Sometimes 'Enough is enough' isn't quite enough
By Tulsathit Taptim
Thaksin Shinawatra's transformation is now going at full speed.
If you were lucky enough to catch his CNN interview on Monday (the coup leaders couldn't help it; they blocked the UBC's relayed broadcast, but some direct satellite signals went through), you would absolutely not be alone in thinking that he seemed more like the Dalai Lama than Ferdinand Marcos. And yesterday's front page lead article in The Wall Street Journal - oh dear...
He's grabbing golden opportunities - put before him on a silver plate by the men who overthrew his government - with both hands. The "gag" on local broadcast media from reporting on Thaksin fit the bill nicely with his portrayal of himself as the victim of a political conspiracy and in less than a week he has talked to CNN, CNBC and The Wall Street Journal.
With foreign investors, large and small, scared stiff by the "inward looking" attitudes and measures of the interim leadership, the timing was perfect.
So was his acting on CNN. "Enough is enough," he said, with a tone of voice and countenance that would make Aung San Suu Kyi look like an insurance seller. "After six years in politics it is time for me to be a normal citizen... I would like to return to Thailand and contribute as a private citizen outside the political arena".
Junta officials have proved beyond a reasonable doubt that they are very naive, but surely their idea of a peaceful life as a private citizen doesn't involve telling the international media that he was the target of three assassination attempts and how the present rulers are messing up Thailand economically. A peace-loving patriot also wouldn't have driven the country's bilateral relations with a close neighbour to the brink either.
Yet Thaksin's plan is not to convince the junta. He's basking in the friendly warmth of the international spotlight and capitalising on it must be his immediate goal. The world media never considered him a massively corrupt democratic monster who drove his country to a perilous impasse by refusing to quit after getting caught red-handed, and recent developments may soon whitewash his reputation in their eyes completely.
In addition to being democracy's worst enemy, Thailand's interim leaders have also become anti-capitalists, and dangerously clueless ones at that. They are now allegedly steering the country away from the solid economic path paved by the man they ousted. "Instead of plotting a smooth course for the Thai economy, one of Southeast Asia's largest, the new government has altered the investor-friendly climate nurtured by Thaksin," The Wall Street Journal said.
Democracy can handle a couple of knocks, but foreign investors are not to be touched, as the interim leaders have learned to their dismay. The WSJ article pitted Thaksin's great visions of capitalism and globalisation against their misguided eagerness to strictly implement measures based on His Majesty the King's "sufficiency economy" philosophy. "Some see the new government's enthusiastic embrace of King Bhumibol's repeated suggestions that Thailand pursue economic self-sufficiency as part of the problem," said the paper.
It gave Thaksin a slap on the wrist regarding corruption, but quickly moved to soothe him by stating that he might be the lesser cause of Thailand's troubles. "A growing number of business executives in Bangkok now believe that Thaksin, despite the allegations of corruption that the military has levelled at him, had a steadier hand in guiding the Thai economy than does the new administration."
He's the hottest global media commodity at the moment. A globe-trotting political victim in exile is making a group of generals look like rabbits caught in the headlights. And is there a better place to launch his attacks from than Singapore, where it all began? The Thai government's decision to suspend some major diplomatic activities with the neighbouring country following the red-carpet reception the country gave him, observers say, only signals the beginning of the "Thaksin curse" on world affairs.
Many analysts believe it's only a matter of time before he drags the United States into this. All the ingredients are there after all - democracy under threat, capitalism under threat, a free-trade agreement under threat. You name it.
Soon the Burmese junta could look like a group of Buddhist monks compared to the Council for National Security.
After Thaksin claimed at his share concealment trial in 2001 that he had "enough" as a billionaire and wanted to pay back his motherland politically, all hell broke loose in Thailand.
One day after he has said, on the world stage, that he has had enough as a politician and that he wants to live the life of an ordinary citizen, his country's ties with a close neighbour are sinking to an all time low. What will happen next? Take a wild guess.
