Hey guys and gals, why don’t we discuss Pridiyathorn resignation? That was, after all, what Andrew’s original post was about.
Several issues I haven’t seen mentioned much in the press:
* The last thing Pridiyathorn did before his resignation was to urge the Bank of Thailand to cut interest rates by half a point, rather than the much speculated quarter of a point. Since the BoT is supposed to be independent of the government, it’s quite surprising that the Finance Minister would make such a public appeal. Besides, Pridiyathorn was the BoT’s previous Governor, so he should know a thing or two about how the BoT is supposed to work. Anyway, the next day, the BoT cut rates by a quarter of a point. That same day, Pridiyathorn resigns. Was the BoT’s snub the last straw that broke Pridiyathorn’s back?
* Does this mean that nobody, not even a speculated PM-candidate like Pridiyathorn, is immune from the sting of Khunying Jaruvan Maintaka? They clashed several times. First she accuses the FIDF of selling land on the cheap to the Shinawatras on Pridiyathorn’s watch. Then when he defends the FIDF and claims that they were not the damaged party, Jaruvan gets the junta to draft a law that allows anybody, even if they aren’t a damaged party, to file charges against public officials. She also accuses him of breaking the law by sitting on the boards of more than 3 state enterprises. We all know how powerful Jaruvan is: not even a Constitutional Court ruling could budge her from her royally-appointed seat. Conclusion: King > Jaruvan > Somkid > Pridiyathorn. Sucks to be Pridiyathorn…
[…] in their longstanding battle with the “electocrats” (a term I am borrowing from Kasian), then the months that have followed have shown just how fleeting victory can be. A series of high […]
“And here is a picture from The Nation showing Pridiyathorn with government house reporters after his resignation. Looks like they must have given him a grilling!”
Looks like Thai cooperative style versus Western adversarial style.
Cheers to Pridiyathorn for demonstrating this to Westerners.
Bangkok Pundit: “The shamelessness (kwahm nah dahn) with which this is somehow attributed to sufficiency economy amazes me.”
If people rally under the banner (or yellow shirts) of the sufficiency economy, IMHO that’s a good thing.
Anything that prevents rural people from leaving their ancestral villages and move to dirty, crowded Bangkok to become members of a down-trodden under-class:
lum┬╖pen┬╖pro┬╖le┬╖tar┬╖i┬╖at (l┼нm’p╔Щn-pr┼Н’l─н-t├вr’─У-╔Щt, l╩Кm’-) n.
The lowest, most degraded stratum of the proletariat. Used originally in Marxist theory to describe those members of the proletariat, especially criminals, vagrants, and the unemployed, who lacked class consciousness.
The underclass of a human population.
“It was a necessary step to break the impasse” > To whom was this necessary, and for what reasons? What or who had caused the impasse, and for what reasons? What exactly was the impasse, actually? How can the constitution be “another story” when it is part of both the problem and the coup package?
By the way, this is the 10th anniversary of Turkey’s “post-modern coup” (AFP) in 1997. At that time, the military stepped in to rescue democracy from the Islamist prime minister.
And the funny thing is – anonymous – that I had to think for a moment, if your comment was serious or satirical – the thai middle class can have a quite distorted view.
“His respect for the king was just a farce” – that is really a reason to think he is some kind of demon.
The choice of a replacement is interesting, if it is Dr Krong, Virabongsa, as the Nation has it. He is a Prem man, put forward by Prem in the early days after the 1997 devaulation to help out Big Jiew. Funny that he can have Prem’s backing but Pridiyathorn didn’t apparently feel Prem was behind him.
The Nation reported that Ekkamol Kiriwat and his ally Prasarn Trairatvorakul denied being offered the job, but I imagine — given Baker’s suggestion that all this is about a pre-coup deal — that both are politically too shrewd to get in the middle of that, and neither are close to Prem, whatever their overall respectability.
Another question, especialy given the screwup on capital controls, is the role of BOT governor Tarisa Watanagase — whose side is Tarisa on?
It sounds to me like Pridyathorn has let politics get to him, he’s lost discipline and the ability to focus on policy — which, given the current rocky markets, should be prime concern. Nowhere did he mention economic policy or who is running it, which is the prime concern.
Even if he is a man of democratic principles (arguable), he’s been put in a technocrat’s job and should be thick-skinned enough to ignore whatever Sondhi says and does with the generals. If Somkid was in there to push him out, well ultimately Somkid himself resigned first, leaving Pridiyathorn room to run things.
