In praising the Lee model, PM could be endorsing Thaksin model

[smedly]

Lee Kuan Yew and the Singapore model was indeed Thaksin's role model for nation building when the ex-PM was in office before the 2006 coup. Lee criticised leaders around the world, including many Thai elite, for mishandling their countries, but he praised Thaksin for visionary leadership and economic management. Lee has run Singapore like his company and hence the world knows the country as 'Singapore Inc", so did Thaksin who tried to make the Kingdom "Thailand Inc".

Nah...

Lee Kuan Yew had the vision and leadership to build a country/nation

Thaksin's vision was to fill his pockets and those of his cohorts with a nations wealth.

Lee Kuan Yew and the Singapore model was indeed Thaksin's role model

an ever bigger Nah....

Ferdinand Marcos and the Philippine model was INDEED Thaksin's role model

The problem you have with is that under Thaksin Thailand had its most sustained period of economic growth ever. You can repeat the cliches but Thaksin more than anybody took this country from a pretty broken place post 1997/98 to a nation where, in 2006 the north had seen average incomes grow 250%. He was flawed for sure, but he was no more corrupt than any previous administration and far less than most, and arguably the best premier since 1932 (the bar is very low of course). Thailand in 2000 and Thailand in 2013 were radically different - and for much of the population, much, much better - places. You can thank Thaksin for much of that.

I know that goes against the right wing memes you're reciting, but it's hard to sidestep the reality of what he did for Thailand.

a class of average school kids could have achieved the same considering Thailand was in fact at the lowest point - there was only one way it could have gone - and lets not forget Thaksin directed a considerable amount of that growth into his own greedy pockets and to those of his family and friends

[mike324]

Lee Kuan Yew and the Singapore model was indeed Thaksin's role model for nation building when the ex-PM was in office before the 2006 coup. Lee criticised leaders around the world, including many Thai elite, for mishandling their countries, but he praised Thaksin for visionary leadership and economic management. Lee has run Singapore like his company and hence the world knows the country as 'Singapore Inc", so did Thaksin who tried to make the Kingdom "Thailand Inc".

Nah...

Lee Kuan Yew had the vision and leadership to build a country/nation

Thaksin's vision was to fill his pockets and those of his cohorts with a nations wealth.

I would agree Thaksin tried to run Thailand like a corporate company...but the difference is that -

Lee introduced strict laws that were enforced, Thaksin and his folks introduce amnesties.

[Farang99]

Lee Kuan Yew and the Singapore model was indeed Thaksin's role model for nation building when the ex-PM was in office before the 2006 coup. Lee criticised leaders around the world, including many Thai elite, for mishandling their countries, but he praised Thaksin for visionary leadership and economic management. Lee has run Singapore like his company and hence the world knows the country as 'Singapore Inc", so did Thaksin who tried to make the Kingdom "Thailand Inc".

Nah...

Lee Kuan Yew had the vision and leadership to build a country/nation

Thaksin's vision was to fill his pockets and those of his cohorts with a nations wealth.

I would agree Thaksin tried to run Thailand like a corporate company...but the difference is that -

Lee introduced strict laws that were enforced, Thaksin and his folks introduce amnesties.

In fact Lee was often cited as Thaksin's mentor (whatever that means) but it seems that his ethics were not transferred.

[trogers]

Lee Kuan Yew and the Singapore model was indeed Thaksin's role model for nation building when the ex-PM was in office before the 2006 coup. Lee criticised leaders around the world, including many Thai elite, for mishandling their countries, but he praised Thaksin for visionary leadership and economic management. Lee has run Singapore like his company and hence the world knows the country as 'Singapore Inc", so did Thaksin who tried to make the Kingdom "Thailand Inc".

Nah...

Lee Kuan Yew had the vision and leadership to build a country/nation

Thaksin's vision was to fill his pockets and those of his cohorts with a nations wealth.

