Tag: thaksin

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Thai politics Thailand

Thaksin on Foreign Policy’s list of “Bad Exes”

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Thailand’s exiled former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra is one of five ex-heads of state on Foreign Policy‘s Bad Exes list. A snippet:

Old job: Prime minister of Thailand, 2001-2006

New image: Since being deposed in a 2006 coup amid allegations of graft and human rights abuses, Thaksin has lived a peripatetic existence. The former billionaire businessman has served as a “special ambassador” for Nicaragua and an economic advisor in Cambodia, and was briefly owner of the Manchester City* soccer club. Thaksin reportedly lived under a false name in Germany for more than a year and has used illegally received passports from a number of other countries as well. He now makes his home in Dubai.

(Via Saksith at Siam Voices.)

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Misc.

Thaksin asset verdict: today’s front pages

Here’s quick look at the front pages of today’s Bangkok Post and the Nation:

The Bangkok Post went with a photo of the Thaksin family and the headline “CRISIS here to stay.”

It’s below the fold in the (crappy cell phone) image here, but a pull-quote for the lead story ((Note that the Post‘s Web site looks different at the moment.)) reads, “Red shirts target not just the govt but also the elite, which the military will protect.”

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The Nation, meanwhile, has this: “Let JUSTICE Be Done,” says the headline. It may be too small to read in this image, but it continues with an ominous “though the heavens may fall…”

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(Nation image via Nation editor @suthichai on Twitter.)

More soon…

(Update: Welcome, BP readers. For more posts about Thailand, be sure to subscribe to the Newley.com RSS feed and follow me on Twitter.)

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Misc.

More on tomorrow’s Thaksin asset ruling: NYT and WSJ stories of note

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Two more stories I wanted to point out as we approach tomorrow’s verdict on ousted ex-Prime Minister Thaksin’s frozen assets.

  • First, the New York Times has this piece: “Thailand Bracing for Ruling on Thaksin’s Assets“:

    It begins:

    Friday is “judgment day” in Thailand, with a court set to decide whether to confiscate $2.3 billion in frozen assets belonging to the fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

    The government is warning of potential violence by Mr. Thaksin’s supporters if the ruling goes against him. Soldiers and the police have been put on alert, checkpoints are in place, government buildings are under guard and judges have been offered safe houses.

    Some analysts call the warnings propaganda to discredit the opposition, which has said it will mobilize only a small crowd on Friday at the courthouse in Bangkok where the ruling is to be announced.

    Months of demonstrations by Mr. Thaksin’s supporters, continuing rumors of coups and small, symbolic acts of violence, like the firing of a grenade into the empty office of the army commander, have set the capital on edge.

    Newspapers have stoked the sense of urgency, with daily countdowns to “judgment day” and with headlines like one that appeared on Wednesday, in bold, red type, in The Nation: “Exclusive Interview: Absolutely No Coup.”

    And there’s this snippet about the red shirt movement:

    A telecommunications tycoon, Mr. Thaksin apparently retains enough wealth abroad to finance a nationwide political machine. A seizure of his assets frozen in Thailand should have no effect on this, said Thongchai Winijakul, a Thai historian at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

    “It has been almost four years, and the movement is getting bigger, bigger, bigger, bigger without this frozen money,” he said.

    There’s also this quote at the end from Thongchai:

    “The best option for the reds to win is by election,” said Mr. Thongchai, the Thai historian. “No matter what, if they just wait, they have the vote. They are not stupid. They can wait.”

  • There’s also this opinion piece in the WSJ today from academic Thitinan Pongsudhirak: “Moving Beyond Thaksin.” (Note: I understand this story may be subscriber-only, but I’m able to access it fine, viewing it as a non-logged-in subscriber.)

    Thailand is dreading the Supreme Court’s verdict on former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra’s frozen $2.3 billion in assets, scheduled for tomorrow. No matter how his wealth is disposed, given Thailand’s political polarization the only certainty is that no one will be satisfied. In fact, the conflict will likely intensify as pro- and anti-Thaksin protagonists hunker down for a long battle of attrition.

    Read the whole thing.

(All emphasis mine.)

I’ll be blogging here at Newley.com (and tweeting) about the verdict tomorrow, as well. So stay tuned…

Categories
Misc.

The red shirt movement, the Thai government, and potential protests

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As we approach the Feb. 26 court verdict in the Thaksin asset case, there has been much speculation — in the local media and from the Thai government — about upcoming Red Shirt protests. What form will the demonstrations take? When will they happen? Will they turn violent?