Instead he’s shown himself to be a political infighter on issues outside finance and economy, and not a very good one. If there was a deal before the coup and Pridiyathorn didn’t know of it, well shame on him for imagining he was taking part in something pure of thought and action.
Yeah, we all know the story: “the heat on the beach, several shots of hard liquor, a Viagra and then vigorous sex with a bar girl” and the next day you are over a balcony railing and all your money’s gone missing.
Some intrepid reporter could do a good story on how many tourists die in Thailand each year, though I doubt TAT would like to see it published.
You’re exactly right, Amateur. Anything is better than Thaksin.
Think about what we’ve been willing to accept from the military government: massive censorship, indefinate delay of elections, torture chambers, economic mismanagement, fiscal collapse, a patronizing morality drive, outright war in the south.
And still, no matter how much of a slap in the face to human rights and basic rationality the military has been, we’re still blessed to have them compared to Thaksin.
Amateur, you can’t have both – coup and constitution – they are contradicting each other. (and if I would have to choose, I would take the constitution)
First thanks Andrew for the warning (but don’t we all dream of stepping down at the climax) 😉
While this may be the first newspaper-article about this theme in this year in Thailand I think I have read dozens of similar articles. Usually these articles fail to mention that heart-failure is also in Farangia the most common cause of death among 40-60 year old (maybe overweight) male singles (correct me if I’m wrong, I just made a rough guess).
I might be influenced by Bangkokian Middle Class, but in Thailand we cannot make this black-and-white dychotomy of military-bad and civilian-good. Originally, I am opposed to the Thai military and still pretty suspicious about it. But let’s face it: Thaksin has abused the Thai democracy which is unique not only in Thailand but can only be rivalled by Berlusconi’s Italy.
Thaksin is popular with rural poor because they don’t know how he is financing the programmes. He undermines public social welfare by setting up his own companies competing with official organisations. Let’s take the village fund programme. Thaksin has set up his own lending agencies to make profit from the borrowing farmers instead of letting them borrow them from state organisation where the interest would contribute to the public welfare again.
He bends laws to suit his business interest and to suppress any competitors, under his rule press freedom in Thailand devolves, he trampled the human rights struggle in Burma with his feet by making business with the junta. The list goes on and on. His respect for the King is just a farce.
No, Thaksin does not fit in the western concept of a dictator, but he is such a kind as Lee Kuan Yew has been.
To cut it short: How much a slap in the face of Thailand’s democracy the coup and the “puppet cabinet” might have been. It was a necessary step to break the impasse and open free the way for a new democratically elected government.
However, what I strongly oppose is the abolishment of the people’s constitution. But that is another story.
[…] to look rather shaky. There are some interesting comments on the resignation attached to my previous post about Thaksinomic-Sufficiency guru Somkid. MR Pridiyathorn deserves his own spot, so future comments […]
Actually, despite the shadenfreudenistic pleasures of laughing at some elderly people and their follies exhibited above….
Retirement is a HUGE growth industry that Thailand will inevitably cash in on, even more than it currently is. Offshore medical services fits into it this too.
In Chiang Rai, Japanese retirees are much more visible than white people.
So the comment by the German embassy makes sense because of the large proportion of retirees. There are also a fair share of dot.com millionaires and Europeans with early retirement. And it makes perfect sense that they come and live in Thailand often contributing to education and culture. Chiang Rai is a city full of artists, who are avidly supported by the Europeans in town. There is a good market for paintings, wood carvings, etc of up and coming artists. Quiet peaceful places like Chiang Rai where people can have peace of mind are really where progress can be made. Bangkok is such an unbelievably chaotic mess, free for all…
I have no evidence, but I can make some guesses about what is going on.
Thailand is a very incestuous place, especially when it comes to academia, business, media, government and politics.
Mr. Baker probably had to get permission from the Holy of Holies to write that report.
And if the powers at be were happy with the result, I am sure there was a pay off in one form or another. That is the way the system works. It is very sufficient for those who know how to kiss the right ass.
After all, there is nothing that Thais appreciate more than when their hair brained schemes are acknowledged by the UN and the international community.
Either the junta will pay off or the palace will pay off–besides, what is the difference, really?.
So I am wondering if Mr. Baker an/or Ajarn Pasuk got any benefits from pimping sufficiency theory–either as being given duties as advisers to the government or maybe to the Privy Purse.
