Thaksin Prepares for P.R. War

First outsted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra bought English Premeire League club Manchester City. With soccer second only to Buddhism as a national religion, Thais will surely be watching to see if Thaksin can conquer the soccer world. For the popular-but-corruptable former leader, being owner of Man City gives him a P.R. boost at home.

Now, Thaksin seems to be ramping up his P.R. efforts by making a film of his European exploits.

The documentary of Thaksin, who has said frequently he has quit politics to general disbelief at home, would be available on VCD and on Web sites, his Bangkok lawyer, Noppadon Pattama, told a radio station.

Thaksin still has the support of many if Thailand’s rural poor. Even if he were not to return himself, his political allies could still have a say in how national elections, scheduled for next year, turn out.

Neither Thaksin nor the leaders of the coup which ousted him seem to have a moral high ground. I guess it will just come down to whoever has the better relations with the voters.

Trouble Down South

Thailand has been in the international headlines a lot over the past few years. First there was the tsunami, then the charges of corruption and the subsequent military coup. YouTube was banned and an airplane crashed on the resort island of Phuket.

There has been reasonably little coverage of the ongoing conflicts in the southernmost regions of Thailand. It’s hard to say whether government persecution drove the region’s majority Muslim population towards violence, or whether it is simply a case of extremist elements battling the government for independence.

The Nation, an independant Thai news service, has collected their articles on the conflcit into one place. Perusing through the articles, one gets the sense that, like all conflicts, this one hurts the average joes caught in the crossfire most.

The deep south of Thailand has largely been ignored by Thai officials when it comes to aid and development. For that reason, there is a lot of poverty. As is the case everywhere, poverty breeds discontent and allows more extreme views to be seen as “the answer to our problems.” This seems to have been the case in southern Thailand.For now, the violence seems to be ebbing and flowing, with accusations of abuses by government forces being followed by bombings in which police, troops, and, mostly, civilians are killed.

Whether a solution will ever be reached depends, it seems, on the governments willingness to develop the area, and continue doing so even if extremists continue their activities.

Fighting Pollution in Thailand

Siting recent complaints about pollution problems, residents of Map Ta Phut in Thailand’s Rayong province are taking some government officials to court. They are suing “Deputy Prime Minister and Industry Minister Kosit Panpiemras and the National Environment Board for failing to declare Map Ta Phut a pollution control area.”The reason is that the Mr. Panpiemras and the board are supposed to help regulate pollution and help residents clean up polluted areas. A study of Rayong found that respiratory illnesses and cancer occurred at a significantly higher rate that the rest of Thailand. Several factories in the area seem to be to blame, including manufacturing sites for US-based Dow Chemicals.Despite the complaints about the recent military coup in Thailand, there seems to be less tolerance for corruption than in the past. The Map Ta Phut case is just one example of a showdown between the populous and their public officials. Could the days of said officials remaining above the law be over? Probably not, but kudos to Thailand for at least allowing such cases to go to court.

Thailand Gears Up to Fight Corruption

With the national elections slated for the end of December, Thai officials preparing for a fair election in a way which only Thai officials can.

Deputy Prime Minister Sonthi Boonyaratglin approved on Wednesday a master plan to fight money politics, including the offer of rewards for tipsoff on vote buying and a series of awareness campaigns on democratic rule.

This plan seems to be an attempt by the government to make sure that someone like deposed prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra does not gain power. It is widely believed that Thaksin literally bought the votes of Thailand’s lower classes with his billions. The former Prime Minister remains popular amongst those who suffer from poverty in Thailand.

Whether this policy will be useful in insuring fair elections, remains to be seen. It seems that it could very easily turn into a witch hunt or just as easily be ignored by everyone as another policy which pays lip service to the “free and fair” idea but actually is unenforceable.