absolutelyBangkok archive · Politics
Originally published Feb. 8, 2008
You can’t praise the wily tactics of Thaksin Shinawatra strongly enough. His men are everywhere in key positions now.
While, to the outside world, the great puppet master keeps quiet.
Noppadon Pattama, a former lawyer of Democrat icon Chuan Leekpai and one of the fiercest loyalists of Thaksin, has become foreign minister, the new global voice of the Kingdom.
Jakrapob Penkair, a die-hard loyalist of Thaksin, sits in the prime minister’s office and will focus on “biased” media reports. To ensure “impartiality”.
Samak Sundaravej, the prime minister himself, still pretends to be his own man. But isn’t that all part of the ploy.
In true Thaksin-style Samak will host the weekly TV program “Poodja Prasa Samak” — talk Samak-style.
We may shallowly remember Thaksin’s own Sunday programs — a litany of whitewash and policy propaganda as you would expect it in North Korea.
Those weekly appearances are an excellent tool to distort facts, promote fiction and spin intentions.
To steadily prepare the ground for the return of the great puppet master, the shadow player, as he’s already called.
Let’s grant our new prime minister the benefit of doubt for a while.
But let’s not fool ourselves.
As for the future of the kingdom, it boils down to two simple options:
Either the old wine in new skins veil their true intentions more carefully this time. They can’t change their characters and motives just to please the people. But they may have learned a lesson. We may see a kind of saint Thaksin.
Option two: They prepare the groundwork for even more blatant abuses.
Don’t wait for the military to arrive for help in times of a future crisis.
The generals, sad to say, lost all credibility.
Thailand — as its new leadership of the People’s Power Party suggests — is in the hands of its people.
And solely so.
As I even haven’t heard from the opposition lately. Is its leader still around?
Or preparing a grand speech against the soon-to-be-granted-general-amnesty for the 111?
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