Of course, Mr. Baker would never attack the Crown Property Bureau for its lack of fidelity to sufficiency theory. He probably thinks that it is great that all those luxury condos going up all over Ratchadamri and at the old night bazaar are consistent with sufficiency economy principles. Plus, they can exploit that cheap Burmese and Cambodian labor slaving away at those projects for less than 200 baht a day. Of course, no government official would go after a Crown project that exploits people. Hey, if the Crown saves money from paying foreign coolies, that must be sufficient enough for him
Also, I doubt Mr. Baker would go after the Crown Prince’s classic car collection, or the fact that the Royal Family is collectively 500 kilos weight. But hey, that poor farmer from Isaan who is living off of eating bugs and sticky rice should be forced to live a subsistence lifestyle for the rest of his life while the elites continue to exploit his labor power and live lives of opulence and luxury.
But hey, if pimping sufficiency theory for the junta/crown gives Mr. Baker some professional satisfaction, and he feels content that he can live with the hypocrisy and double standards that comes with a corrupt, wealthy and powerful elite lecturing the poor on morality, integrity and its duty in living a life of perpetual paupery, then good for him.
Currently the most detailed report on Pridiyathorn’s interview seems to be on Phujatkan. Important additions to the Nation report are:
It’s clear he is talking about ministers in the plural, not just one.
When asked directly whether ‘media’ means Sondhi Lim, he evades but does not deny it.
When asked whether it was because he felt noi jai about Somkid, he denies it and says ‘but things were being hidden, because connections still exist. The resignation was ambiguous and people who are links (tua choem) still have political positions in the government, so things feel murky.’
Reporters asked if the link with Thaksin was Wirachai Wiramethikun, deputy secretary for political affairs of the prime minister [a CP son-in-law and founder member of TRT]. Pridiyathorn replied, use your wisdom. Reporters also asked if it was Thirapat Serirangsan, and he replied, ‘Government House reporters are supposed to be clever. Let’s see if that’s true.’
I’ve always suspected there was a deal before the coup. This incident threatens to blow that wide open.
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Sufficiency casualty
Hey guys and gals, why don’t we discuss Pridiyathorn resignation? That was, after all, what Andrew’s original post was about.
Several issues I haven’t seen mentioned much in the press:
* The last thing Pridiyathorn did before his resignation was to urge the Bank of Thailand to cut interest rates by half a point, rather than the much speculated quarter of a point. Since the BoT is supposed to be independent of the government, it’s quite surprising that the Finance Minister would make such a public appeal. Besides, Pridiyathorn was the BoT’s previous Governor, so he should know a thing or two about how the BoT is supposed to work. Anyway, the next day, the BoT cut rates by a quarter of a point. That same day, Pridiyathorn resigns. Was the BoT’s snub the last straw that broke Pridiyathorn’s back?
* Does this mean that nobody, not even a speculated PM-candidate like Pridiyathorn, is immune from the sting of Khunying Jaruvan Maintaka? They clashed several times. First she accuses the FIDF of selling land on the cheap to the Shinawatras on Pridiyathorn’s watch. Then when he defends the FIDF and claims that they were not the damaged party, Jaruvan gets the junta to draft a law that allows anybody, even if they aren’t a damaged party, to file charges against public officials. She also accuses him of breaking the law by sitting on the boards of more than 3 state enterprises. We all know how powerful Jaruvan is: not even a Constitutional Court ruling could budge her from her royally-appointed seat. Conclusion: King > Jaruvan > Somkid > Pridiyathorn. Sucks to be Pridiyathorn…
Agen Domino Online yg tidak sedikit Dicari Member
[…] in their longstanding battle with the “electocrats” (a term I am borrowing from Kasian), then the months that have followed have shown just how fleeting victory can be. A series of high […]
Sufficiency casualty
“And here is a picture from The Nation showing Pridiyathorn with government house reporters after his resignation. Looks like they must have given him a grilling!”
Looks like Thai cooperative style versus Western adversarial style.
Cheers to Pridiyathorn for demonstrating this to Westerners.
Somkid, sandwiches and sufficiency
Bangkok Pundit: “The shamelessness (kwahm nah dahn) with which this is somehow attributed to sufficiency economy amazes me.”
If people rally under the banner (or yellow shirts) of the sufficiency economy, IMHO that’s a good thing.
Anything that prevents rural people from leaving their ancestral villages and move to dirty, crowded Bangkok to become members of a down-trodden under-class:
lum┬╖pen┬╖pro┬╖le┬╖tar┬╖i┬╖at (l┼нm’p╔Щn-pr┼Н’l─н-t├вr’─У-╔Щt, l╩Кm’-) n.
The lowest, most degraded stratum of the proletariat. Used originally in Marxist theory to describe those members of the proletariat, especially criminals, vagrants, and the unemployed, who lacked class consciousness.
