Somkid an unlikely ally for Surayud in bid to discredit ex-PM
Thaksin Shinawatra has been kicked out of office. His Thai Rak Thai Party is about to be dissolved.
His political allies, from Somsak Thepsuthin, Pinij Charusombat to Suwat Liptapanlop, are breaking away to form new alliances. The next goal of Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont is to dismantle the legacy of Thaksinomics once and for all.
Maybe it is just me. But I find this kind of "breaking away" to be disgusting in the sense that all these former Thaksin allies could have joined forces with other unhappy factions of the Thai Rak Thai Party and dumped Thaksin and there would have never been a constitutional crisis. What was the need for a coup? These cowards could have saved the country a lot of grief if they had stood up to Thaksin.
And nobody is in a better position to poison Thaksinomics than Somkid Jatusripitak, once one of Thaksin's most trusted aides and his heir apparent.
Somkid is in the best position to poison Thaksinomics because he was the author of Thaksinomics? What kind of Thai logic is this?
Surayud's naming of Somkid as the chairman of the International Economic Coordination Committee came as a big surprise. In this fresh role, Somkid will become an official spokesman of the Surayud government in charge of propagating the sufficiency theory to the international community. He is also expected to mount road shows to explain the merits of the sufficiency theory to foreign governments, agencies and investors.
These Nation columnists are the biggest two-faced hypocrites that have ever worked in the journalism business. Thanong was wailing about how Thaksinomics was bankrupting the country a couple weeks ago, yet now he his giddy that the author of Thaksinomics, Somkid, is now the major spokesman for Sufficiency Theory. If I was Thanong and had integrity, I would be screaming from the rooftops about this kind of hypocrisy. But Thanong's hatred for Thaksin outweighs his integrity, which isn't surprising if you have been following his columns lately.
His Majesty the King has prescribed the sufficiency theory along the lines of a philosophical concept, which, similar to Buddhist doctrine, advocates a middle path. The sufficiency theory calls for Thais to adopt moderation and self-immunity from external forces as a way of life. It does not reject globalisation or the modern economy, but in a way it reflects risk management. To be sufficient is to have enough - not to have less, or not to have more than is within one's reach.
Here we go with the bullshit explanation of Sufficiency Theory. Notice how those who love this theory have no clue what it means or how to translate it into public policy. This is how Thais operate. They speak many sweet words and concepts but when you break their concepts down they have no intelligent rational meaning.
His Majesty also advocates Dharma virtue, which emphasizes a higher standard than that set by western-style good governance. According to the principles of good governance, you must simply adopt transparency and the best practices in your dealings, while others must be able to check your actions. Still, you may get away with misdeeds even if you operate according to the strict guidelines of good governance. However, practising according to Dharma virtue means that you act according to your conscience to do things well, without prejudice or greed. As such, your actions can withstand any test, moral or related to good governance.
Can the audience understand this papragraph? This paragraph is completely meaningless. This is what the government expects Somkid to explain to the idiot foreigners who just don't "get it." How can foreigners "get it" when Thais can't explain this sufficiency theory themselves?
Regardless, who really believes that the Thai government will adopt any kind of good governance, whether it be a Buddhist model or a Western model? The truth is this "sufficiency theory" is nothing but one more royal trend after a long line of royal trends that the Thais will talk big about and spend hours propagating but will do nothing about putting it into force or live by its principles. And to have the brains of Thaksinomics running around the world giving lectures and workshops to foreigners on the benefits and virtues of Thai governance only makes Thais look like bigger fools and hypocrites than they already are.
Somkid suggested in his speech delivered at the Sasin School of Business yesterday that sufficiency economics should become an integral part of Thailand's economic development.
Is he making a U-turn? Indeed, he is making a sharp U-turn for his own future.
This is the most honest things Thanong has ever said. Somkid is an opportunist.
