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Sunday, February 4, 2007

Deconstructing Thai Propaganda at the Bangkok Post

Nation can lose, but not me

A writer for a popular Thai daily believes that former prime minister Thaksin's hiring of a foreign lobbying firm to polish his image is tantamount to treason


Treason? Now that is taking the rhetoric a little too far. So I guess any Thai who hires a foreign PR firm is considered a traitor.



Former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra is often said to be better at playing the foreign media than the interim government and the Council for National Security (CNS), noted Nongnuch Singhadecha of Matichon.

Thaksin's latest move was to hire an American lobbyist firm, resulting in the opportunity to air his personal views on CNN and in the The Walt Street Journal.


Several Thai media analysts lauded Thaksin's strategy and wholeheartedly agreed with the former prime minister's belief that those who set out the rules for the game will be the winner.


Is Thaksin smart or are the generals stupid? In terms of playing the international media, Thaksin is smarter. The generals are smart in the sense that they got rid of Thaksin. The generals underestimated Thaksin's ability to fight back, however. Thaksin has tenacity and the drive to win. The generals are resting on their laurels like typical 3rd world dictators. Somebody should tell those boys that we live in a post-modern media age. The generals can act as if it was still the golden age of Thai military dictatorships, but nobody is going to take them seriously, and they will lose the war of attrition in the media.


But very few in the mass media have thought far into the future about the repercussions and adverse effects of Thaksin's game to the country. Nongnuch said Thaksin's hiring a foreign lobbyist to attack Thailand was an act of treason. He resembled the traitor who helped Burma invade Ayutthaya in the past, said the Matichon writer.


Nongnuch said Thaksin was inviting a foreign country to interfere with Thailand's sovereignty.


It looks like Khun Nongnuch went to go see the movie "King Naresuan" one too many times. How is Thaksin inviting a foreign country to interfere with Thailand's sovereignty? US PR firms have the power to shape images. They don't have legal authority to make foreign policy. Nongnuch needs to take a cold shower and get off the "Thailand's sovereignty is threatened" kick.


A lot of large American companies set aside a huge budget for hiring lobbyists to persuade politicians to block laws unfavourable to the companies and pass laws that benefit them.The practice is now commonly accepted, but some American political scientists see the development as destructive to democracy. They regard lobbyists as a fourth branch of power, in addition to the traditional executive, legislative and judiciary branches.


This is not new information. By the way, many organizations besides American companies hire lobbyists. NGOs have lobbyists. Old people have lobbyists. There are lobbies that promote the interests of workers and children. And even foreign governments like Thailand have lobbyists walking the halls of Congress. Some would argue that lobbying is good for democracy, because any group of people can hire an expert to get their issues across to Congressmen. This writer should learn something about the US political system before making judgments about it, especially when that writer lives under a military dictatorship that doesn't guarantee civil liberties.


The unethical practices of lobbyists are widely recognised, and for this reason, when the Democratic Party gained control of the House and the Senate in January, the US Congress passed a historic law restricting their activities. One provision is that a politician can act as a lobbyist only after he has retired from political position for at least two years. Another provision forbids a politician to receive any gifts or accept free travel arranged by lobbyists.


What are the unethical practices of lobbyists? Lobbying is a highly regulated and legal profession in the US. The US, unlike Thailand, actually goes after, punishes and jails politicians and lobbyists who break the law. And what is the point of naming lobbying regulations? It doesn't support this article in any way. Actually, it just reinforces the notion that lobbying is a legal, regulated profession in the US.


The lobbyist firm hired by Thaksin is owned by a former US Republican Party political office holder. Nongnuch believes that the aim of hiring this lobbyist is not only to help pressure the interim government to allow Thaksin to return home, but to help him in other ways by lobbying American politicians - in effect interfering in Thailand's sovereignty.


Both the writer of this article and Nongnuch love to play the nationalist card. Plus, they have no evidence to back up their accusations. What is quite apparent, however, is that Thaksin has hired these PR firms to send out a message. And it is working, because Thaksin is controlling the message.

There is absolutely not one shred of evidence that these US PR firms are intruding upon Thai sovereignty. Neither the White House nor The State Department has made any policy decisions regarding Thailand or its sovereignty because of Thaksin's PR firms. I would actually go so far to say that the US has been extremely patient with this military dictatorship.


The interim government and the CNS must counter by doing some lobbying of their own, said the writer, but not by hiring American lobbyists.


