the best interests of Thailand and that she should remain so for the foreseeable future, or at the very least until the Democrats appoint and new leader and have built a credible parliamentary party that is fit to be elected and govern. You dear reader probably believe that I am being naive. Maybe you're correct in that view. But I like her and trust her irrespective of the issues surrounding her brother. Of course she wants to bring him home. And so do I as long as he dose't cramp his sisters style.

ROFLMAO