absolutelyBangkok archive · Politics
Originally published May 18, 2008
Ok, he’s in for the long run. But he must have thought it’s much easier. Buying a football team and making it successful should — publicity-wise — keep him in the positive headlines. He must have thought. Furthermore enjoying a sympathy bonus. As he’s a victim of injustices and wrong accusations.
He must have thought that, in addition to his never-ceasing popularity back home in Thailand and his nominees back in power, he must have thought that this ownership of Manchester City FC would, over time, serve a sure ticket to glory and stardom, aka, to the reinstatement of the former political status quo.
Turns out the era after the coup is not that simple anymore for former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra. A bunch of eight Man City fans were welcoming the English team at Suvarnabhumi airport and the audience at the Rajamangala Stadium in Bangkok, where Thaksin’s team was beaten 3:1 by Thailand’s Premier All-Stars, was less than lackluster.
It was the first match the Thai side won in a long time. Not that the meagerly deployed public wouldn’t have known whom to cheer for. Thaksin did a great service to some people of Manchester. He just bought the wrong team? Thai people don’t seem to feel like cheering for “an own” English club. Nor for Thaksin.
A strong convincing Man City would have proven a strong convincing Thaksin. But what was supposed to be a triumph ended in a whimper.
Thaksin had promised to make City a global brand. If the sparsely populated Stadium was an indicator, there’s a long way to go.
Maybe a few people will get lost and find themselves himself in Bangkok’s newly opened Blues’ fan shop. But life is not that easy anymore for Thaksin.
Back then, when he rose to power, the timing had been perfect. The Democrats had prepared everything for him. The tough regimen of the IMF was over. Thailand could only rise after the turmoils of the financial crisis. Most were still bleeding. But life started to pick up again. And Thaksin was right there.
Today it’s a completely different story. You can argue how nominee his nominees in control of the government are. De facto he has direct access to the helm of power. But people are bleeding again, and all the government is concerned with are the premier’s political cooking shows and the rewrite of a constitution that will anyway be rewritten again.
Current times demand more than just showing up at a right time. So far Thaksin seemed to have learned that lesson. So far he didn’t humiliate Sven as a scapegoat to conceal his own failures.
But Thaksin is becoming impatient and the leader of the kitchen cabinet is of no big help. Thailand does again what it does best. Muddling through.
Neither Sven nor Man City nor Samak, nobody is really helping Thaksin in these difficult times. The longer the muddling through goes on, the further away the old status quo slides. And the more impatient the man gets.
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