I would agree Thaksin tried to run Thailand like a corporate company...but the difference is that -

Lee introduced strict laws that were enforced, Thaksin and his folks introduce amnesties.

In fact Lee was often cited as Thaksin's mentor (whatever that means) but it seems that his ethics were not transferred.

Each of us get to choose our God.

[EyesWideOpen]

How silly to even mention Thailand and Singapore in the same article. Thailand

is riddled with corruption to undreamed of levels, and Singapore where corruption

does not exist. Maybe this is some new form of Thai irony ?? If Thailand

actually wanted to eradicate corruption, they need look no farther than to see

how Singapore did it. There are some parallels as they had the same Chinese

elites running everything.

As I recall it took them about five years to stop all corruption. And it was done

by draconian punishment for bad behavior. Here bad behavior is rewarded

with inactive posts. So guess we will have corruption here forever.... :-(

What an amazing country this could be if they ever had real leadership, instead

of a series of hogs at the trough looting the country....

[rijb]

Lee Kuan Yew and the Singapore model was indeed Thaksin's role model for nation building when the ex-PM was in office before the 2006 coup. Lee criticised leaders around the world, including many Thai elite, for mishandling their countries, but he praised Thaksin for visionary leadership and economic management. Lee has run Singapore like his company and hence the world knows the country as 'Singapore Inc", so did Thaksin who tried to make the Kingdom "Thailand Inc".

Nah...

Lee Kuan Yew had the vision and leadership to build a country/nation

Thaksin's vision was to fill his pockets and those of his cohorts with a nations wealth.

Lee Kuan Yew and the Singapore model was indeed Thaksin's role model

an ever bigger Nah....

Ferdinand Marcos and the Philippine model was INDEED Thaksin's role model

The problem you have with is that under Thaksin Thailand had its most sustained period of economic growth ever. You can repeat the cliches but Thaksin more than anybody took this country from a pretty broken place post 1997/98 to a nation where, in 2006 the north had seen average incomes grow 250%. He was flawed for sure, but he was no more corrupt than any previous administration and far less than most, and arguably the best premier since 1932 (the bar is very low of course). Thailand in 2000 and Thailand in 2013 were radically different - and for much of the population, much, much better - places. You can thank Thaksin for much of that.

I know that goes against the right wing memes you're reciting, but it's hard to sidestep the reality of what he did for Thailand.

a class of average school kids could have achieved the same considering Thailand was in fact at the lowest point - there was only one way it could have gone - and lets not forget Thaksin directed a considerable amount of that growth into his own greedy pockets and to those of his family and friends

If only there were 'a class of average school kids' available now.

[darren84310]

Lee Kuan Yew and the Singapore model was indeed Thaksin's role model for nation building when the ex-PM was in office before the 2006 coup. Lee criticised leaders around the world, including many Thai elite, for mishandling their countries, but he praised Thaksin for visionary leadership and economic management. Lee has run Singapore like his company and hence the world knows the country as 'Singapore Inc", so did Thaksin who tried to make the Kingdom "Thailand Inc".

Nah...

Lee Kuan Yew had the vision and leadership to build a country/nation

Thaksin's vision was to fill his pockets and those of his cohorts with a nations wealth.

Singapore is almost free of corruption, ranked 7th in the World, whereas Thailand is 85th. That's something that Thaksin had no real ambition to rectify.

[SOUTHERNSTAR]

Lee Kuan Yew and the Singapore model was indeed Thaksin's role model for nation building when the ex-PM was in office before the 2006 coup. Lee criticised leaders around the world, including many Thai elite, for mishandling their countries, but he praised Thaksin for visionary leadership and economic management. Lee has run Singapore like his company and hence the world knows the country as 'Singapore Inc", so did Thaksin who tried to make the Kingdom "Thailand Inc".

Nah...

Lee Kuan Yew had the vision and leadership to build a country/nation

Thaksin's vision was to fill his pockets and those of his cohorts with a nations wealth.

