Better the devil you know: Taksin?

[John]

Thaksins biggest mistake was that he did not cut the social, economic and political eastablishment in on enough of the action. So they brought in the soldiers to get him out. The people running Thailand now don't give 1 baht for democracy, or the peoples wishes. They are just getting ready to carve up the economy for themselves.

[whitelotuslane]

Otherwise the tyran Thaksin would still be in power....

 

And that would be worse than a military backed band of clowns running the country and playing politics?

 

Keep in mind I was never a Thaksin fan, but do acknowledge that most people [a clear majority, but located outside of Bangkok and the South] liked him as a politician, and that he made immense progress in certain areas, though I'm not claiming he implemented everything in a perfect way. For example the 30 baht healtcare for all scheme was flawed in the way it was funded, HOWEVER nobody can deny Thaksin was the first one to promote the concept of "affordable healthcare for all, no matter how poor you are and no matter than you live on a farm in the Norht East." Also the OTOP project was brilliant: Leverage the skills and crafts of rural people to brand and market their products in a modern way. Then there were many incentives to (small) businesses (SME's) and technology.

 

Anyway, surely the military backed government would have no mandate but to focus on two very simple things, namely:

 

1 : Clearly demonstrate Thaksin's wrongdoings and bring him to justice

 

2 : Complete focus on holding elections

 

Instead they went off playing with Thailand / the economy like a schoolgirl would with her barbiedoll.

 

If Thaksin did truly illegal things, how hard would it be to demonstrate this?

 

Again, I never actually LIKED Thaksin and blame him the most for his bullying of the media and democracy in general. In hindsight however, he never even came CLOSE to what the military government has pulled since in terms of dictatorial rule and imposing censorship.

[Hardy641]

And that would be worse than a military backed band of clowns running the country and playing politics?

 

Yes, bcause he is much more dangerous -smarter and corrupter - than these 'clowns'. The emerging crisis in Thailand is caused by Thaksin and his policies. The current government isn't responsible for it - just responsible to not introduce any the right counter measures to control the situation - which of course is bad too.

 

Keep in mind I was never a Thaksin fan, but do acknowledge that most people [a clear majority, but located outside of Bangkok and the South] that he made immense progress in certain areas, though I'm not claiming he implemented everything in a perfect way.

 

He bought the votes of the people in the North and North East with cheap populist policies. They have been too uneducated to look through him. In the south Thaksin and his TRT have never been popular. He never REALLY cared about the poor but just needed their votes and therefore introduced these schemes - many having serious flaws.

With the uneducated masses backing him, he thought he was invincible and could rule however he likes.

 

If Thaksin did truly illegal things, how hard would it be to demonstrate this?

 

Well it isn't easy to get the proove, as Thaksin wasn't dumb but the cases making good progress - at least that's what the press is saying. Just remember how difficult it has been to nail down Saddam!

 

Again, I never actually LIKED Thaksin and blame him the most for his bullying of the media and democracy in general. In hindsight however, he never even came CLOSE to what the military government has pulled since in terms of dictatorial rule and imposing censorship.

 

What about the incidents in the south where innocent demostrants have been killed, what is about people disappearing (e.g. the lawyer somchai). what about the thousands of dead in his war of drugs. So far the new government isn't performing well, but at least nobody has been killed. Thaksin is much much worse....

 

[Lusty]

He resides up here now.

I wonder if he had as much hassle with red tape and expense with the Home office for the correct visa as we did!

If he ever returns to Thai politics I wonder if he'll remember us Brits and allow us to stay as long as we wish,buy land etc etc

[chuckwoww]

If he ever returns to Thai politics I wonder if he'll remember us Brits and allow us to stay as long as we wish,buy land etc etc

 

He won't get many votes if he does. The Thais will just assume he caught some farang disease.

 

[Neo]

The coup happened because they knew Thaksin was on the verge of winning his 3rd consecutive election by a landslide.

 

I think the reason many of the so called knowledgeable people who "know what's best for the country" hated him because he routed so much money to into the hands of poor instead of the usual suspects. During the gas crunch he built thousands of food stalls serving 10 baht hot meals, designed 30 baht hospital visits for the poor, created low income housing for the poor, created the first low cost airline (Air Asia) "now everyone can fly" creating the era of cheap air travel in Thailand that we even benefit from, the 1 million cows program for farmers, and so on.

 

Since the demise of Thaksin, I don't hear about any new programs to help the poor, but they are axing the things he created for the poor. Through it all, Thaksin's elite card has survived of all things, hmm.

 

[Hardy641]

Thaksin and helping the poor, common give me a break!

He never gave a damn shit about them. The only thing he ever cared about have been there votes in the General election to ensure a landslide victory for his TRT party. So he and his cronies could further exploit the country.

Really helping the poor would mean to give them a fair chance to compete due to improved education - not just giving away freebies that at the end only make them more dependent from the hand that feed them.

I don't say that 'old elite' treated the poor better, but at least they didn't bought their votes in the election by plundering state coffers as Thaksin did with his populist policies (30 Baht, 1 million THB fund, fuel fund...).