The underclass of a human population.
Sufficiency casualty
“It was a necessary step to break the impasse” > To whom was this necessary, and for what reasons? What or who had caused the impasse, and for what reasons? What exactly was the impasse, actually? How can the constitution be “another story” when it is part of both the problem and the coup package?
By the way, this is the 10th anniversary of Turkey’s “post-modern coup” (AFP) in 1997. At that time, the military stepped in to rescue democracy from the Islamist prime minister.
Sufficiency casualty
And the funny thing is – anonymous – that I had to think for a moment, if your comment was serious or satirical – the thai middle class can have a quite distorted view.
“His respect for the king was just a farce” – that is really a reason to think he is some kind of demon.
Somkid, sandwiches and sufficiency
The choice of a replacement is interesting, if it is Dr Krong, Virabongsa, as the Nation has it. He is a Prem man, put forward by Prem in the early days after the 1997 devaulation to help out Big Jiew. Funny that he can have Prem’s backing but Pridiyathorn didn’t apparently feel Prem was behind him.
The Nation reported that Ekkamol Kiriwat and his ally Prasarn Trairatvorakul denied being offered the job, but I imagine — given Baker’s suggestion that all this is about a pre-coup deal — that both are politically too shrewd to get in the middle of that, and neither are close to Prem, whatever their overall respectability.
Another question, especialy given the screwup on capital controls, is the role of BOT governor Tarisa Watanagase — whose side is Tarisa on?
Somkid, sandwiches and sufficiency
It sounds to me like Pridyathorn has let politics get to him, he’s lost discipline and the ability to focus on policy — which, given the current rocky markets, should be prime concern. Nowhere did he mention economic policy or who is running it, which is the prime concern.
Even if he is a man of democratic principles (arguable), he’s been put in a technocrat’s job and should be thick-skinned enough to ignore whatever Sondhi says and does with the generals. If Somkid was in there to push him out, well ultimately Somkid himself resigned first, leaving Pridiyathorn room to run things.
Instead he’s shown himself to be a political infighter on issues outside finance and economy, and not a very good one. If there was a deal before the coup and Pridiyathorn didn’t know of it, well shame on him for imagining he was taking part in something pure of thought and action.
Tourist casualties mounting
Yeah, we all know the story: “the heat on the beach, several shots of hard liquor, a Viagra and then vigorous sex with a bar girl” and the next day you are over a balcony railing and all your money’s gone missing.
Some intrepid reporter could do a good story on how many tourists die in Thailand each year, though I doubt TAT would like to see it published.
Sufficiency casualty
You’re exactly right, Amateur. Anything is better than Thaksin.
Think about what we’ve been willing to accept from the military government: massive censorship, indefinate delay of elections, torture chambers, economic mismanagement, fiscal collapse, a patronizing morality drive, outright war in the south.
And still, no matter how much of a slap in the face to human rights and basic rationality the military has been, we’re still blessed to have them compared to Thaksin.
Sufficiency casualty
Amateur, you can’t have both – coup and constitution – they are contradicting each other. (and if I would have to choose, I would take the constitution)
Tourist casualties mounting
First thanks Andrew for the warning (but don’t we all dream of stepping down at the climax) 😉
While this may be the first newspaper-article about this theme in this year in Thailand I think I have read dozens of similar articles. Usually these articles fail to mention that heart-failure is also in Farangia the most common cause of death among 40-60 year old (maybe overweight) male singles (correct me if I’m wrong, I just made a rough guess).
Sufficiency casualty
I might be influenced by Bangkokian Middle Class, but in Thailand we cannot make this black-and-white dychotomy of military-bad and civilian-good. Originally, I am opposed to the Thai military and still pretty suspicious about it. But let’s face it: Thaksin has abused the Thai democracy which is unique not only in Thailand but can only be rivalled by Berlusconi’s Italy.
Thaksin is popular with rural poor because they don’t know how he is financing the programmes. He undermines public social welfare by setting up his own companies competing with official organisations. Let’s take the village fund programme. Thaksin has set up his own lending agencies to make profit from the borrowing farmers instead of letting them borrow them from state organisation where the interest would contribute to the public welfare again.
He bends laws to suit his business interest and to suppress any competitors, under his rule press freedom in Thailand devolves, he trampled the human rights struggle in Burma with his feet by making business with the junta. The list goes on and on. His respect for the King is just a farce.
No, Thaksin does not fit in the western concept of a dictator, but he is such a kind as Lee Kuan Yew has been.
