george Posted December 3, 2004 Share Posted December 3, 2004 PM likened to autocrat Marcos Road to ruin forecast at academic forum BANGKOK: -- Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra could well lead the country down the Ferdinand Marcos path to ruin with a full-fledged autocracy evident in his absolute control over politics, economy and the media, warned prominent political scientists. Surichai Sirikrai, of Thammasat University's political science faculty, said four years of Mr Thaksin's grip on power had thrown democracy into reverse, churning out dictatorship in all shapes and forms. He was concerned the country would wind up meeting the grim fate of countries such as the Philippines which under Ferdinand Marcos' rule started out as democratic only to slide backwards under the weight of mass corruption. A popular revolt eventually toppled the former president who died in exile. A junta in Nicaragua at one time also hogged the country's economic power but eventually it succumbed to self-destruction. ``I don't want to see Thailand meeting such a demise,'' he told a political science meeting, ``Looking at Political Reform Back and Forth'' at the Bitec Convention Centre yesterday. He said the government pushed aside people's rights to participate in politics and made them helpless by showering them with handouts. It also intoxicated people with the advent of the legal two- and three-digit lottery while encouraging television viewers to send mobile phone messages in to win prizes. The mobile phone companies reaped huge profits at the end of the day, he said. Mr Thaksin's family is major shareholder of Shin Corporation, the country's largest mobile phone network provider. Khien Thiravit, former dean of Chulalongkorn University's political science faculty, said Mr Thaksin was perhaps more powerful than any junta prime minister in history. He reshuffled his cabinet 10 times without consulting anyone and no one complained. People believe in him. But they did not pause to think the prime minister often misstepped and made the wrong decisions. Mr Khien said seven years of political reform had produced little progress. The hindrances were that the constitution was drafted by people who had lost sight of reality. Mr Thaksin was obsessed with power and asserted total control over politics, economy and the media. Likhit Dhiravegin, a Thai Rak Thai party list MP who also attended the meeting, said the academics gave one-sided comments. The government's `plus-side', the 30-baht universal health insurance scheme, decentralisation of power and the village fund, should also be considered. --Bangkok Post 2004-12-03 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deckard Posted December 3, 2004 Share Posted December 3, 2004 PM likened to autocrat Marcos Road to ruin forecast at academic forum BANGKOK: -- Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra could well lead the country down the Ferdinand Marcos path to ruin with a full-fledged autocracy evident in his absolute control over politics, economy and the media, warned prominent political scientists. Surichai Sirikrai, of Thammasat University's political science faculty, said four years of Mr Thaksin's grip on power had thrown democracy into reverse, churning out dictatorship in all shapes and forms. He was concerned the country would wind up meeting the grim fate of countries such as the Philippines which under Ferdinand Marcos' rule started out as democratic only to slide backwards under the weight of mass corruption. A popular revolt eventually toppled the former president who died in exile. A junta in Nicaragua at one time also hogged the country's economic power but eventually it succumbed to self-destruction. ``I don't want to see Thailand meeting such a demise,'' he told a political science meeting, ``Looking at Political Reform Back and Forth'' at the Bitec Convention Centre yesterday. He said the government pushed aside people's rights to participate in politics and made them helpless by showering them with handouts. It also intoxicated people with the advent of the legal two- and three-digit lottery while encouraging television viewers to send mobile phone messages in to win prizes. The mobile phone companies reaped huge profits at the end of the day, he said. Mr Thaksin's family is major shareholder of Shin Corporation, the country's largest mobile phone network provider. Khien Thiravit, former dean of Chulalongkorn University's political science faculty, said Mr Thaksin was perhaps more powerful than any junta prime minister in history. He reshuffled his cabinet 10 times without consulting anyone and no one complained. People believe in him. But they did not pause to think the prime minister often misstepped and made the wrong decisions. Mr Khien said seven years of political reform had produced little progress. The hindrances were that the constitution was drafted by people who had lost sight of reality. Mr Thaksin was obsessed with power and asserted total control over politics, economy and the media. Likhit Dhiravegin, a Thai Rak Thai party list MP who also attended the meeting, said the academics gave one-sided comments. The government's `plus-side', the 30-baht universal health insurance scheme, decentralisation of power and the village fund, should also be considered. --Bangkok Post 2004-12-03 <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deckard Posted December 3, 2004 Share Posted December 3, 2004 Can't help but agree with every word the academics said.Unfortunately Toxin will get his second term due to the political naivity of your basic Thai voter .The only people who can see through his self centred policies are the upper middle and higher classes of society whom he has "looked after" throughout his term of office,so have no wish to rock the boat. But as I am a "falang guest " in this country and a third class citizen ,have to sit back and shake my head in wonderment and pray for a miracle.Oh well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
