Political pantomime returns to Thailand

Posted: Friday, February 29, 2008 9:18 AM
Filed Under: Bangkok, Thailand

I learned of his imminent return from a taxi driver who picked me up at the airport after I'd arrived back in Bangkok from North Korea, where local TV doesn't carry a great deal of news about the outside world, or anything else for that matter, and where I had been covering the visit of the New York Philharmonic.

It was a curious conversation. "Sorry, no meter. Meter not working," the taxi driver announced, soon after we'd set off.  It was late, I was tired. I really didn't need this, so I replied rather curtly, "No meter, no money!"

The meter then miraculously sprung back to life. A moment or two later he turned to me, beaming, giving a thumbs up sign.

"Thaksin back tomorrow, back tomorrow!"

I'm sure there is no direct connection between the driver trying to rip me off and the return of a man whose government was accused of massive corruption, but it did give me pause for thought.

The last time Thai politics made headline news was when the military sent tanks onto the streets of Bangkok in September 2006 to remove Thaksin from power. It was the 18th coup since Thailand became a constitutional monarchy in 1932.

SLIDESHOW: Thailand's September 2006 coup

I guess the generals thought Thaksin would just fade away as most deposed leaders have in the past. But the billionaire businessman had three things going for him: Massive support among Thailand's poor, a well-oiled political machine and pots of money.

He had reinvented Thai politics, which used to be essentially a competition of the Bangkok elite, with populist policies, including cheap health care and low-cost village loans. Men like my taxi driver, who suspect all politicians are corrupt, loved him for it.

Elections gave him the biggest majorities in Thai political history.

Soccer politics
Thaksin is also smart. And while the military-appointed government bumbled along, he kept in the headlines, even buying the British Premier League soccer club Manchester City, the poorer cousin of Manchester United.

Last December the generals fulfilled their promise of new elections to return Thailand to democracy. As the election campaign was heating up, Thaksin signed three top Thai players and announced that a Manchester City football academy would open in Thailand. (Two of Manchester players were on the aircraft returning with Thaksin this week).

Guess what made the headlines in soccer-obsessed Thailand?

So there was no surprise that the election winner was a party packed with Thaksin's supporters, and led by a man – now prime minister – who described himself as a Thaksin proxy.

The foreign minister in the new government is Thaksin's former lawyer; the finance minister is his former spokesman.

Corruption charges
Thaksin is facing a raft of corruption cases, but the new government has moved quickly to remove the head of the police unit responsible for many of these cases.

And the police chief, regarded as being an honest cop, in a force often accused of corruption, was also removed from his post this week.

Thaksin is technically out on bail, having been only been charged so far over a questionable land deal.

Thai newspapers report that he and his family and close aides are staying in luxury suites at the exclusive Peninsula Hotel on the Chao Praya River, which is partly owned by another minister and close friend.

Thaksin says categorically that he will not return to politics, but nobody believes him, and he is widely assumed to be the puppet-master behind the new government.

Never a dull moment
The military is left with considerable chunks of egg on their face. The former army chief and coup leader is reported to have moved into a military base, just in case.

Will the tanks be back on the streets again? Probably not immediately. The government installed after the last coup was regarded as incompetent (though not corrupt). But it was a pretty good advertisement for why soldiers should never be allowed near government.

But Thaksin is a polarizing figure. You'll find few people here who are neutral about him, and it could be only a matter of time before protesters are back on the streets, especially if there is overt interference in the corruption probes.

I was reminded of a conversation I had with a Thai journalist friend shortly after moving to Bangkok a few years ago. She'd just returned from studying in the U.K., and told me how pleased she was to be back in a city that was then engulfed in another political crisis. "Britain's just too stable," she complained. "Not like here."

She did have a point.

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