I fear you mistake the role of the Thai government. In the countries many of us come from the acknowledged role of government is “of the people, by the people, for the people”. Apart from the brief Shinawatra periods, Thai government is “of the people, by the elite, for the elite”Originally Posted by BOY69
BenCH (November 16th, 2019), Oliver2 (November 15th, 2019), splinter1949 (November 16th, 2019)
I hardly can say that Shinwatra regime was "for the people" he was a populist billionaire that knew how to manipulate the masses to his own purposes , he tried to break "the holly trinity" of the traditional Thai regime the army,the monarchy and the Parliament not for the beneficiary of the Thai people but to gain absolute power that's why he had been removed from power by the elite.
Paradoxically the biggest economic growth was after the Thai army took power and removed Shinwatra sister from her possition as prime minister.
BenCH (November 16th, 2019)
Though it was Yingluck Shinawatra's government which put up the minimum wage by some 40% to 300 bt in 2012 for Bangkok and six other provinces.
Oliver2 (November 16th, 2019)
Believing that the Bangkok Post is not an organ of elite propaganda is like believing that Fox News provides a balanced commentary on US affairs
Oliver2 (November 16th, 2019)
....and The Nation is even worse.
I am not naive who believe the Bangkok Post or the Nation are not organ of the elite but I am not fool who believe that Taksin Shinawatra was a democratic honest leader because he wasn't all he wanted is to break the elites power so he can gain absolute power like Putin in Rusia or Erdogan in Turkey who also claim they are "democratic" leaders.
And your evidence for this fascinating belief?
An editorial in The Bangkok Post or The Nation perhaps?
Once a politician is elected or even has the audacity to run for office who promises more equality and a fairer society, he/she is immediately the victim of astonishing calumnies and is hounded by hounded by the media. Poorer people tend not to be newspaper magnates after all. I should know; I'm British.
Come, come Olly, such scepticism. The poster has clearly read a number of impartial sources in the original Thai before arriving at a conclusion that - entirely coincidentally - was the position of the more lunar members of the Thai elite
Anyone who believes that Thaksin was in politics to help the poor and reduce inequality is naive beyond belief. You have only to look into the dealings between ShinCorp and Temasek and the changes in the law, instigated by Thaksin as PM, which made these dealings possible, to see what he was really about. He didn't even have the decency to delay the transaction by so much as a day to make it less obvious. His only concern was increasing his personal wealth and that of his family and cronies. Some of my more cynical Shan friends have pointed out that his visits to certain Shan Temples in Chiang Mai conveniently coincided with those of Khun Sa.
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