Why not hire a US PR firm to represent Thailand? It is perfectly legal to do so. And it would be much more effective than what the generals are doing now. But as I wrote before, Thais love to do things the Thai way and get Thai results rather than do things the right way and get the right results.


Rather, they should use Thai diplomats stationed in various countries. Nongnuch urged Thai diplomats to seek meetings with American politicians and explain the real situation in this country. One issue that can break Thaksin's back is human rights abuses during his war on drugs.


Another Thaksin weak spot is Burma, whose military junta Thaksin abetted, for example by having Thailand's Ex-Im Bank extend a 4 billion baht soft loan, allegedly to benefit his family's communication business. Mentioning this issue a lot to US politicians, who are vehemently opposed to the Burmese junta, would be enough to dent Thaksin's often-repeated claim to being a champion of democracy.


Even though Nongnuch works at a newspaper, she understands nothing about the US, the media, or politics. The Thai foreign ministry is worthless. They have done absolutely nothing for Thailand's image. They are lousy at public diplomacy. Thailand's image abroad is horrible, but Nongnuch thinks worthless Thai diplomats can fix that. When has a Thai diplomat or the foreign ministry ever done anything for Thailand's general image abroad? The answer is never.


Further, Thaksin is playing a game in the media. The generals have to fight back with a media game of their own. Also, US diplomats and politicians are not going to go on a media campaign in defense of Thailand, especially because it is a military dictatorship. Do Thais live on a different planet or what?


Attacking Thaksin's human right's record is a good idea. But that shouldn't be the role of Thai diplomats. That attack belongs in the realm of a media war, using competent American media experts.


Unfortunately Nongnuch is quite ignorant about how the game is played, because her head is stuck in the clouds with his Thai nationalist propaganda dreams. She must only hear the drums of Bang Rajan beating in her head.


It is obvious that Thaksin does not really intend to quit politics as he has claimed publicly, and he doesn't care if the nation loses as long as he wins, claimed Nongnuch.


Thaksin is showing two faces, the writer continued. For domestic consumption, he proclaims his loyalty to the monarchy and says he will wash his hands of politics to allow the government time to engage in nation building and reconciliation. Yet in his interview with the western press he advocated that Thailand must be a free market economy and attacked the Bank of Thailand's recent measure against hot money speculations against the baht.


So what if Thaksin advocates a free market? How is that treasonous? So what if he attacked the junta's moronic capital control measures that cost the bourse 18% in one day?


Thaksin's emphasis on these two issues was meant to court the western capitalists who dominate their respective countries. By fully declaring that he is 100% pro-free market, Thaksin could be seen as stating his opposition to the use of the sufficiency economy philosophy as a guiding principle in governing the country and economy, which has been adopted by the interim government, said Nongnuch.


I love how Thais love to pull this "Western capitalists are out to get Thailand" bullshit. No country is "100% pro-free market." No country like this exists in the world. Surayud just announced a couple weeks ago that sufficiency theory and capitalism are compatible. What is hysterical Nongnuch getting excited about when Surayud sees no problem?


The sufficiency economy is unique. It has been widely recognised and praised, and the United Nations also adopts the sufficiency economy as a guideline for sustainable economic development without destroying the environment.


Given that his free market policy is against the sufficiency economy, Thaksin should be asked if he is sincere in saying he is loyal to the Thai King, concluded Nongnuch.


More Thai bullshit. The sufficiency economy is not unique. It is common sense.


Where has it been highly praised and recognized?


Name one top economist who praises it?


Again, Surayud and Pridiyathorn have both said free market capitalism and sufficiency theory are compatible. Are they disloyal to the king and his theories?


Quite frankly, I can't believe such a horribly written article made it past the desk editor.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

The Thai is such a simple soul. Immature and deeply insecure which is what accounts for the Thaksin frenzy of the moment. The Thai loves to think that their moronic ideas are unique and they invent reasons to think the world admires them for their innovation. Actually the world thinks Thailand is a rather primitive and somewhat backward society that happens to have nice beaches and a rather rude sex industry. They consider the Thais are rather given to dishonesty and bragging, though they do have a natural takent for counterfeiting and IP theft. hardly glowing admiration.

TomV said...

Fonzi,

Nongnuch is very clearly a female first name. Your real commitment to democracy helps you see through Thai politics better than 99% of Nation-and-Post-reading farangs out there. But there's still much you don't know.

Fonzi said...

Tom-

You are right. Nongnut is a woman's name.

I must be losing my marbles.

I'm the first to admit that I don't know everything.

I wish you kept you blog up to date.

I got a lot from them.