Davos: Climbing a mountain

Yingluck was the second Thai prime minister to go to Davos, following in the footsteps of her predecessor Abhisit Vejjajiva. And this year, the WEF is coming to Thailand for the first time. Bangkok is playing host to the economic meeting on May 31 and June 1.

It must be said that WEF went out of its way to put Thailand in the spotlight. Also participating in the East Asia session was Pailin Chuchottaworn, chief executive officer of PTT, who will co-chair WEF Bangkok. The moderator asked several questions and gave him plenty of time to speak.

Thailand’s first female prime minister was among the stars of her session. Members of her panel included the illustrious South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the vibrant Sheryl Sandberg, CEO of Facebook, the head of the United Nations’ women’s agency, and a CEO from Bahrain who invests in women’s projects.

The WEF may have been striving to show that it cares about women. However, the public session attracted a good turnout, with the audience coming to hear what the stars – Sandberg, who was about to take Facebook to a US$10-billion (Bt310-billion) initial public offering, and Yingluck, the young PM of Thailand – had to say. The entire session was shown on the WEF’s video service and highlighted on the front page of its website.

“I like her and what she said about women,” said one member of the audience afterwards, though another didn’t think much of the substance. There were obviously mixed reactions to her performance.

Yingluck also participated in the Informal Gathering of World Economic Leaders (IGWEL), which only prime ministers/presidents and global CEOs attended. She took the opportunity to restore confidence in Thailand after the flood. She also held bilateral meetings with Britain’s Prince Andrew, Duke of York, the president of Switzerland, the prime minister of Pakistan, the president of Tanzania, the chairman of Sumitomo Chemical, who is also chairman of Keirenden Japan, and several CEOs.

Like Abhisit, Yingluck found it difficult to organise bilateral meetings with key world leaders at Davos. This has nothing to do with personality but the status of Thailand as a nation. Abhisit wanted legitimacy as his government was branded as military-backed even though the Parliament voted him in. Yingluck wanted assertion on the global platform. But Thailand’s decline in the international arena has continued, the result of earlier political crises and last year’s floods.

Diplomatically, WEF Davos was a hard climb for both Thai leaders. But the global appearance was worth the exposure.

And Thailand was given the red-carpet treatment. Deputy Prime Minister Kittiratt Na-Ranong had successful sessions with other Asean economic ministers on Asean connectivity and on crisis management, during which the Japanese prime minister spoke via satellite. He also watched with anxiety Yingluck’s performance on the WEF stage and appeared relieved when some members of the audience flocked to talk to her after the session. 

More foreigners seem to like taking photos with the prime minister than with any other Thai leaders in memory. Women’s power is definitely in.