What women say about Yingluck
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Four women voice their thoughts about Thailand's first female premier and her performance over the past five months
Thida Thawornseth, red-shirt caretaker chairwoman
There are no one-man shows. There should be a team of principled people helping the leader make the right decisions. It is Pheu Thai’s responsibility to help Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra do her job. She has been called a “parrot premier”, among other things. That’s not fair. It’s necessary to have a good strategic team to back her.
Yingluck knows when to speak and when to keep quiet. We are certain that she thinks carefully before making a decision.
Though she has not been too outstanding so far, she has passed the test. She worked hard during the flood crisis, though her strategic team should have worked harder to support her.
I would like to offer moral support to PM Yingluck as a fellow woman, not just a red-shirt supporter. Despite having no experience in politics, she has passed the test. I think she needs more time – maybe a year or two – to improve and develop her abilities. I’m sure she would become an admirable leader.
Rosana Tositrakul, Bangkok senator
Prime Minister Yingluck had to deal with the flood crisis, which was a very difficult job. It was like getting an amateur driver to drive up a cliff – she was not able to do too well. But since then, she’s had more chances to make up, but she seems to keep failing.
After the floods, she should have focused on solving people’s problems and boosting the economy. Instead, she allowed politicians to instigate problems by pushing for things such as Constitution amendments. These are not urgent issues and could end up worsening the economy.
Yingluck has not proved her capabilities, but instead has allowed people around her, including her older brother, former PM Thaksin, to direct her too much.
She also seems to avoid problems by refusing to answer questions at House meetings and is seen as a “ribbon cutter” or someone who just presides over events. Initially, as a woman, Yingluck might have softened the political atmosphere, but now, after voicing support for charter amendments, she seems to be joining other factors to shake Thai politics.
Duangkamol Chotana, president, Thai News Business Unit, Nation Multimedia Group
Prime Minister Yingluck’s gentle personality is one of her most outstanding qualities. With a character like that, she could have many people help her out. For instance, Sumet Tantivejkul, secretary-general of the Chaipattana Foundation, and other academics were delighted to step in and help out during the flood crisis.
Yingluck dealt with the crisis better than many men would have done. She is new in politics and with barely four months at the job, and especially with such a big crisis, it’s difficult to say how successful she is as a premier.
With her gentle personality, she can easily avoid confrontation. For instance, a male leader might show anger or react aggressively, but Yingluck just pouted a bit and then returned.
Another of my impressions is that Yingluck is a very patient, determined person and a strong woman. She is also an open-minded person and I believe she listens to all comments and advice. Being an executive doesn’t mean the person needs to know everything. Yingluck has proved that she knows how to delegate duties and that is one of the key qualities of a good leader.
Yingluck came from an election and yes, she represents Pheu Thai Party. But she has the right to consider her priorities and work for the interest of the public. The difficult part is how this work is done.
Chalidaporn Songsamphan, Thammasat University political science lecturer and author of “The Political and Gender Power Relations”
It has been quite “still” over the past four months and it is not clear which direction the important issues, that have been waiting for the prime minister since before the election, will take.
For now, I think Prime Minister Yingluck is just standing on the verge of passing or failing her tests.
She should be more independent and tell the society what she wants to see in relation to main issues, such as the divisions in the country. Yet, so far, we have not seen the premier’s vision in relation to any issue. Others dominate the direction she takes.
She might have introduced a feminine style of leadership, in contrast to someone who thumps the table when making decisions. But we cannot really say that she is moving toward conciliation, because she only seems to deal with the same set of politicians or people, not the entire society.
A key womanly trait, which can be applied beautifully to the administration of a country, is the ability to draw people together.
I have heard from the people close to the premier that she is open minded and listens to other people. But my point is, why doesn’t she make this character clear to the public?
