How to keep the mess really messy

An excellent article, whether or not any of the names and/or relationships are for real. They could be, but if they are, the prognosis for Thailand is bleak. 

Make no mistake, an amnesty for Thaksin is truly the “root of the political crisis” because an amnesty is the only solution that could bring the whole unholy mess back home intact. And the powers-that-be, on all sides of the political spectrum, including the powers behind the red shirts, long to be home intact – because home is where the mess is, and, of course, for a pig, home-cooked food is the messiest! 

All the names cited in the article are famous for messing on through, which is how they cemented their places at the trough in the first place. The really big wigs know that, in Thai politics, messiness is just how it works, and will use any amount of messiness they have to keep the mess messy.

The real difference in the present situation is that there is a growing number of Thais who don’t want to mess through any longer, people who long for reforms that can lift Thailand out of the quagmire of corruption and cronyism that has bedevilled it for so long. And these people are not supporters of this or that particular party either – they’re all over the place, and can be heard joining the argument from every side. Because what almost every conscientious Thai wants is a new commitment to transparency and accountability, so there can be political discussion without violence. In other words, real democracy, not demagoguery!

The powers cited in this article understand the new threat very well, and will do anything they can to thwart it – even to the extent of making deals with the red shirts, who, in their core ideology, are fundamentally opposed to the mess in the first place. And now those powers are even approaching the Democrats, their bitterest rivals in the art of managing it! 

One ray of hope is that the Democrats have been spooked by this offer, which is why Suthep Thaugsaban is blowing the whistle. The Democrats know very well that “Napoleon” has only his own interests at heart, and though they may get a few buckets-full of slops initially, they’ll be shut out once the amnesty goes through. And there are a lot of red shirts who are beginning to see through this strategy as well, who realise they’re being had. The Thai Napoleon in charge of the trough, just like George Orwell’s Napoleon in Animal Farm, isn’t interested in sharing with them at all. 

But I say hang in there, dear friends – the ungodly rush for amnesty is because you’re winning! I also say look carefully at your leaders – red, yellow, white or blue – and figure out precisely who they are serving: Napoleon or you? And I say dump them if you feel you’re being deceived – which you are, more often than not.

My fondest hope is that the red-shirt movement, with its grassroots dream of a fairer, more just and more balanced society, may be successful. That’s where my heart lies – if only the red shirts can hold firm and pursue their dream with integrity. 

And then there’s the greatest irony of all: that some of the most influential leftist leaders, like Chaturon Chaisang, Thida Thavornseth and even her husband, that most venerable of all Maoists, Maw Weng Tojirakarn, with such impeccable political and social pedigrees, should allow themselves to be used so shamelessly by pigs.

Lung Kip,

Chiang Mai