Controlling and narrowing civil society
1 week ago
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Abhisit Spinning on CNBC
Abhisit is very articulate and can spin with the best of them.
But I don't know why he has to lie.
Thailand is not an open economy or is it even remotely liberal.
It is a protectionist country. Nothing wrong with being protectionist but to tell the entire world you are an open economy when you prevent foreign ownership in most industries, prohibit foreigners from internal trading, prohibit foreigners access to Thai capital, and don't even allow foreigners to own common shares in companies or to own land is not very honest.
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6 comments:
At this point, I think in his various overseas interviews, Abhisit seems to be following the bullet points and script given to him by some hi-end international PR firm and these bullet points and scripts are based on the PR firm's judgment of what Abhisit's various audiences (Columbia University, the NYSE people) like and want to hear and that his words have no actual connection whatsoever back to the reality on the ground in Thailand.
As you say, in carrying out this function, sometimes called "the Talking Chief" function by anthropolgists, you have to say he is really good at projecting sincerity and a plausible earnestness......
A lie is not a spin, it is a lie. And he lied in his teeth.
But that is not what struck me about this clip. What struck me is how puffy his face has become, and the area around his eyes is very puffy.
This guy is on some heavyweight anxiety/depression medication.
Chris-
I didn't think about that in the sense of hiring outside help.
It is obvious that his media blitz in the US was thoroughly planned and organized.
Objectively speaking, whether it come from a US PR or organized in Thailand, from the clips, I have to admit he has done a good job from a propaganda point of view.
If it has any effect on the audience, that remains to be seen. He obviously has the Washington and New York intelligentsia eating out of his palm, but in the long run, what will happen if people actually think Thailand is this paragon of liberal democracy and free market economics and decided to come to Thailand and see the reality for what it is?
Maybe Abhisit should have made his propaganda true instead of selling an illusion that is a lie that will be quickly be discovered.
In a way, Abhisit is destroying his own credibility.
Pai is the bomb!!
My Blog
Be that as it may, I hardly ever saw the owner of this blog making a big fuss when the former, fugitive Thai PM, who is taking refuge in Dubai, adopted the same spinning tactics as Abhisit on numerous occasions. For instance, during the Songkran riot when the one-time PM jumped all over many international news channels in order to present solely his own version of events. Then, the silence was deafening from the Shark. I wonder why?
Funny, the reporter didn't ask him to prove it....I would have...555
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