udon Posted December 3, 2004 Share Posted December 3, 2004 The best political report I've seen in ages. Surichai Sirikrai and co had better watch their backs..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marquess Posted December 3, 2004 Share Posted December 3, 2004 Four more years of this man will almost certainly bring this country to it's knees. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flummoxed Posted December 3, 2004 Share Posted December 3, 2004 I don't know which I worst about the man... the hypocrisy and corruption, or the permanent smug grin on his face. How I'd love to place him next to Bush and slap the grin off both their faces with a single slap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lioneric Posted December 3, 2004 Share Posted December 3, 2004 We should be careful during Parliment dissolved for next election because at that time some M** will make some movement to adjust justice. Thaksin should not forget history, if not it will repeat itself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stumonster Posted December 3, 2004 Share Posted December 3, 2004 People believe in him. But they did not pause to think the prime minister often misstepped and made the wrong decisions. maybe some one should jot down on the back of a postage stamp the right decisions that mr T has made for the people of thailand. A leader he is not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaoPo Posted December 4, 2004 Share Posted December 4, 2004 2004 is the year, France 'remember' it's 2nd most important citizen... NAPOLEON... Charles De Gaulle came 1st. (Recent election by the French) What's the mutual point here? Power & Money Money & Power It's an old story, even in Thailand. Napoleon already said it: "l'Histoire se repete..." History repeats itself. (and he never enjoyed Thailand.. ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ovenman Posted December 4, 2004 Share Posted December 4, 2004 People believe in him. But they did not pause to think the prime minister often misstepped and made the wrong decisions. Mr Khien said seven years of political reform had produced little progress. There are plenty of Thai people who aren't fooled by Mr. Big and his policies but unfortunately, there are a whole awful lot more Thais who still think he walks on water. I don't figure that TRT will take their boasted 400 parliamentary seats in the upcoming election but they they'll still roll with a comfortable majority. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sriracha john Posted December 4, 2004 Share Posted December 4, 2004 PM likened to autocrat Marcos Road to ruin forecast at academic forum BANGKOK: -- Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra could well lead the country down the Ferdinand Marcos path to ruin with a full-fledged autocracy evident in his absolute control over politics, economy and the media, warned prominent political scientists. sriracha john 2004-09-09 00:05:42As for me, I'm getting a strange sense of deja vu ... living in the Philippines in the late 1970's under the martial law of Ferdinand Marcos.... (may his corpse rot in ######). sriracha john 2004-09-28 15:11:04 QUOTE (dkstoney @ Tue 2004-09-28, 12:41:41) Sounds like civil unrest waiting to happen. I'll be there with my camera. Maybe he's hoping to spray the place with bullets and finally rid the world of his critics once and for all. Yes, it is certainly turning into quite an event... certainly worth witnessing. Reminds me of the People Power movement when I was in the Philippines that brought down Marcos. Hopefully the end results will be the same. My my my...the academics have finally caught up with my assessment of three months ago.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thaibebop Posted December 6, 2004 Share Posted December 6, 2004 I don't know which I worst about the man... the hypocrisy and corruption, or the permanent smug grin on his face.How I'd love to place him next to Bush and slap the grin off both their faces with a single slap. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> It sounds to me like the Thai people (as well as Americans) need to stand up and kick out the big dogs in power and take the power back. This also needs to happen soon. I would think in a country like Thailand were this kind a government is new you could easily see a backslide in to violent revolt against the big wigs and see something like communism take hold. Maybe I'm wrong, but I know America can't take much more Bush and those poeple like him. If it is not reform it is revolution. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kat Posted December 9, 2004 Share Posted December 9, 2004 Many Americans have been "talking 'bout a revolution" while many kids still don't have decent textbooks. Forget revolution in the Marxist or classic sense. And we've already had our revolution, during the civil rights era of the 1960s. Any other changes will be fomented slowly through mass media and cultural attitudes. This is why Fox News is such a formiddable weapon of the right. During the latest segment of the ongoing revolution - legal gay marriages - George W. called out his backlash posse on the religous right and won the election. The opposition needs enough registered voters to vote in a fair election, and unfortunately that didn't happen. Thailand will go through a process that is all its own, although I sometimes have a hard time believing that this is the same country that experienced tumultous democracy clashes in the 1970s and again in 1992. But remember, those people were murdered in the street by the state. I opt for the double-smacking trick mentioned a few posts earlier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sriracha john Posted December 10, 2004 Share Posted December 10, 2004 I don't know which I worst about the man... the hypocrisy and corruption, or the permanent smug grin on his face.How I'd love to place him next to Bush and slap the grin off both their faces with a single slap. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> It sounds to me like the Thai people (as well as Americans) need to stand up and kick out the big dogs in power and take the power back. This also needs to happen soon. I would think in a country like Thailand were this kind a government is new you could easily see a backslide in to violent revolt against the big wigs and see something like communism take hold. Maybe I'm wrong, but I know America can't take much more Bush and those poeple like him. If it is not reform it is revolution. