- By Ranger, Thai Intel’s political journalist
- Who is Thailand’s prime minister?
Some 30 years ago, when Prem was the prime Minister of Thailand that was half military and half civilian, a guy with Democracy in his heart, got so frustrated, he want to confront Prem-and punch Prem in the face.
He was off course, arrested and jailed immediately. Days latter, in prison, he was found drowned.
And when Abhisit was the prime minister, again half civilian and half military-like was there about 100 killed protesters and civilians that was mostly “Covered-Up?”
But today, is it Yingluck, Taksin, Abhisit or some editor of Thailand’s newspapers-who is the real prime minister?
The answer, to many people in Thailand, is that it is “Non of the above.”
- Yesterday, the Pheu Thai Party, had a non-informal meeting to discuss being office for about 6 months-and Taksin Skipe to the meeting, and according to local press, advised that the Pheu Thai Party speed up helping the flood situation and rush implementation of election promised policy.
The local press, reported, mostly quoting source, rumors and far from being factual, in combination, said quote: “Taksin called in to order the cabinet around and he is the real Thai prime minister.”
On Tweeter, this morning, the opinion were diverse.
- “From looking at the press, today is anti-Taksin day,” said one.
- “Thailand has 3 prime minister: Yingluck the official, Taksin the real and Abhisit the fake shadow,” said another.
- “Taksin is going too far and giving Yingluck too much trouble,” said another.
- “Is it legal for Taksin to be doing that,” said another.
And on it went!
However, as Taksin Skipe in those advice to the Pheu Thai Party-yesterday, in Parliament, the opposition went trashing and blasting the Yingluck government, for not implementing promised policies and also Yingluck’s slow response to the the flooding situation.
- So the humorous thing is, Taksin had advised Yingluck, the exactly same thing Abhisit’s opposition is trashing Yingluck for failing to do.
What is the real issue-on the up-roar about Taksin? Perhaps it is politics-as the actual content of what Taksin advised, was entirely ignored-and the focus went to attacking Yingluck, with the news.
The fact is, the Abhisit government was formed inside a military camp, by the then Thai military chief and Abhisit, was engineered into power and propped up by the judicialized Thai justice system-headed up by Prem.
But the local press is correct, Taksin appears to be greatly influencing the Yingluck government. But then, to be frank, the local press seldom called the Abhisit government, quote: “A puppet of Prem or the Thai military.”
The fact is, with independent internet media, “Abhist the junta puppet” is a common and frequent referral to Abhisit.
- But in the final analysis, to be fair to all side, one must compare Taksin, the puppet master, to Prem and the Thai military, also the puppet master.
What is the differences, between Yingluck and Abhisit?
The differences is, Yingluck with the Taksin link, won the election, and Abhisit with the Prem and Thai military link, lost the election.
- The fact is, the accusation that Yingluck is the puppet of Taksin, is a very old story-that occurred, even during the election-with Taksin himself, saying, quote: “Yingluck is my clone.”
And the mostly pro-Abhisit Thai press and also the Democrat Party-have been extracting the most out of Yingluck and Taksin link-for a long time now.
- But the reality of the situation is, “The majority of the Thai people, does not care.”
But who is Thailand’s real prime minister?
To many Thais, it is the close-net-work of high ranking “Amart” in Thailand-who ultimately are pulling every important strings in Thailand.
The following is from Bangkok Post:
Thaksin shows who’s the boss
SPECIAL REPORT: Former PM logs into Skype to lecture cabinet
Published: 23/09/2011 at 12:00 AM
Newspaper section: News
Former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra confirmed the belief that he is the real boss in charge of the new government when he lectured cabinet ministers on how to run the country via Skype.
Cabinet members from the Pheu Thai Party on Wednesday were called to a meeting at the Pheu Thai Party’s head office for a Skype date with Thaksin, who remains a fugitive overseas.
A Pheu Thai source said Thaksin had found that messages he had tried to convey to the ministers through Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, his younger sister, were not getting across.
Therefore, he had to call “a cabinet meeting” via Skype to make sure he could communicate more directly and more effectively with the ministers.
Given that she is a political novice, Ms Yingluck might not be brave enough to prod her ministers into action, particularly those who are seasoned politicians, the source said.
The communication failure could hurt the government’s performance so Thaksin decided to step in and point out and correct mistakes in the way the government runs the country, the source said, adding that such meetings attended by Pheu Thai ministers and chaired by Thaksin will be held every Monday.
The source said Thaksin was concerned that the Pheu Thai-led government is plagued by many problems and its popularity could be at risk.
It appears that Pheu Thai’s failure to honour many of its election campaign pledges has started to backfire.
The source said the ministers squirmed uncomfortably in their chairs as Thaksin acted like a teacher “lecturing” some of them who failed to measure up at the tension-filled meeting which lasted for more than two hours.
Thaksin focussed particularly on Defence Minister Yutthasak Sasiprapa as he was in the midst of a case alleging that more than 200,000 bullets had been used during the dispersal of red-shirt protesters last year.
Thaksin told the defence minister not to sign any documents confirming the use of the ammunition as an investigation was ongoing.
Thaksin also stressed the need for Labour Minister Padermchai Sasomsap to try as hard as he can to push for the 300 baht minimum daily wage and the starting 15,000 baht salary for university graduates.
He pressed the minister for the details on policies and wanted to know when they will be implemented.
The former prime minister was also unhappy that the government’s rice mortgage scheme had yet to meet the target, the source said.
Thaksin then explained at great length to Deputy Commerce Minister Poom Sarapol, who has little experience on the matter, on how the minister should approach the policy.
However, some Pheu Thai MPs, particularly those who are now pursuing reconciliation efforts, were dismayed by Thaksin’s Skype video call, the source said.
They felt that Thaksin’s move was unnecessary because it could sow further distrust among military brass, which could have adverse repercussions on the Pheu Thai government, the source said.
Prime Minister Yingluck yesterday rejected outright suggestions that her elder brother was attempting to meddle in or dominate the government’s work.
She insisted that it was not a cabinet meeting and Thaksin had contacted the ministers via Skype only to provide moral support for the government’s work.
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