Somkid was one of the architects of Thai Rak Thai's political marketing and populist policies, which led to the party's landslide election victories in 2001 and 2005. He served as finance minister and deputy prime minister in charge of economic affairs during the six-year reign of Thaksin. The village fund, the Bt30 healthcare programme, the debt moratorium programme for farmers comprised the policy bedrock and accounted for the political successes of the Thai Rak Thai Party.
Exactly.
Later on Thai Rak Thai added housing for the poor, cheaper loans such as those offered through the SML (Small, Medium, Large) programmes and other populist initiatives that grabbed votes. Somkid was also responsible for most of the tourism marketing programmes, which met with little success, such as the Bangkok Fashion City, Elite Card and Kitchen of the World projects.
These are all the programs that The Nation and the Surayud government said were bankrupting the country. Now they are embracing the architect of these programs like a long lost brother.
Somkid was also a hardcore capitalist, advocating free-trade agreements, stock market promotion, unheeded privatisation, and targeting top-level export and GDP growth. Somkid and the Thai Rak Thai Party held to a two-pronged strategy: populist policies for the poor and full-fledged liberalisation and privatisation for the rich.
Exactly.
Relations between Somkid and Thaksin were far from smooth. As finance minister, he made several policy decisions and appointments of key people to the capital market, state enterprises and financial institutions that irked the CEO. As a result, he was sidelined as deputy prime minister. Still, at one point, people saw him as a candidate to succeed Thaksin if something went wrong with the CEO. But it was clear that Thaksin would not tolerate any heir apparent. Purachai Piumsombun was the first to be snubbed.
Somkid was Thaksin's number one crony and policy maker for many years.
During the political crisis, Somkid kept a low profile. You never knew what was on his mind. On several occasions he wanted to break away from the dark shadow of the CEO, yet every time he could not bring himself to do so. Without Thaksin, he never could have had all of his political power and would have still been an ordinary academic.
Somkid was being a coward and trying to save his ass. During the crisis, there was a rumor that he was going to boot Thaksin, but he pussed out at the last minute. I think we all can say that Somkid was more responsible for Thaksin more than Thaksin was responsible for Somkid
For all the corruption scandals of the Thaksin regime, Somkid kept his mouth shut about the Shin Corp deal although he did come out to support Pojaman Shinawatra in her bid for the Financial Institution Development Fund's plot of land.
I think it is funny that Thanong is embracing Somkid even though he admits that he thinks Somkid knows where the bodies are buried. If the junta had any integrity or credibility at all, it would be indicting Somkid rather than be giving him a job.
Since the coup he has rarely been in the news. Somsak Thepsuthin is trying to form a new party, the Machima Party (the Party that Walks the Middle Path), and he would like to have Somkid as its head. Somkid's image somehow is still good. Recent political talks have centred around whether Somkid really wants to become his own political master or whether he will ever escape from the shadow of Thaksin. By agreeing to join Surayud, Somkid has sent a signal that it is time for him to stand on his own two feet.In the eyes of the local and international communities, the Surayud government's image has been rather poor.
I love how all the Thai Rak Thai criminals and cronies are realigning to do again what they did under Thaksin. Why isn't Thanong asking why these people aren't being indicted?
After a series of policy mishaps that hurt its credibility, from the introduction of capital controls to the draft amendment of the Foreign Business Act, Surayud has found it necessary to try to boost confidence in his leadership.
Most important of all, the propaganda war between his government and Thaksin, who is now living in exile, is not over. Thaksin has been giving interviews to the foreign media as well as hiring foreign lobbyists and Edelman, the international public relations firm, to attack the military leadership and the Surayud government, depicting them as causing both political and economic harm to Thailand.
Thaksin has never "attacked" the government. Quite frankly, for a prime minister who had illegally been ousted in a coup, he has kept his tongue in check, which is unusual for Thaksin. Indeed, one would think Thaksin would be condemning the coup every chance he can get. Afterall, he was the legitimate prime minister of Thailand, though only a caretaker. Contrarily, the coup and its government are illegitimate by any legal measurement, according to the 1997 Constitution.