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Harkens back to Rage Against The Machine lyrics: The rage is relentless We need a movement with a quickness You are the witness of change And to counteract We gotta take the power back Yeah, we gotta take the power back Come on, come on! We gotta take the power back Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merlin1 Posted December 10, 2004 Share Posted December 10, 2004 I wonder if a comparison with long serving Singapore PM Yew (?) is more apt. Corruption is everywhere but this latest pronouncement banning smoking from public parks has the markings of Singaporean total control. Which is not to say Thaksin won't lead the country to ruin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhys Posted December 10, 2004 Share Posted December 10, 2004 Same old story.. University of Cork Soakers.. The Thai people don't give a F... Up country, the same, lack of political process will continue..because these people are lead by their noses..by TXO and his CS grads..can't blame the blokes.. it is all for show.. Noise, smoke whistles.. nothing will come.. 500 baht for a vote.. no problem.. mass mis count, TX and Cork Soaker U 101 In the end what did it for Marcos...That will not happen.. no people power here.. NOT.. Enjoy the country.. LET the native.. run it.. and muck it up.. all on their own. Many good meaning Thais understand this..and All for show.. All for show.. Ala the deputy ministry of interior and his Disco Outting of his opposition mps.. At the end of the day.. take care of your own piece of Thailand is about the best you can do.. so smile at the noodle vendor, smile at the khun yai around your corner.. and when you interact with the Thais..Smile back as they know on a cultural level.. that is the best option in the world of the U of Cork Soakers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strawberry Posted December 10, 2004 Share Posted December 10, 2004 Sitting back here in my little village trying desperately to isolate myself from it all, but unfortunatly I can't. I think that what is happening here is happening all over the world. I get mail from friends in Australia and so many are in despair about what they see. It seems to me that what we have are 2 political systems !. democracy and 2 capitalism. Capitalism is leading democracy around by trhe nose when in fact it should be the other way around. Capitalism needs to be reigned in. The despair that people feel is the inability to do anything about it, and continue to watch their rights and freedoms wither away. The voters are not yet aware of what is happening. It was the capitalist that made it possible for communism to florish. When the working man woke up he started to fight back and over time communism started up and look at the shit that has caused us all over the world. For years there has been a war between democracy and capitalism, it now appears that capitalism has won and is now in the process of mopping up. It should be about ''a fair go for all '' or at least a fairer go for all. I think the worst sin of human beings is greed and all of us seem to inherently have it. democracy says ''for the people by the people''. That should include little people like me. Having a vote is not enough I have to be protected from the greed of rich and powerful. I have this story I tell myself. I was brought up a scotish protestant, and I was always told that there was a war going on between god and lucifer. So god looked down and saw that us little people were getting the rough end of the stick so I'll give em democracy says he. Down below all of lucifers mates were saying this is bad what are we going to do. Along comes lucifer and says ''hey no wucking furries I'll just give them capitalism'' REgards Joe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sriracha john Posted December 10, 2004 Share Posted December 10, 2004 I foresee in the not so distant future....voting ballots will contain only one party in which to mark your choice... just as Marcos did in order to legitimize his power. With armed soldiers leaning over and watching to ensure you mark the ballot and don't leave it blank as a means of protest. Lets hope for Thailand that Feb. 6 isn't the beginning of that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhys Posted December 10, 2004 Share Posted December 10, 2004 Spot on mate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thaibebop Posted December 11, 2004 Share Posted December 11, 2004 Many Americans have been "talking 'bout a revolution" while many kids still don't have decent textbooks. Forget revolution in the Marxist or classic sense. And we've already had our revolution, during the civil rights era of the 1960s. Any other changes will be fomented slowly through mass media and cultural attitudes. This is why Fox News is such a formiddable weapon of the right. During the latest segment of the ongoing revolution - legal gay marriages - George W. called out his backlash posse on the religous right and won the election. The opposition needs enough registered voters to vote in a fair election, and unfortunately that didn't happen. Thailand will go through a process that is all its own, although I sometimes have a hard time believing that this is the same country that experienced tumultous democracy clashes in the 1970s and again in 1992. But remember, those people were murdered in the street by the state. I opt for the double-smacking trick mentioned a few posts earlier. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> The power is with the people. If we want it, we will have it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thaibebop Posted December 11, 2004 Share Posted December 11, 2004 I don't know which I worst about the man... the hypocrisy and corruption, or the permanent smug grin on his face.How I'd love to place him next to Bush and slap the grin off both their faces with a single slap. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> It sounds to me like the Thai people (as well as Americans) need to stand up and kick out the big dogs in power and take the power back. This also needs to happen soon. I would think in a country like Thailand were this kind a government is new you could easily see a backslide in to violent revolt against the big wigs and see something like communism take hold. Maybe I'm wrong, but I know America can't take much more Bush and those poeple like him. If it is not reform it is revolution. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Harkens back to Rage Against The Machine lyrics: The rage is relentless We need a movement with a quickness You are the witness of change And to counteract We gotta take the power back Yeah, we gotta take the power back Come on, come on! We gotta take the power back <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Anger is a gift. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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