The Thai government has listed the steps it will take to control these potential gatherings. They will deploy, they say, tens of thousands of troops to keep order. There will be some 200 checkpoints throughout Bangkok. And there will be security forces in place in the north and northeast, Thaksin’s power base. The government says that there are elements of the Red Shirt camp that intend to use violence to bring Thaksin back to power.

The Red Shirts, for their part, have made references to assembling a million protesters in Bangkok. But no date for a potential demonstration has been announced publicly. The Red Shirts say that their movement is a peaceful one — despite the outburst of violence in April, 2009 — and that they merely plan to protest what they call double standards in Thailand. They say that in this country, influential people are able to break the law without repercussions. They chiefly point to the yellow-shirt (PAD) occupation of Bangkok’s airports in Nov., 2008, an act for which no one has been held accountable.

Here are a few stories I suggest consulting for more info.

Image source: Bangkok Post.

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Misc.

Reuters: “Are cracks appearing in Thailand’s military?”

Given my recent posts on the subject, I wanted to point out a story that Reuters ran yesterday. It’s called “Are cracks appearing in Thailand’s military?”

Here are the first few graphs.

A grenade attack on the office of Thailand’s army chief this month is stoking fears of a worst-case scenario in Thailand’s political crisis — a possible fissure in the military along fault lines that have divided the country.

Analysts, diplomats and military sources say it is premature to talk of a split in Thailand’s powerful and politicised army but that festering ideological differences show signs of broadening in one of the most charged climates in decades.

A divide in an institution central to Thailand’s power structure would deepen uncertainty over the outlook for Thailand’s export-dependent $260 billion economy, Southeast Asia’s second-largest, and raise the prospect of instability in a country seen as a gateway to the region for foreign companies.

Large numbers of soldiers of lower ranks and some senior officers, analysts say, are sympathisers of Thailand’s rural, grassroots anti-government, red-shirted protest movement.

In contrast, many of the military’s top brass are at the other end of the political spectrum, allied with royalists, business elites and the urban middle classes, who wear yellow at protests and largely support the present government.

The red-yellow divide is growing increasingly intractable.

(Emphasis mine.)

Worth a read.

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Misc.

Tiger Woods, Thailand, and Thaksin

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Tiger Woods, Thailand, and ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra — they’re all related, if you can believe it.

This is — I hope — the only post I’ll be writing about the Tiger Woods saga. But I wanted to point out the following story since there’s a Thailand connection.

Tiger Woods is half Thai. But my understanding is that Tiger has not, shall we say, fully embraced his Thai-ness. That is, while he has acknowledged his Thai heritage (his mother is Thai), he has not proclaimed a love for or a connection with Thailand.

A little poking around on the internerd revealed this interesting Nov., 2000 TIME story about Tiger’s visits to Thailand.

A few graphs follow. All emphasis mine:

[Tiger’s] total prize money and appearance fees will top $12 million, while endorsements will bring in an additional $50 million. But while Tiger can count on tournament marshals and security personnel to control the throngs on the course, off it the going sometimes gets tough, as was evident during his return to Thailand, the homeland of his mother Kultida.
…
Woods’ first trip to Thailand as a professional in early 1997 was a three-ring circus. Politicians and TV crews boarded his plane when it touched down in Bangkok before he could unbuckle his seat belt. Woods would describe it as the craziest week of his life; he was hoping things would be a little saner this time around. “I always enjoy coming back to Thailand,” he says. “It’s always neat to be back among family and friends.” Not everyone was so enthusiastic, however. Some Thais feel he should donate more of his wealth to their country; others resent the fact that he lends his name to companies that, in their view, exploit millions of low-skilled local workers. “He basically has forgotten the Thai people,” says Prasong Pathom, a medical doctor who followed Woods around during day one of last week’s tournament. “He is a great golfer and has done some good with his foundation in getting equipment for young kids, but a number of Thais see it as nothing more than a token gesture.”

