Word: sondhi
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...like their dad to devote himself completely to politics." Still, says Thitinan Pongsudhirak, a political scientist at Chulalongkorn University, "the Shin deal could become a tipping point. It's become the focal point that could bring [Thaksin] down." Certainly, the sale to Temasek has helped build the crowds at Sondhi's rallies...
...SONDHI LIMTHONGKUL? When Thaksin's key opponent gets a call on his mobile phone there is no chirrup of birdsong or snatch of the William Tell Overture. Instead the phone emits a recording of his own voice shrieking, "Thaksin! Get Out!" Sondhi, 58, is a former media mogul who was hammered during the Asian financial crisis but managed to claw his way back into the black with help from a fellow magnate: ironically, Thaksin himself...
...During the early 1990s Sondhi's Manager Media Group owned an assortment of magazines, newspapers and satellite channels. In Bangkok and other Asian cities, Sondhi was a fixture on the social circuit. "I was a very arrogant young man at that time," he recalls. In Bangkok, he met another upcoming media tycoon. Thaksin and he "were never friends, only acquaintances," Sondhi insists. But soon they were doing business together. In 1992, Thaksin invested in the share offering of IEC, a mobile-phone handset distributor that Sondhi had bought and which sold handsets to Shin subsidiary...
...when the financial crisis hit Asia, Sondhi came down to earth. His media group crumpled, and by 2000 he was declared bankrupt. The following year, however, Sondhi's fortunes revived. His group was still in the hands of creditors, but he started new companies that won contracts to produce prime-time shows on state-owned television. State-owned lender Krung Thai Bank backed him, and Sondhi eulogized Thaksin's leadership and economic prowess-something that he now says was an error...
...clear why the two men fell out, but last September a talk show co-hosted by Sondhi was canceled by state television after he accused Thaksin of abusing his power. Sondhi began staging weekly outdoor shows, drawing tens of thousands to a park in Bangkok after work on Fridays. He aired allegations of corruption against Thaksin and his family, sparking criminal and civil lawsuits from the Prime Minister. But the suits were dropped after Thailand's King Bhumibol Adulyadej said in an annual televised birthday speech on Dec. 4 that government officials should not over-react to criticism or consult...