In a HARDtalk interview broadcast on 8 April 2009, Zeinab Badawi talks to the Prime Minister of Thailand, Abhisit Vejjajiva.
Click here to watch the full interviewHere is a rundown:
The protests.
Thaksin should be brought to justice because he believes "all Thais are equal." We know that is a lie.
New elections. He says he can win if held today, which is probably a lie. The last thing Abhisit wants is a new election. He knows that this period now is the only window that the Democrats have to govern. If all things being equal, I think if there was a Abhisit/Thaksin electoral face-off, the Democrats would lose heavily.
The Democrats and the army. He denies the army paved the way for his selection.
The PAD. He says he condemned the PAD and their activities. I threw up in my mouth a little when he said that. He whitewashed Kasit's crimes.
Economic stimulus. He always tried to bring the talk back to his economic program.
Free trade and protectionism. Why Abhisit gets away with his phony "free trade" talk I will never know. Thailand is a protectionist country, not a free trade country, and he knows it.
The refugee problem. He put a stop to the army's excesses and a fact finding mission, made up of the army of course, found no wrong doing. She brought up an EU report on the Rohingya that I never heard about.
Nothing on the monarchy.
I think he did a fair job spinning. Same lines he spews everywhere else. He stayed with the script.
Nothing new.
I think the lie that disturbs me the most is his assertion that he came to power fair and square, and it had nothing to do with the PAD, the army, or any other shenanigans.
5 comments:
F*ck! I stayed up until 3.30am this morning to watch the BBC World News repeat, but I could have slept soundly and downloaded it from your link.
To me he seems shallow, insincere and deliberately bending the meaning of words without being very skillful at it.
I found it easy to see through him and it has nothing to do with whether or not I like him (I don't - I think he is greasy) or whether I think he belongs where he is (I don't - he is a glove puppet with a multitude f hands up his ass).
Had it been me interviewing him instead of Zeinab Badawi, he would not have been smiling at the end of it. I think she let him get away with some remarkable liberties. I bet he couldn't believe his luck.
Rich
I'm Thai and I'm glad that he's our PM today.
Abhisit is the most suitable one in the situation we have to face w/.
I dont pay much attention to the word"Democracy" since i know that it never had its root in Thailand for sure
How many Thais truly understand Democracy since Thaksin's money can buy millions of Thai people
It is pity to say that all the former PMs from Thaksin's party did not come to power through the pure and clean means
and since Abhisit is the cleanest one we could have
I won't hesitate to vote for Democrats in the next election.
Excellent interveiw. Abhisit gave very good solid responses to all the questions. I cant' really fault him as a politician, and Thai PM.
i disagree with you Rich, you're not Thai and you don't understand the political situation happening in Thailand. the media has overplayed the political situation in Thailand, i believe..and are not taking the thai people's wants into account. only a small amount of the thai population are either yellow and red shirts, and what the majority of the thai population want is peace and stability. pm abhisit's ratings are still high. thaksin is corrupt and paid his way to be in international media. and i think pm abhisit is doing an amazing job in brining political stability back to thailand.
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