To cut it short: How much a slap in the face of Thailand’s democracy the coup and the “puppet cabinet” might have been. It was a necessary step to break the impasse and open free the way for a new democratically elected government.
However, what I strongly oppose is the abolishment of the people’s constitution. But that is another story.
Somkid, sandwiches and sufficiency
[…] to look rather shaky. There are some interesting comments on the resignation attached to my previous post about Thaksinomic-Sufficiency guru Somkid. MR Pridiyathorn deserves his own spot, so future comments […]
Tourist casualties mounting
Actually, despite the shadenfreudenistic pleasures of laughing at some elderly people and their follies exhibited above….
Retirement is a HUGE growth industry that Thailand will inevitably cash in on, even more than it currently is. Offshore medical services fits into it this too.
In Chiang Rai, Japanese retirees are much more visible than white people.
So the comment by the German embassy makes sense because of the large proportion of retirees. There are also a fair share of dot.com millionaires and Europeans with early retirement. And it makes perfect sense that they come and live in Thailand often contributing to education and culture. Chiang Rai is a city full of artists, who are avidly supported by the Europeans in town. There is a good market for paintings, wood carvings, etc of up and coming artists. Quiet peaceful places like Chiang Rai where people can have peace of mind are really where progress can be made. Bangkok is such an unbelievably chaotic mess, free for all…
Somkid, sandwiches and sufficiency
The Bangkok Post report was a little more explicit:
http://www.bangkokpost.com/topstories/topstories.php?id=117117
“The silence of the intellectual lambs”
Srithanochai-
I have no evidence, but I can make some guesses about what is going on.
Thailand is a very incestuous place, especially when it comes to academia, business, media, government and politics.
Mr. Baker probably had to get permission from the Holy of Holies to write that report.
And if the powers at be were happy with the result, I am sure there was a pay off in one form or another. That is the way the system works. It is very sufficient for those who know how to kiss the right ass.
After all, there is nothing that Thais appreciate more than when their hair brained schemes are acknowledged by the UN and the international community.
Either the junta will pay off or the palace will pay off–besides, what is the difference, really?.
So I am wondering if Mr. Baker an/or Ajarn Pasuk got any benefits from pimping sufficiency theory–either as being given duties as advisers to the government or maybe to the Privy Purse.
Of course, Mr. Baker would never attack the Crown Property Bureau for its lack of fidelity to sufficiency theory. He probably thinks that it is great that all those luxury condos going up all over Ratchadamri and at the old night bazaar are consistent with sufficiency economy principles. Plus, they can exploit that cheap Burmese and Cambodian labor slaving away at those projects for less than 200 baht a day. Of course, no government official would go after a Crown project that exploits people. Hey, if the Crown saves money from paying foreign coolies, that must be sufficient enough for him
Also, I doubt Mr. Baker would go after the Crown Prince’s classic car collection, or the fact that the Royal Family is collectively 500 kilos weight. But hey, that poor farmer from Isaan who is living off of eating bugs and sticky rice should be forced to live a subsistence lifestyle for the rest of his life while the elites continue to exploit his labor power and live lives of opulence and luxury.
But hey, if pimping sufficiency theory for the junta/crown gives Mr. Baker some professional satisfaction, and he feels content that he can live with the hypocrisy and double standards that comes with a corrupt, wealthy and powerful elite lecturing the poor on morality, integrity and its duty in living a life of perpetual paupery, then good for him.
The 500th post
Should we consider Thaksin’s comment as serious???
Somkid, sandwiches and sufficiency
Currently the most detailed report on Pridiyathorn’s interview seems to be on Phujatkan. Important additions to the Nation report are:
It’s clear he is talking about ministers in the plural, not just one.
When asked directly whether ‘media’ means Sondhi Lim, he evades but does not deny it.
When asked whether it was because he felt noi jai about Somkid, he denies it and says ‘but things were being hidden, because connections still exist. The resignation was ambiguous and people who are links (tua choem) still have political positions in the government, so things feel murky.’
Reporters asked if the link with Thaksin was Wirachai Wiramethikun, deputy secretary for political affairs of the prime minister [a CP son-in-law and founder member of TRT]. Pridiyathorn replied, use your wisdom. Reporters also asked if it was Thirapat Serirangsan, and he replied, ‘Government House reporters are supposed to be clever. Let’s see if that’s true.’
I’ve always suspected there was a deal before the coup. This incident threatens to blow that wide open.
Tourist casualties mounting
Thaksin sold me ecstacy! I’m not even old!