Word: thailander
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...Thailand has often been looked upon as a bellwether for the development of democracy in Southeast Asia, and on the surface at least, Sunday's largely fair and trouble-free national election - Thailand's first since a September 2006 military coup - seemed to be a good sign. The country's political troubles, however, may be far from over...
...With 18 coups since the World War II and 18 different constitutions, Thailand has yet to find a democratic framework or formula where everyone is reasonably satisfied. It remains a nation deeply divided along class, regional and religious lines. The man who most successfully exploited these divisions was Thaksin, the patron of the PPP now living in self-imposed exile in England. Using his leverage as one of Thailand's richest men, he successfully wooed lawmakers from several other political parties to join his Thai Rak Thai party in the late 1990s. Thai Rak Thai (TRT) dominated Thailand's political...
Investments by SWFs can be politically risky too. In 2006, Temasek Holdings, an investment arm of the Singapore government, bought Shin Corp., Thailand's major telecommunications company, for $3.8 billion from the family of Thaksin Shinawatra, who at the time was Thailand's Prime Minister. Public outrage in Thailand over the sale of what was considered an important national asset to a Southeast Asia rival contributed to Thaksin's ouster as Prime Minister in a military coup in September...
...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. "I blame him," says Prof. Thientham Thiensirichai, a former student who fled to the jungles and is now a member of the Matchima political party, a smaller TRT splinter-party. "He is my enemy...
...With a half century in politics, Samak can't be taken lightly. Not long ago, his decades-old dream of becoming Thailand's prime minister seemed dead. Now, it may finally come true. But the star is still Thaksin. "I must grab his hand," says Samak, "and bring him back into the limelight." So long as Samak gets to share...