Soutpiel if you repeat a lie long enough and frequent enough you will believe it to be the truth. Thaksin has his flaws like any human, but under him this country went forward at a faster pace than ever before, international surveys showed that corruption under him came down, the economy was booming and people was happy. After 2006 this country has gone backwards and are now on the brink of the unthinkable. The BKK elite and their puppets in uniform are sipping on wine while the rural poor are struggeling to survive. The battle in Thailand is one of inequality and that is what most of you don't understand. Its a battle where a poor man is sent to jail for 20 years because he was harvesting mushrooms in a National park while a child of an elite can kill a policeman and get away with it (red bull heir). Its a battle where people in a village are poisoned by a mine but the men in uniform protect the elitist mine owner instead of the community. Its a battle where more than 25% of farmers don't own their own land and about another 25% own less that 10 rai, but one man owns 600 000 rai. Its a battle where the elites think, a poormans' vote should count less than their vote - according to the big beer heiress. Its a battle where the elite deprive the poor from a good education because they can send their brats to expensive schools and dont want the kwai's to get a good education (a good education and oppression dont go together). For me its a battle for freedom, for freedom to say and write what I feel and think a freedom for the people to talk and to be heard, a freedom to vote for a person they want, freedom to live the life they choose.

[jayboy]

Even mentioning Thaskin in the same breath as Mr. Lee is totally unacceptable Mr Lee loved Singapore as if it was his child Thaskin yes may have loved , but his real love was the baht instead of being noble and bring all Thai's up the a higher Standard he chose in enrich himself and few close friends only giving crumbs to the people. Then when time came to explain his side he ran as is the standard way.

Lee Kwan Yew would have disagreed with you.

[smedly]

Even mentioning Thaskin in the same breath as Mr. Lee is totally unacceptable Mr Lee loved Singapore as if it was his child Thaskin yes may have loved , but his real love was the baht instead of being noble and bring all Thai's up the a higher Standard he chose in enrich himself and few close friends only giving crumbs to the people. Then when time came to explain his side he ran as is the standard way.

Lee Kwan Yew would have disagreed with you.

That depends when asked the question - maybe 13 years ago but anything after 7 years ago and it would have been a different response entirely - and you well know it

Thaksin completely lost it succumbing to massive power abuse greed and corruption while Lee Yew remained steadfast throughout his long tenure and evolved Singapore to the steadfast powerhouse it is today - he did it not by introducing amnesty every couple of years but by enforcing the law and introducing far reaching reforms - sounds familiar - right

[halloween]

Even mentioning Thaskin in the same breath as Mr. Lee is totally unacceptable Mr Lee loved Singapore as if it was his child Thaskin yes may have loved , but his real love was the baht instead of being noble and bring all Thai's up the a higher Standard he chose in enrich himself and few close friends only giving crumbs to the people. Then when time came to explain his side he ran as is the standard way.

Lee Kwan Yew would have disagreed with you.

Do you have one example of LKY endorsing even one of Thaksin's criminal acts, his right to office, or the man himself since his removal and conviction?

[lewy67]

The general is a buffoon. I wonder if he knows that Harry Lee said this about the RTA in Forbes Magazine 2012:

Thailand itself transitioned from an absolute monarchy to a democratic constitutional monarchy. Regular and rambunctious elections are held, but the army continues to stage coups whenever it considers the government unreliable or going against the monarchy. Over the last 80 years there have been 11 successful coups and 7 failed ones. The most recent was the ouster of prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra in September 2006. The military’s interference has resulted in a perpetual state of political uncertainty and has shaken investor confidence.

