Politics: “Democrat Party” needs “Significant” re-structuring & re-engineering” to win any election

/ July 18, 2011
Abhisit Vejjiva, PM of Thailand

Image via Wikipedia


  • By Ranger, Thai Intel’s political journalist

About a year ago, I went on a vacation, to Phuket.

Not being rich, I went around in motorcycle taxi and walked-very much vacationing as a common down to earth person. As such, I came in contact with many ordinary Southern Thai people. And I immediately know there was something different about the Southern Thai people.

  • They love to talk politics and engage in debate. I just can not describe it to Thai Intel readers, what it was like, to be sitting on the back of a motorcycle taxi, with the driver, shouting back-lets talk about anything-anything at all. 

The icon of the Democrat Party, who is not afraid of criticizing the Democrat Party, Pichai Rattakul, said years ago that the problem of the Democrat Party, is that its leader Abhisit, “Does not know how to use people and does not operate as a team.”

That is not surprising, the Democrat Party-is part of the authoritarian rule of Thailand and have its roots in serving the establishment-thus how can a party with authoritarian nature-work as a team? As the Pheu Thai Party that just won the election said days ago, quote: “Abhisit rule from the top down and does not listen to the people.”

The latest from Pichai, in a TV interview, fresh after the election, is, quote: “The election strategy is a disaster and the fault lies in Abhisit not knowing how to use people in the party.”

  • A great deal can be drawn from Pichai’s few, simple and direct words.

Indeed, Abhisit had relied on a very close-knit group of people, in his management of Thailand and in the drawing up of the Democratic Party’s election strategy.

For those with the forces of Democracy, Liberty and Justice in Thailand-the Democrat Party failure is clearly related to the Democrat Party align with the the forces of authoritarianism-which increasingly, is not what the Thai people favor.

For long-time political observer of Thailand, it is the Democrat Party’s deep rooted nature of critical thinking of all those than opposes the party, that is at fault-as after years of crisis in Thailand-have seen most Thais favor reconciliation.

But the question, Thai Intel’s many source inside the Democrat Party are asking, is what of the future? Many of these Thai Intel source, just simply say, that there is something fundamentally wrong with the Democrat Party.

  • Indeed, the Democrat Party have failed in the past 10 -20 years to win any election, and have relied on a host of special situation to comer to govern Thailand-as for years now, many Thai political observer said the Democrat Party, is just a regional political party of Southern Thailand and part of Bangkok.
  • Even in Bangkok, while the Democrat Party won some 20 MPs and the Pheu Thai Party won about 10 MPs-the overall vote in Bangkok, sees Pheu Thai Party following the Democrat Party by only about 100,000 votes.

And yet, with the party falling off the national level politics to become a regional party, a political philosophy that is out of date with Thailand’s move towards democracy, and an operation of critical thinking that is out of touch with the mood of the Thais for appeasement-the Democrat Party has few option.

The hawkish, Suthep, the Democrat Party MP in charged of security is out from the party’s secretary-but most indications, say Abhisit will be voted back to head the party-after he re-signed to show responsibility for the loss.

There is some jockeying, for the post of party secretary, however, thus far it looks like nothing more than Abhisit crony with a past political track record of “Much of the Same” who would do little to address the many “Re-occurring failures” of the Democrat Party.

  • In fact, just as the Pheu Thai Party have won the landslide, already, the Democrat Party, is continuing as usual-levying highly critical criticism on the Pheu Thai Party-even with rumors that the Democrat Party is the origin point for the rumor that Taksin lawyer, Robert Amsterdam, engineered the German impound of the Thai crown prince jet in Germany-on top of what the Wall Street Journal calls the Democrat Party, “A Bad Looser.”

Matichon, a news paper for the intellect in Thailand, in its analysis of the Democrat Party election failure said, basically, the Democrat Party policy failed to match the Pheu Thai Party policies-and thus the Abhisit took the party on a “Negative Campaign” attacking the Pheu Thai Party.

  • “When it saw that it was loosing the election, the Democrat Party turned to what it is best at, and that is negative attack,” said the Matichon analysis.

But what are the choices for the Democrat Party?

For all of the party’s statement about the party being democratic in structure with lots of new-blood in the party-the question to ask is, why is the party failing to re-structure and re-engineer itself out of a long history of loosing at elections?

  • And will the Democrat Party, just continues its role, as the establishment’s tool for special situations?
Related articles

Related posts

Leave a comment