Thaksin

Call me stupid (STUPID!!!), l know Thaksin was ousted for corruption, and millions hate him. But why then do the PPP win at the last election, wanting this man back. Well win is the wrong word, they got most seats, but not an outright win.
What part of the picture am l missing.
I ask some Thais they hate him, and others Love him still. It seems by voice only, l have not checked the facts, that he is more popular
in Northern Thailand.
If this was the USA or UK, it would be prison, and no chance of any political return.
Are there more Muslims who hate him?
I know l'm dumb, but can someone explain :cheers:

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He let his wife return to face the charges by herself. I am sure he is letting her test the waters and to rally his supporters for his return but still he isn't as a husband should be.

Easy to "check the facts"--read the Bkk Post and/or the Nation English-language newspapers (yes, they have online versions) and read websites that discuss this--in a very brief nutshell, Thaksin unpopular with certain segments of the military and police, his corruption got a bit out of control and became a bit too obvious and blatent, he also, it appears, irritated the King, but in the city of Bkk, it is reported that the Thai middle class, did not support him, but he/his friends, etc, were popular in the rural areas, nowhere more so, then in the Issan region for his populist policies--water buffalo program, 30 baht medical plan, etc, and of course, there was a strategic plan of vote/influence buying that went on.

Thailand may well have problems ahead as I have read that the Supreme Court will now decide if the PPP party is just a proxy of Thailand and will be disqualified in some sense, and in the meantime, some of their "victors" are being individually disqualified for one reason or another--some believe that the military/King will not allow this party to take any control. All hope that the King will stay healthy as if he dies, the stability of the nation could be in trouble.

That certainly sheds some light on the situation, thank you for your reply.

he/his friends, etc, were popular in the rural areas, nowhere more so, then in the Issan region for his populist policies--water buffalo program, 30 baht medical plan, etc, and of course, there was a strategic plan of vote/influence buying that went on.

Sammy,

I think his genuine popularity in some areas (the rural poor - the majority of the Thai population) goes deeper than that. He was very much the first politician to implement popular policies which genuinely did help the rural poor, who had previously been ignored apart from at election time when the price of a vote had gone up from a bucket 20 years ago to 200 baht under Chavalit. TRT probably spent no more on vote buying than anyone else, possibly less, although there was clearly a lot of "sponsorship" for the demonstrators based at Sanam Luang. It is more than likely that his personal popularity, coupled with the possibility that the uneducated majority could actually choose who would run the country, was seen as a "clear and present danger" in certain quarters.

His motives for these policies are very much open to doubt - I always look on him as being in the same league as a fund-raiser who raises money for charity while making considerably more money for himself: it may not be morally correct, but at the end of the day is the charity (in this case the rural poor) better off with him or without him?

I think you are also right as concerns possible problems ahead; the country is openly polarised as never before and there appears to be no easy solution. An interesting article in Tuesday's Bangkok Post gave three possible options for the future, depending on what happens to the government: (1) investor confidence, stability and economic prosperity (2) a lack of confidence and overseas investment and increased inflation (3) a crisis in 2010 /2011 and an economic meltdown affecting not the wealthy classes (as 10 years ago), but the poor who would face widespread unemployment even in the rural areas.

Only time will tell ........

gone fishing, i agree, the vote buying, etc, was probably very similar to what had been going on forever, from what I have read, however, is that Thaksin and his cronies were maybe a bit more clever and strategic on how it was done--as to his populist polices, I would be the first to agree that some did benefit from his plans in the rural northeast--but if you read much about some of the programs, such as the "a water buffalo for every farmer" (or whatever the official name was), there was a great outcry about the corruption in the program so that all that could have been helped by the program did not get helped--some of that very corruption happened at the local level where provincial officials and village headsman kept/stole/etc funds distributed to help local farmers, and the 30 baht medical scheme, you may have read, cost the national govt a small fortune to subsidize --but, as you said, we will see what happens--but to this day, Thaksin remains popular in the region as we have stated as they thought he finally did something for them. He was clever enough that to know that he may not be successful in pulling the wool over the eyes of the more edcuated in Bkk, for instance, and made every effort to solidify his support in the rural areas. Of course, has been written about in all the newspapers in the past, he made the great blunder of appearing too arrogant or whatever to the King, much of this made clear by speeches, comments made by Privy Council members, who often make the King's feelings known in various ways.

I think Thailand is at a great crossroads--it will be interesting to see what the upper courts rule about the legitimacy of the PPP party--obviously, their ruling will not come without behind the scenes influence by who--the King, the Privy Council, the military, the police, or all of these?

Thank you for those very educated responses, it has certainly cleared the water somewhat.

PP

would it not also be fair to say that in many ways this is a battle of the establishment versus the new?

Politically Thaksin was bringing a totally new approach to politics, and the "old guard" clearly saw this as a threat. Prior to Thaksin, no politician in Thailand had such a personal following (in this case from the poor - who numerically make up the highest proportion of the population). The TRT party brought to Thailand an almost glitzy style of party politics and the party leader became a celebrity in his own right (and his wife for that matter). Any observer has to admire the skill with which the old TRT party expanded so rapidly throughout the Kingdom, and the slick PR machine that came with it. If you are at the top of the old guard this must feel very threatening indeed. I am not a fan of Thaksin but I do admire his political acumen and organisational skills (it is very much like Blair in Britain - not my favourite guy but I take my hat off to his incredible political/communication skills, and like Thaksin he had the ability to divide people in a clear love/hate kind of way ).

The bottom line is Thaksin seemed to be able to reach out and communicate with the vast majority of the Thai population (the poor and less well off) - for the old guard around the Monarch, Privy Council and Military, I am sure this was very unnerving and difficult to comprehend.

Observing the current situayion with the PPP, it seems to be a case of "watch this space" - the battle is clearly not over.

He let his wife return to face the charges by herself. I am sure he is letting her test the waters and to rally his supporters for his return but still he isn't as a husband should be.

Coward? What else are women for? :idea:

I'm side stepping that answer thank you :drunken: