Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya on Wednesday claimed he never gave interviews with foreign media and said the closure of Suvarnabhumi and Don Mueang airports by the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) was fun.
According to Mr Kasit, it was impossible for him to give out comments that may damage the country and he believed the foreign press could misinterpret his statements, adding that they may have ill intentions against him.
After blaming the media, Mr Kasit apologised to the public for the incident when he said he enjoyed the PAD demonstration as the food and music there were good.
The minister said he had explained the incident to Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and expressed no concern if the opposition decides to use this issue to pressure the premier to jettison him.
Mr Kasit said he is ready to clarify his comments when the government delivers its policy statement to the parliament.
Prime Minister Abhisit said he understood the foreign minister and will not dismiss him as his comments were made before he was appointed.
People also need to consider the questions that were raised to Mr Kasit by the media and he should receive fair treament, the premier noted.
All cabinet members will now have to work in one direction, he added.
It never ceases to amaze me how Thai politicians, bureaucrats, generals and other supposed puuyai always operate as if they are living in an alternative universe. These people are supposed to be the best and the brightest. Rather, they prove time and time again that they are the problem in Thai society. They are stupid, not the poor and working class.
Imagine if a partisan diplomat of another country, a normal country, took part in an effort to shut down an international port in an effort to illegally overthrow the government, causing irrevocable damage to the country's economy and reputation, then be rewarded for his effort by being given the foreign ministry in return. If that is not bad enough, he annouces to the entire world that his little part in damaging the country was fun. In a normal country, that diplomat's career would be over. He would be a disgrace and a laughing stock with no credibility. In Thailand, he gets a pat on the back from the PM instead of being shown the door.
1 comment:
I suppose this isn't quite on-topic except in a general way, but I really do wonder if I am alone in this or if there are more, perhaps many more, people out there with similar sentiments.
I used to be a Thaksin-hater. Pure and simple, and in some ways I still am. I hate his arrogance, his disregard for human rights and his corrupt and grasping nature. Oddly, all of this characterises the Bangkok elite with some precision, and it is evident to me now that Thaksin is merely a product of Thai culture and society. The Thai culture and society that has been built over several decades by you-know-who.
Yet for all this, Thaksin was head of the government elected by a majority of Thais, and nobody from the so-called 'above politics' King to the lowliest disgruntled bureaucrat has or had the right in a democratic system, to unseat him by any means other than by the ballot box.
Thailand has just witnessed its 2nd coup in 3 years and it is just shameful. The commentary by foreign journalists all seem to concur that this is a class struggle and that it is largely the inevitable consequence of the long-term actions of the Palace, though of course this is denied (if it was true, would the Palace say so?).
Of course the old song that it is 'only the stupid foreigner being unable to understand the superior Thai mind' gets trotted out ad nauseam. Of course.
Because I know many people in the North and North-east of Thailand, I know how angry they are at all of this shit, and I fully expect there to be consequences in 2009. I also find myself in the position of having to agree with them. As dishonest as the Thaksin government was, if it comes to a choice between it and some Palace-engineered monstrosity with the quisling Newin, most rural Thais that I have spoken with clearly want Thaksin back sharpish. How many of those same people have taken down their pictures of the King? Lots. I have even seen many pictures where the Queen has simply been cut out. It is going to take an impressive piece of public relations, spin and propaganda to put Humpty Dumpty together again, and that is assuming that King survives for much longer, if he were to die in the next 90 days there would be hell to pay I think.
Most of the rural Thais I have spoken to feel that Abhisit's complicity in this Palace-engineered coup will give him no joy at all, and that Newin has no future.
This year will be extremely interesting. This problem seems unlikely to go away.
Rich
Post a Comment