Word: coupes
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Since he was toppled from power last September, Thaksin Shinawatra has been crisscrossing the globe. TIME's Southeast Asia Bureau Chief Hannah Beech caught up with Thailand's former Prime Minister on Jan. 25 in Tokyo, where they spoke about the military coup against him, the new regime in Bangkok, and what he intends to do with his life. Excerpts...
...TIME: You've asserted that you and your old political party, Thai Rak Thai, were highly popular. Yet there was hardly any public outcry against the coup. THAKSIN: It was the same with Thailand's 17 other coups. First, the people are shocked. Then they start to voice their concerns. And then they start to accept it, especially after it's endorsed by His Majesty the King. They're very disciplined. They obey. But they are watching what [the new rulers] are doing, and when they will return democracy to the people. People's tolerance is limited...
...Will you return to politics? Right after I was ousted by the coup, I had mixed feelings. The negative feeling was that this was unfortunate for Thailand and its democracy, that the confidence I tried very hard to restore after the 1997 financial crisis would be lost. The positive part was, oh, I can retire now, I can have time for myself, for my family, I can meet friends and relax. Life is not that long, so if you can bring some happiness to yourself and your family, that's good ... I'm quite confident that...
News Flash: Thaksin Shinawatra, the former Prime Minister of Thailand who was ousted in a military coup last September, is forming a new party. For months, the 57-year-old billionaire had promised not to return to the political arena for fear of further rending the delicate fabric of Thai democracy. But in an interview with TIME in Tokyo last week, he made a bold pronouncement. "My new party will be called the Enjoy Life Party," declared Thaksin, who in 2005 commanded the largest-ever electoral mandate in Thai history with his old party, Thai Rak Thai, or Thais Love...
...Chavez, the U.S. is hardly qualified to raise concerns over democracy in his country. After all, Washington's credentials in Latin America include a long history of actively supporting brutal dictators and proxy wars and Chavez charges that it supported an unsuccessful coup against him in 2002. But as fewer and fewer government officials have Maza's sense of "duty" to give their true opinions, such concerns may be founded...