Woods reportedly received an appearance fee of $1 million to compete in Bangkok while unwittingly taking on the role of political kingmaker. Thaksin Shinawatra, the telecom billionaire and prohibitive frontrunner to become Prime Minister in January’s election, is reported to have footed the bill for Woods in return for a couple of photo-ops. As a council member of Kasetsart University, Thaksin was also pivotal in awarding Woods an honorary doctorate of philosophy in sport. Woods’ handlers informed the university that he was on a tight schedule, however, and that the ceremony could only be 15 minutes long and held at his downtown hotel instead of at the university. “It took him 15 minutes to get something that took me four years,” one student complained in a local paper. After the ceremony, a clearly flustered Dr. Woods was greeted in his hotel lobby by a noisy group of 100 fired employees of sportswear giant Nike (which has a $100 million endorsement deal with Tiger), protesting the layoff of 1,016 workers in September. “Woods should be able to understand why that company can give him so much money,” says Lek Junya Yumprasert, a Thai labor committee official. “It would take workers here 72,000 years to make that kind of money.” Woods was swallowed by a phalanx of security men and quickly exited without comment.

Given that this is an old story, does anyone have any updated info to share?

Categories
Misc.

Thaksin’s new alias: Takki Shinegra?

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When Thailand’s exiled former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra bought Manchester City FC in 2007, some of the club’s fans began referring to him Frank, as in Frank Sinatra.

Now there’s this item in today’s Nation:

Thaksin’s new name : Takki Shinegra

Runaway ex-PM Thaksin Shinawatra has used new name in his passports issued by some African countries, Thai Vice foreign minister Panich Vikitsreth said Wednesday.

Thaksin’s name in passports issued by Nicaragua, Uganda and Montenegro has been changed to “Takki Shinegra,” he said.

The Thai government has revoked Thaksin’s diplomatic passport issued during his premiership. He was believed to have an ordinary Thai passport. Some African countries have issued him a special passport to facilitate his travels and his visit to the countries.

Interesting.

(Thanks to A for the tip.)

Categories
Misc.

Economist on Thaksin and Hun Sen (and info on Sun. PAD blast)

Just briefly: The Nov. 12 issue of The Economist has a story about Thaksin and Hun Sen. I won’t post any excerpts as it’s quite short. Give it a read.

(Via BP).

UPDATE: In other news, a blast at a PAD rally on Sunday injured 12 people. AFP has this item:

Grenade caused anti-Thaksin rally blast: Thai police

BANGKOK — Thai police said Monday that a grenade was responsible for a blast at a rally by opponents of fugitive former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, as the number of injured rose to 12.

Organisers said the small explosion at the protest in central Bangkok late Sunday was caused by a firecracker thrown by men on a motorcycle, but police said they now believed it was a more serious attack.

(Emphasis mine.)

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Misc.

Thaksin, Cambodia, and Thailand — update

Reuters has a summary of the latest developments in the Thaksin-Cambodia-Thailand saga:

Thai Crisis Deepens as Thaksin Finds Cambodian Base

PHNOM PENH (Reuters) – Emboldened by a rousing welcome in Cambodia, fugitive former Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra is rallying supporters from just over the border, upping the ante in Thailand’s political crisis.

After accusing Thailand’s rulers of “false patriotism” in a speech in Phnom Penh on Thursday, Thaksin huddled with more than 20 supporters and leaders of his red-shirted, anti-government protest movement who traveled from Thailand.

That number will swell on Friday when about 100 supporters plan to gather in the Cambodian town of Siem Reap, about 150 km (90 miles) from the Thai border, according to Puea Thai, an incarnation of Thaksin’s disbanded Thai Rak Thai party.

The prospect of the billionaire — who the Thai government sees as a criminal — running a political campaign from across the border rattled investors, sending Thai stock prices tumbling nearly 3 percent on concern of more instability in Southeast Asia’s second-biggest economy.

Royalists aligned with the military, who wear the king’s traditional color of yellow, plan a demonstration of their own on Sunday in Bangkok to denounce Thaksin and Cambodia, threatening to deepen the political and diplomatic impasse.

(Emphasis mine.)

Worth reading the whole thing.

Previous Thaksin-Cambodia-Thailand posts are here and here and here.

Categories
Misc.

Thaksin arrives in Cambodia

Quick post to point out a recent AFP story that says Thailand’s exiled former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra has arrived in neighboring Cambodia.

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — Fugitive former Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra landed in the Cambodian capital Tuesday to carry out his new role as economics adviser to the government, an AFP photographer said.

Thaksin exited a small private airplane at Phnom Penh International Airport and was then escorted into the Cambodian capital by a convoy of cars under tight security, said an AFP photographer at the scene.

The visit is set to further escalate tensions with neighbouring Thailand, which have increased since last week when Cambodia appointed Thaksin — ousted as Thai prime minister in a 2006 coup — as economics adviser.

(Emphasis mine.)

You can find some context in my previous post about Thailand, Cambodia, and Thaksin.