Three-legged race not easy to win
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The war of words grows in the press. In English there is no single word meaning "bring a discredited person back from abroad, put him in charge of the country and give him the cash back he accrued from enhancing his shares using his position in public off
The red shirts ask also for “justice”, meaning compensate us and bang up the people who we say killed our fellows. It does not mean equal treatment to those who put them in harm’s way, quite unnecessarily and without cause.
Recently Thaksin called for “unity before justice”. Justice would be way down my list if I were him. When he calls for “unity” what is he asking for? Pheu Thai and the red shirts are two legs of the same beast, but there have been cracks appearing at the point where the two legs join. That could be painful. A third leg has appeared with the 111 returning to take over some slots in government.
Thida has been critical of the cosying up to the elite. The red leg has evolved into three red village groups with the Maoist faction losing out quite a bit. Will Weng Tojirakarn suffer by the 111 returnees? There are claims that some of these “banned” people were after all carrying on in politics, organising red-shirt groups. “Banned” obviously does not translate into Thai well. Is it possible that Pheu Thai, the red shirts and the 111 can unite to win the three-legged race?
RICHARD BOWLER
Bangkok
