Word: bangkok
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...crowds poured into Bangkok's royal plaza last Saturday, Vasan Sitthiket was there again-just as he had been in May 1992, when people power rocked Thailand and ousted a government. Then, the target of the people's wrath was a military regime. Now it's Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, re-elected in a landslide victory just a year ago but vilified in recent months by many of Bangkok's residents. Demonstrations in the capital have become a weekly feature, led by a businessman-turned-political opponent of Thaksin, Sondhi Limthongkul, whose rallies draw tens of thousands. Vasan...
...tape a reality-TV show. Grandma Ouan was selected for a personal audience with Thaksin. She says she told him how she struggled to survive on $5 a week while paying off debts of $5,000 incurred by her two sons, both of whom were killed in a Bangkok traffic accident: "I asked him, 'Can you help me repay? Can you help with my grandchildren's schooling?' He said he could." He also said he would give her a cow. A grin spreads across Ouan's weathered face. Thaksin is beautiful, she says. "I want him to be Prime Minister...
...Thaksin, 56, elicits strong emotions. Among the urban élite of Bangkok-opposition politicians, academics and journalists-it's common to hear his administration accused of abuse of power, corruption and nepotism. But in the smaller cities and towns-and especially in the countryside-Thaksin remains hugely popular, seen as a decisive leader who cares about the poor. It was Grandma Ouan and millions like her who gave Thaksin and his Thai Rak Thai (Thais Love Thais) party that big win last year. Yet though the demonstrations are unlikely to bring Thaksin down, they could hobble his second term...
...society. Then Thaksin won high marks for his leadership after the tsunami of Dec. 26, 2004, and for Thailand's efforts to control bird flu. Many Thais appreciate his style. "He's the only Prime Minister who goes to the slums to meet the people," says Thamniap Lekchai, a Bangkok taxi driver...
...positions-his cousin, General Chaisit Shinawatra, was first made army chief and then the military's supreme commander, and his brother-in-law Priawpan Damapong serves as deputy chief of the national police. And long-running allegations of corruption in a contract to supply baggage scanners at Bangkok's new airport continue to haunt the government. The then transportation minister, Suriya Jungrungreangkit (who now holds the industry portfolio), denied any impropriety by officials...