Word: thaksin
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Dates: during 2001-2001
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...mandate can sometimes be a dangerous thing. Since scoring the largest electoral win in Thai history last February, Thaksin Shinawatra has proved to be a Prime Minister with no tolerance for criticism. He promised voters a return to prosperity, but as the country's economy continues to crumble, Thaksin has lashed out at economists, academics, bankers, bureaucrats and news organizations that have questioned his policies. Citing the 11 million votes (out of 29.9 million cast) he won, the PM has told his detractors to support him or shut up. But last Tuesday, Thaksin got a very public dressing-down from...
...slime pit of Thai politics. Revered by his subjects as semidivine and for his work among the poor, he intervenes in politics only during times of crisis?most notably ending the bloodshed of the May 1992 democracy uprising. He prefers giving advice to Premiers in private. So, as Thaksin and his ministers sat in the Dusidalai Throne Hall awaiting the King's annual birthday address to the nation, they were expecting the usual sermon on development peppered with parables and gentle jibes. Instead, Bhumibol, 74, warned Thailand was heading for catastrophe, and lambasted its political class for their arrogance, intolerance...
...Thaksin can't argue with the King, he also can't argue with the numbers. As a candidate, he pledged Thais would have more money in their pockets in six months, thanks to his programs for suspending farmers' debts, nationalizing bad loans and doling out seed money for small enterprises to every village. But after half a year, GDP is down 1.4%, exports have dropped 11.7%, investment has fallen by 6% and private consumption by 0.4%, and bad debts are still plentiful. Thaksin blames the world economic slowdown, but while others cautioned that was coming, he still promised boom times...
...Other independent voices have also felt the Prime Minister's wrath. Thaksin has used his weekly radio address to ridicule some of Thailand's leading bankers and economists for making gloomy forecasts. Newspaper editors say Thaksin's Shin Corp., the country's largest advertiser, pulls ads if they report unfavorably on the government. (Government officials deny this charge.) Unhappy with coverage of himself in the foreign media, Thaksin and his advisers have also accused journalists from several Western news publications?including TIME?of bias and of being part of a smear campaign against him. The climate of intimidation has some...
...after the King's address, Thaksin told reporters the monarch was speaking to the whole nation, not just him. Even before the speech, Thaksin's approval ratings were starting to slip, falling from a high of 72% in May to 52% in August, according to a poll by Bangkok's Assumption University. Pollsters said it hadn't fallen further because people don't see any alternative. That shouldn't lull Thaksin into thinking he can ignore the King's advice. Says Sem Pringpuangkaew, a Thaksin loyalist who organized the nationwide petition drive in support of the Prime Minister while...