2004 Thaksin: The Business of Politics in Thailand
By Pasuk Phongpaichit and Chris Baker

Thaksin vision simply medieval, says book
By Connie Levett, Herald Correspondent in Bangkok August 6, 2004

Thailand's Prime Minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, has rolled back a quarter century of democratic development and wants to transform the country into another "illiberal one-party state", the authors of the first English-language book on the controversial leader say.
Mr Thaksin, who Forbes magazine estimates is worth $US1.4 billion ($2 billion), is on the record as saying: "As a prime minister you must be richand don't stop becoming richer ... the rich should not be envied."

Chris Baker, a historian, who wrote Thaksin: the business of politics in Thailand with Pasuk Phonpaichit, professor of economics at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, said the Thai middle class was becoming disillusioned because Thaksin and "his cronies" were "taking too much ... toomany things are becoming too obvious".

Professor Pasuk compared the growing power of a few individuals in Thailand with the oligarchies that run the Philippines. "People in the oligarchies do well but outside that people are not doing well at all."
The book, which was previewed on the front page of the English-language newspaper The Nation, explores the conflicts of interest that occur when a prime minister is also the country's wealthiest citizen.

The authors point out that since Mr Thaksin became prime minister the market capitalisation of the Shinawatra family's three main Shin-listed companies has increased 2.5 times in a flat market.

While Professor Pasuk said Mr Thaksin had introduced economic policy innovations, the authors claim he "has rolled back a quarter century ofdemocratic development and hopes to transform Thailand from a beacon of democracy in South-East Asia into another illiberal one-party state".

The criticism comes as Thailand's National Human Rights Commission, set up under the 1997 people's constitution, issued its first report on Wednesday, accusing the Government of gross human rights violations.
"Thailand is worryingly regressing towards a culture of authoritarianism instead of progressing to a culture of human rights," the report said.
The book touches on this issue, saying "Thaksin's economic vision may be fixed on the future and the first world, but his social vision is medieval".

Copyright © 2004. The Sydney Morning Herald.http://smh.com.au

They have teamed up for three previous books before, all providing a critical assessment of Thailand's political and
economic landscape.

Their research brings to the fore aspects of Thaksin's past that explains the reasons behind some of his strong views - such as development is more important than democracy - and why the language he speak resonates with a large section of Thais.

In the process, of course, some of the myths Thaksin created for greater appeal, such as he comes from humble origins, were
exposed. His Chinese migrant ancestors had done him a favour by laying the groundwork through a range of businesses (including
silk) for him to build on.

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Yet the authors point out in one of the numerous gems studded click on the button below. through this book, Thaksin had ''little expectation of a future in government service.'' He was more interested in a career as a businessmen.

And in one of the most captivating sections, the book offers streak that prevailed in Thaksin at the time that still continues - to
persevere, to take risks, to never take no for an answer.

That he went about his work as a businessmen while still being a police officer was of little worry to him. It included him opening a
silk shop, distributing films and building an apartment block, all of which ended in failure and leaving him in debt.

By the time he turned his attention to telecommunications, Thaksin had acquired skills that helped him on the road to wealth.
He had learnt how government officials and the business community struck deals for mutual benefit and about the key to
success in Thailand, knowing ''a lot of people.''

''Between 1988 and 1991, Thaksin had been transformed from owner of a struggling computer leasing business into a major
entrepreneur in government concession (namely telecommunications),'' the book states.

The billion dollar empire he built, including a huge chunk of the mobile phone market, also helped shape another trait that Thaksin
has become known for - his obsession with economic growth as a priority even at the expense of democracy. That aspect of the narrative helps explain why when he launched his own political party Thai Rak Thai (Thais Love Thai) in July 1998, he was a hit among a class of businessmen who wanted to take control of Thailand's politics. Bankers, property developers, industrialists and entertainment moguls signed on.

Furthermore, the language Thaksin was speaking appeared a perfect antidote to business community that had taken a heavy
beating during the 1997 financial crisis. And by then, the ''new politics'' that he was advocating also made inroads into a sector that had often been ignored or marginalised by the Thai political establishment till then - the rural poor.

Phasuk and Baker do credit Thaksin for breaking new ground here by not only offering policies to alleviate the suffering of the poor
villages but delivered on his promises soon after his party won the largest parliamentary majority in Thai history.

What followed, however, reveals why disenchantment in Thaksin began to surface, although not immediately. The authors elaborate with, at times, forensic precision how the Thaksin administration went about mixing businesses and politics as if the expression 'conflict-of-interest' was non-existent.

As disturbing for Thais who had hoped that they were on the road to a new democracy were the measures Thaksin began to pursue
to limit the space available for dissent, a disregard for human rights and to mould the society with an appeal to nationalism.

Some of Thaksin's arguments, the authors point out, hark back to
the views echoed by the military dictators who rule Thailand for
decades.

''Thaksin constructed a mix of Western social contract theory and modernist Buddhism to argue that 'good' disinterested leadership
justified itself, and that all opposition was by definition illegitimate,'' the book states

Sadly, what the book lacks is a chapter explaining why the majority of Thais appear to be happy with their leader, despite
what his critics say.

By not stepping back and trying to locate Thaksin within the big picture, the authors have avoided examining how Thai traits such
as its patron-client system, an unhealthy reverence for rich people over the poor and acceptance of corruption have to shoulder blame for aiding the Thaksin phenomenon.

Nevertheless, that is a minor flaw in a book that is helping to pioneer a new political literature dealing with the man who
deserves to be watched in South-east Asia, since he has announced his intentions of staying in power for years to come.

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