He also wrote this:

The arrival of Thaksin Shinawatra permanently changed Thai politics. Before he came onto the scene, the Bangkok establishment dominated all sides of the political competition and governed largely to the benefit of the nation's capital. If there had been disagreements among the Bangkok elite, none were quite as ferocious as the ones to come. Nor were any of the quarrels as divisive as those that arose during and after Thaksin's term. What Thaksin did was to upset the apple cart of the Thai political status quo by diverting to the poorer parts of the country resources that had previously been hogged by Bangkok and its middle and upper-class residents. Thaksin's was a more inclusive brand of politics that allowed the peasants from the north and the northeast to share in the country's economic growth. A gulf had already existed before his arrival, created by the Bangkok-centric policies of his predecessors. All he did was to awaken the people to the gulf — and the unfairness of it — and to offer policy solutions to bridge it. If he had not done so, I am convinced that somebody else would have come along to do the same.Lee Kuan Yew One Man's View of the World:

Lee, as with Thaksin, was a thinker and a doer. The general in the other hand is neither a thinker nor a doer.

[chooka]

Hilarious numnut puts he foot in it again. This guy has to learn he is not cut out for the job, definately not a statesman and to compare himself to one is an insult. Not a day goes past without him opening his mouth causing the world to shake it's head in disbelief before breaking out in uncontrollable laughter. Prayuth do Thailand a favour step down and give the job to someone more qualified or just keep your mouth shut.

...........and Yingluck was!!!! .

My apologies I didn't mention Yingluk because I didn't see her mentioned in the topic. My apologies for not diverting my attention to something totally different.

Surely, if you are unfairly running down Prayut's performance then I should be allowed a comparison against the most recent PM before him.

Perhaps you should divert your attention towards her as she is the goon who implemented and promoted her brother's infamous rice scam that enriched the farmers (not) and abused democracy on her brother's behalf!!

Now what has Prayut done in this area of corruption - oh!! he is tackling it and not entertaining it. I think that this is perfectly on topic and renders your point as futile!!

like I said and apologised for and will say sorry again and again, I didn't mention her because she wasn't mentioned in the topic. Yes she is a lowlife piece of excrement and the rice scam was a total cluster <deleted> but she is not to blame for Prayuth being what he is. Again my apologies for not snagging off at Yingluk and blaming her for Prayuth's idiot comments. Edited March 25, 2015 by chooka

[Stuart2]

Lee Kuan Yew and the Singapore model was indeed Thaksin's role model for nation building when the ex-PM was in office before the 2006 coup. Lee criticised leaders around the world, including many Thai elite, for mishandling their countries, but he praised Thaksin for visionary leadership and economic management. Lee has run Singapore like his company and hence the world knows the country as 'Singapore Inc", so did Thaksin who tried to make the Kingdom "Thailand Inc".

Nah...

Lee Kuan Yew had the vision and leadership to build a country/nation

Thaksin's vision was to fill his pockets and those of his cohorts with a nations wealth.

Lee Kuan Yew and the Singapore model was indeed Thaksin's role model

an ever bigger Nah....

Ferdinand Marcos and the Philippine model was INDEED Thaksin's role model

The problem you have with is that under Thaksin Thailand had its most sustained period of economic growth ever. You can repeat the cliches but Thaksin more than anybody took this country from a pretty broken place post 1997/98 to a nation where, in 2006 the north had seen average incomes grow 250%. He was flawed for sure, but he was no more corrupt than any previous administration and far less than most, and arguably the best premier since 1932 (the bar is very low of course). Thailand in 2000 and Thailand in 2013 were radically different - and for much of the population, much, much better - places. You can thank Thaksin for much of that.

I know that goes against the right wing memes you're reciting, but it's hard to sidestep the reality of what he did for Thailand.

wow.... right wing memes? Not sure where in the world that popped out from but I was simply pointing out that if anyone is going to be bantered around as Thaksin's role model, a far more accurate one is Marcos as opposed to Lee.

Thaksin followed Marcos' course far more than he did Lee.

His policies and governing style mirrored the tyrannical Philippine despot much more closely.

Even the pampered Potjaman styled herself as a Thai Imelda and Thaksin's layabout incompetent children match those of Marcos to a tee.

