Word: thai
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...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...
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...
...generals are trying to inoculate themselves against the Thaksin effect. Last September's military takeover was initially greeted with little public disapproval-even among Thai supporters of democracy-yet the junta has repeatedly warned the local press not to report on Thaksin, lest the coverage inflame public sentiment. A recent CNN interview with the former PM was blocked from Thai airwaves. Nor are foreign governments exempt. When Thaksin met last month with Singapore's deputy Prime Minister, Thailand angrily canceled a set of diplomatic meetings between the two countries. A few days later, CNS leader General Sonthi Boonyaratglin intimated that...
...overthrew Thaksin to restore national unity and prevent a violent showdown between his supporters and detractors, is looking less than bulletproof. Sonthi and CNS-appointed interim PM Surayud Chulanont have promised fresh elections by year's end. But just four months after the coup, local polls show that the Thai public is wearying of military rule. At the same time, financial missteps by the military-appointed Cabinet have spooked international investors, as did fatal bombings in Bangkok on New Year's Eve that the junta has yet to solve. Meanwhile, in the restive south, Muslim insurgents have ramped up their...
...simple man of the people. And his tenure was plagued by accusations of graft. The CNS is currently investigating 52 cases of possible corruption or abuse of power during his time in office and has said it may bring charges by the end of February. Thaksin's old Thai Rak Thai party is also being probed for possible electoral fraud in the polls last April, which were eventually nullified. Even the ex-PM's showcase project-Suvarnabhumi Airport, which opened just nine days after Thaksin fell from power-has been tainted by claims of a rush job and of corruption...