I, of all people, should have known better.Tulsathit Taptim
The Nation
Excerpts from Tulsie's column:
If you enter my name together with that of Snoh Thienthong and hit the search button on our website, you will see a lot of thoughtful - well, at least I thought they were thoughtful - analyses of the man. You will see that I never trusted the guy, even at the height of his bitterness towards Thaksin Shinawatra.
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Why did I become such a blind fool? It had to do with one personal encounter with Snoh. The meeting between the man and Nation senior editors took place one evening some weeks before the coup, after he had actively joined the anti-Thaksin rally near Government House.
There were no emotional speeches or signs that he was about to cry. But that evening I joined Abhisit and others in the Snoh fan club. He looked a totally changed person. The old man did not quite seem like someone who was remorseful about supporting Thaksin, but he appeared genuinely betrayed and revengeful. The statement that got me was: "I once raised his hand on stage and proclaimed him to be the best thing for Thailand. I can't bear to watch that video now."
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Don't get me wrong. I'm all for the PPP to be the core of the new government. Democracy demands that. But democracy should also give citizens like me the right to at least the minimum degree of political decency.
It's simply not fair to force anyone to watch past, present and future Snoh videos and convince them this is a reasonable political system.
Tulsie is upset with himself because Snoh decided to betray the anti-Thaksin movement to join his insignificant Pracharaj Party with PPP in a government coalition. Forget that Snoh has been a provincial Godfather and crook, liar and thief for most of his entire adult life. No, that doesn't upset Tulsie.
No, Tulsie is sorry because Snoh has chosen to realign himself with Thaksin after disowning him. Whoa man, like that has never happened in Thai politics before. I guess Tulsie forgets when Chalerm called Chavalit's wife a "walking jewelry box" one minute, then holding hands and kissing the next minute.
Tulsie is not sorry about his complicity in bringing about the coup.
Tulsie is not sorry for working for a newspaper that has been a tireless defender of a military junta.
Tulsie cries up a river of guilt and shame for Snoh's betrayal to his anti-Thaksin cause, but no mea culpa for supporting and not holding accountable generals, Surayud and Sonthi, for their multi-million baht assets, which would have been impossible to accumulate solely on a soldier's salary.
Hey, Tulsie doesn't care or needs to report on who is corrupt in the Thai political system, just as long as they hate Thaksin. In Tulsie's world, if you hate Thaksin, you get a pass, which probably explains why The Nation has refused to report on anybody else's corruption from the TRT and Surayud regimes.
Tulsie is not sorry for his piss poor job at managing a major metropolitan newspaper in Southeast Asia that is a window into Thailand for the English speaking world.
Tulsie is not ashamed of his fellow columnists for their horrible writing and idiotic opinions.
Tulsie is not sorry for his newspaper's lack of investigative reporting into corruption, malfeasance, military procurement, provincial affairs(especially terrorism in the South and the blight of Isaan), and consumer and business issues.
Tulsie is not sorry for his newspaper's horrible job on reporting regional and international relations.
Tulsie is neither sorry nor ashamed that his newspaper is mocked and ridiculed in the blogosphere for lacking integrity and basic journalistic standards, nor cares that somebody has put in the time and effort to make an entire website devoted to satirizing The Nation.
Gee, Tulsie, you are upset because you trusted Snoh and he betrayed you. Perhaps you should feel guilty and ashamed for betraying all of us on a daily basis and getting it wrong all the time.
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