[Mb-civic] The Thai people speak - Boston Globe Editorial

[William Swiggard]

  The Thai people speak

April 7, 2006  |  Editorial  |  The Boston Globe

THAILAND Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's resignation on Tuesday 
signifies a healthy triumph of people power in that vibrant Southeast 
Asian nation. A cascade of huge public rallies against Thaksin's 
manipulation of democratic forms finally led to the fall of a new kind 
of autocrat -- the oligarch who buys power and wields it as the CEO of 
an entire country.

The immediate catalyst for the billionaire tycoon's decision to step 
aside was, apparently, a well-timed nudge from Thailand's revered 
monarch, King Bhumibol Adulyadej.

Despite a stunning level of opposition to his Thai Rak Thai party in 
Sunday's parliamentary election -- in which 10 million people cast no 
votes -- Thaksin initially pretended he nevertheless had a mandate to 
continue in office, since a majority of voters had voted for his party. 
But after being summoned to a ''special audience" with King Bhumibol 
Tuesday, Thaksin went on television to say he was stepping aside so as 
not to spoil the gala celebrations in June of the king's 60th 
anniversary on the throne.

The king, however, was only fulfilling the will of his people. In many 
constituencies, there were more ''no" votes than votes for candidates of 
Thaksin's party. This was the outcome in 26 constituencies of Bangkok 
and in 56 more in predominantly Muslim districts of southern Thailand. 
In 38 other constituencies, unopposed candidates from Thaksin's party 
failed to get 20 percent of the votes cast, a requirement for gaining a 
seat in Parliament. Hence, the election did not produce a new parliament 
in accordance with Thailand's Constitution, but it did deprive Thaksin 
of a mandate to continue in power.

The election results and the rallies that brought as many as 100,000 
demonstrators into the streets were rooted in revulsion against both the 
domestic abuses of Thaksin's rule and his regional missteps. His 
government's extra-judicial murders of suspected drug traffickers, the 
massacre of Muslims in southern Thailand that infuriated neighboring 
Malaysia, his commercial dealings with a savage military junta in Burma 
that has been flooding Thailand with methamphetamine, and the corrupt 
granting of government contracts to well-connected cronies -- these were 
among the causes of popular disenchantment with Thaksin.

But the final straw was the sale of his family-owned conglomerate to the 
government of Singapore for $1.9 billion. Included were not only the 
satellite and mobile-phone branches of his business empire, but also an 
airline in competition with the Thai national airline. What shocked the 
Thai public was that Thaksin would pay no tax on the sale of his stock.

The Thais are showing the world that there is a crucial distinction 
between corporate culture and democratic culture.

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/editorials/articles/2006/04/07/the_thai_people_speak/
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