Date:09/03/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/03/09/stories/2006030909211100.htm

Opinion - News Analysis

Thailand's troubles

Simon Tisdall

A POLITICAL morality play is being acted out on the streets of Bangkok as Thaksin Shinawatra, Thailand's Prime Minister, battles to keep his job in the teeth of escalating protests by an ad hoc alliance of Opposition parties, students, trade unions, and celibate Buddhist vegetarians pledged to the simple life.

Mr. Thaksin's ethical troubles began in earnest in January when his family sold its 49 per cent stake in Shin Corp, the telecom and airline conglomerate he founded. The fact that his relatives avoided tax on the $1.8 billion deal, coupled with claims of insider dealing and concern over foreign control of key national assets, brought public unease about Mr. Thaksin's style of governance to a head.

The Prime Minister, criticised in the past for his high-handed manner and alleged cronyism, has been on the defensive ever since. After initially trying to weather the storm, he promised to implement long-sought constitutional reforms, dissolved Parliament and called a snap general election for April 2.

But far from being placated, the anti-Thaksin forces, deriding him as a "square-headed tyrant," are mounting almost daily street protests, among the largest seen since military rule was overthrown in 1992. They demand his immediate resignation. And their movement is gathering strength.

A spokesman for Thailand's powerful national police, General Archirawit Suphanaphesat, added to Mr. Thaksin's woes on Tuesday. He said he had personally advised him to step down and urged him "not to resume the premiership" even if his Thai Rak Thai (Thais Love Thais) party won again next month.

Business leaders said, meanwhile, that they would meet next week to decide their stance. Their desertion could tip the balance against Mr. Thaksin who has styled himself the country's CEO and is credited with boosting economic growth. So far Mr. Thaksin has remained unmoved. "I will never, ever bow to mob rule," he said on Tuesday. "A huge majority of people want me to carry on ... If I resign it would mean I am undermining the democratic system." To him, he says, the protesters, who include Buddhist ascetics known as the Dharma Army, are just idiots.

A number of factors have contributed to Mr. Thaksin's plight, said Simon Tay of the Singapore institute. "Many reformers and civil society groups feel Thaksin is undermining democratic institutions and free media ... They suspect he is moving towards a new form of autocracy backed not by military force but by influence, money and control of the media."

The pressures on a conservative, majority Buddhist society arising from free market capitalism and Western-style "mall culture" may be to blame — rather than Mr. Thaksin — for a growing sense of loss of moral direction. And the largely favourable view of the Prime Minister in poor rural areas that have benefited from his rule is more indicative of a widening gulf with the urban intelligentsia than of nationwide revolt.

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