Word: bangkok
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...Thai voter who longs for the return of ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, then Samak Sundaravej is your man. An acid-tongued, fire-breathing ultra-conservative who brands his opponents communists and "street gangsters," the 72-year-old former Bangkok governor is running in the Dec. 23 national election on a platform the rural masses find irresistible: as he unabashedly declares, "I'm Thaksin's nominee." Samak, the nominal leader of the People Power Party (PPP), has promised that if elected he'll bring back Thaksin and his populist policies, like cheap credit and debt moratoriums. Samak has vowed...
...September 2006, Thailand's military deposed Thaksin in a bloodless coup. After months of massive anti-Thaksin street demonstrations by the urban middle class, who chafed under his increasingly authoritarian rule, the generals stepped in. Bangkok residents, euphoric at Thaksin's demise, showered the soldiers with praise and flowers. The military claimed that Thaksin was corrupt, dividing the country, fomenting violence, and disloyal to revered constitutional monarch King Bhumibol Adulyadej (all allegations that Thaksin has denied). But while the generals' takeover was executed with impressive precision, the same can't be said of their administration of the country. Their appointed...
...Here's another thing: the PPP's policies are strikingly similar to those of its archrival, the Democrat Party. "You'll notice that all the parties are populist these days," says Thitinan Pongsudhirak, a political scientist at Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University. Those populist TRT policies won Thaksin two terms in office and raised the expectations of an entire electorate. "Thai Rak Thai has profoundly changed Thailand," says Thitinan. "People have discovered that they've been neglected. They want better lives. They have hopes and dreams." What he calls "the ghost of TRT" hovers over the polling booths...
...does the specter of a resurgent Thai military. Thailand's generals seized power 15 months ago after long-running street protests in Bangkok calling for Thaksin's resignation for alleged corruption and abuse of power. Junta-appointed investigators then froze his assets and filed a raft of corruption charges against him and his family - charges that he denies. But Thaksin's popularity in rural areas such as Isaan remains undented, and with his loyalists in the PPP tipped to win more seats than any other party, his political clout is still a force to be reckoned with, even from self...
...generated so much division and bitterness that the military was emboldened to send in its tanks. Sadly, restoring that faith is looking like a dim prospect. "This election is already well known for having almost every questionable, old politician from the bad old days of corrupt governments," commented the Bangkok Post in an editorial. Corruption appears rife. "We've had a lot of reports of vote-buying," says Montri Kiatkhamjorn, a senior officer for the Election Commission, the poll watchdog, in Isaan. "It seems like it's become the culture of this election already." Montri reckons "maybe 50%" of candidates...