Word: samak
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...insurgency in the south rages on, the economy is mired in doldrums - Thailand's 4.3% growth for 2007 is the lowest in the region - and the government's failure to spend heavily in the provinces has left the rural poor longing for Thaksin and his populism. That's why Samak is playing the Thaksin card. The two men are strange bedfellows - they were once political rivals - but now each needs the other...
...While Samak now rails against the military and its ouster of Thaksin, he hasn't always been aligned against them. Thai society was deeply polarized between left and right when Indochina fell under communist rule in 1975. On the morning of Oct. 6, 1976, police and right-wing paramilitary mobs invaded Thammasat University, raping, lynching and burning alive scores of students who were demonstrating for greater civil liberties. A few hours later, the military staged a coup. Samak was then appointed interior minister in one of Thailand's most repressive governments. Leftists and students were hunted down and jailed...
...Bangkok's middle class rose up to demand that the then coup leader, Gen. Suchinda Krapayoon, resign. Suchinda had the army open fire, killing scores in what has come to be known as "Black May." Samak, who was deputy prime minister, called the demonstrators troublemakers and communists, and said it was acceptable for the government to shoot them. After the King intervened and democracy was restored, Samak still won a seat to parliament in Bangkok's military-dominated Dusit district. During the late 1990s, he and Thaksin served as cabinet ministers in the scandal-plagued government of Prime Minister Banharn...
...Samak, voted the most hated civilian in a newspaper poll after Black May, retain such solid support? Chris Baker, co-author of Thaksin: The Business of Politics, says Samak is a hit among lower-middle-class citizens - they admire his strong persona and see him as someone who gets things done. Small shopkeepers, taxi drivers and day laborers love tuning in to Samak's television and radio political talk shows - and his immensely popular cooking programs - to hear him sound off and bash others. "He's entertainment," Baker says...
...Samak's clout with Bangkok voters could deny the Democrat Party, the PPP's chief challenger, victory. As it stands, the PPP is expected to dominate the north and northeast, while the Democrats will take the south. Most polls show Samak's party winning the most seats in parliament, but not a majority, forcing it to compete with the Democrats to court small and mid-sized parties to form a new coalition government. Several analysts are predicting the generals will quietly pressure smaller parties to make a deal with the Democrats. "I don't think the military will be comfortable...