.

Edited March 25, 2015 by Stuart2

[Stuart2]

Lee Kuan Yew and the Singapore model was indeed Thaksin's role model for nation building when the ex-PM was in office before the 2006 coup. Lee criticised leaders around the world, including many Thai elite, for mishandling their countries, but he praised Thaksin for visionary leadership and economic management. Lee has run Singapore like his company and hence the world knows the country as 'Singapore Inc", so did Thaksin who tried to make the Kingdom "Thailand Inc".

Nah...

Lee Kuan Yew had the vision and leadership to build a country/nation

Thaksin's vision was to fill his pockets and those of his cohorts with a nations wealth.

Singapore is almost free of corruption, ranked 7th in the World, whereas Thailand is 85th. That's something that Thaksin had no real ambition to rectify.

Under his cloned sister, Thailand dropped to 102nd according to Transparency International for Thailand's most corrupt score ever in its history.

http://www.eabc-thailand.eu/news/detail/533/Insight+Thailand+Roundtable+Se.htm

[waitforusalso]

Maybe in his mind he was confused as Lee's son is the current PM of Lee Island. Perhaps he thought it was he who had died.

On another note, I would be willing to bet that most posters here really did not live here while Thaksin was the PM. Ha...democracy Thaksin style was horrific not to mention the fact the racism he created towards us farang is still in the air.The Press was shredded, jouralists were terrified to write the truth. To me it did say he was trying to emulate Lee. Singapore only ran his way because of complete and control. Anyone who thinks they understand Thai politics is cluless unless they have a grasp on the happenings feom 1933 till present.

Seems you are unaware of the details of Lee's rule. He ruled with a much stronger iron fist than Thaksin. Do some reading.

[waitforusalso]

Even mentioning Thaskin in the same breath as Mr. Lee is totally unacceptable Mr Lee loved Singapore as if it was his child Thaskin yes may have loved , but his real love was the baht instead of being noble and bring all Thai's up the a higher Standard he chose in enrich himself and few close friends only giving crumbs to the people. Then when time came to explain his side he ran as is the standard way.

Yellow propaganda BS. Kool Aid anyone??

[Johpa]

Ferdinand Marcos and the Philippine model was INDEED Thaksin's role model[/font][/color]

I don't see much similarity between Marcos and Thaksin; however, Imelda continued to serve as inspiration for a few large sized influential peers within the Thai elite in Bangkok for years after her demise from power.

[jayboy]

Even mentioning Thaskin in the same breath as Mr. Lee is totally unacceptable Mr Lee loved Singapore as if it was his child Thaskin yes may have loved , but his real love was the baht instead of being noble and bring all Thai's up the a higher Standard he chose in enrich himself and few close friends only giving crumbs to the people. Then when time came to explain his side he ran as is the standard way.

Lee Kwan Yew would have disagreed with you.

Do you have one example of LKY endorsing even one of Thaksin's criminal acts, his right to office, or the man himself since his removal and conviction?

No.I doubt whether he made any comments publicly after Thaksin left office.But we know his views on Thaksin whom he considered to be easily the best of all Thai politicians.We also know LKY's contempt for the greedy and selfish unelected elites.We also know what he thought about business oriented Thai generals and their disgraceful record of coups and counter coups.

I doubt however whether pondering on Thaksin occupied too much of his time.

[maidee]

hahaha ... that is what you get when you have un uneducated coup taker thinking he knows everything better than anyone else

aka television disruption speeches every week, explaining how everybody should live & conduct business & educated themselves

a farmer in a suit, is still a farmer

[Farang99]

Lee Kwan Yew: How did Asia remember him?

www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-32046144

"He viewed Thailand as a capricious and unreliable partner" So much for his "mentoring" Thaksin!

Edited March 26, 2015 by Farang99

[hawksway]

Thaksin admired Lee's results but lacked the Formers ethics.