Thaksin's implicit message is that the sufficiency theory, unlike his free-for-all Thaksinomics, is the root of the current fatigue engulfing the country. The foreign media have taken a big bite by supporting his claim that Thaksinomics embraces globalisation and economic liberalisation, while the sufficiency theory, which advocates moderation and self-immunity, is trying to turn the clock back on Thailand.
Here is where Thanong shows his true colors and proves what a liar and hypocrite he is. When has Thaksin ever implied the message he is alluding to? I have mentioned this before, but Thaksin criticized juntanomics. He didn't criticize the king or sufficiency theory. Except for one badly written ill-informed article in The Economist, the international press never described Thaksinomics as neo-liberal. Even in this column, Thanong runs down all of Thaksin's policies. Those policies are not neo-liberal. They are populist policies, and Thaksin's/Somkid's populist policies have never been embraced by the neo-liberal free market intelligentsia.
It will be interesting to watch how Somkid will fight the propaganda war with his former political master. Thaksin must be damn mad by now.
Thanong Khanthong
The Nation
If Thanong had an ounce of shame, he would be denouncing Somkid for his about face and yelling at Surayud for giving him a job, especially since the Surayud government condemned Somkid's policies for bankrupting the country. Instead of welcoming him into the folds of the junta, Thanong should be demanding that Somkid and the rest of the TRT cronies be investigated.
3 comments:
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Maybe it is just me. But I find this kind of "breaking away" to be disgusting in the sense that all these Thaksin allies could have joined forces with other unhappy factions of the Thai Rak Thai Party and dumped Thaksin and there would have never been a constitutional crisis. What was the need for a coup? These cowards could have saved the country a lot of grief if they had stood up to Thaksin."
The coup was necessary because if there was an election and Thaksin had got a substantially reduced majority, his position would have been significantly weakened. Some of the TRT factions would have either jumped ship or demanded greater power, but the military would still have had no power.
Now, what is the most likely result after the next election? Somkid and many former TRT MPs, in various parties, forming a coalition. Somkid will be be PM, but there will be a greater military presence through an appointed/partially appointed Senate (if they get their way) and a few junta members as MPs/cabinet ministers.
Somkid stood a good chance of being the PM after the October/November 2006 election because Thaksin might have to have sacrificed himself to keep TRT in power.
The coup was necessary to give the military and other parts of the bureaucracy more power and a greater say.
I really can't see how they can explain away Somkid joining the fray.
See, I don't really buy into the coup being necessary because people weren't demanding that Thai Rak Thai be dumped.
And the military/bureaucrat elements could have negotiated behind closed doors for more influence with anti-Thaksin elements of the TRT. For example, even now, those TRT forming new parties seem to have dumped Thaksinomics for Sufficiency Theory on the head of a dime.
Thai Rak Thai could still have had a dominant position in parliament if Thaksin just went away--even after the boycotted election I think they could have gotten away with this.
I talked to many Thaksin supporters on the street during the mess last year and they could have lived with Somkid or Sudarat.
I think the problem in the party was that nobody was willing to face down Thaksin and tell him to get lost. But if the major factions, besides Sanoh, had worked together, the problems(protests, coup) could have been averted.
There would have been another quick re-election. I don't necessarily think Thai Rak Thai would have been weakened even without the Shins bankrolling the election.
If we follow your scenario, I don't think the outcome will be that much different than if there had been a mutiny against Thaksin last year in TRT.
Except for the military component, I am willing to wager that things will line up like they did during the Thaksin years in the next election like you said, except with no Thaksin and a strengthened/weakened Senate, depending on how you look at it.
The old TRT politicians will form their own parties from different factions and then form a coalition.
So I totally agree with your end game scenario, but I just don't believe it took a coup to get there.
It seems against the principles of sufficiency theory (sarcasm intended).
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