Yingluck right to flee scene of chaos and hatred

The decision by Yingluck Shinawtra to depart these shores has of course provoked a mixed reaction. I agree with Somsak Pola that comparing her with Nelson Mandela and Aung Sang Suu Kyi is a bit farfetched, but had she stayed, and faced a prison sentence, then I think she would have assumed the mantle of a martyr, at least in the eyes of her supporters.
However, Yingluck probably thought that such an accolade wasn’t worth the sacrifice that she and her family might have had to make. She will, for example, be well aware, that people who have been involved in graver crimes than she has been accused of continue to live happily in Thailand, untroubled by the prospect of ever having to account for their misdeeds in a court of law.
A renowned poet has apparently now penned an ode which makes fun of Yingluck’s ears in a lewd manner, and this is surely an apt postscript to a sorry saga. It is just the latest example, but by no means the worst, of a series of abusive personal insults, unconnected in any way to her performance in the political sphere, which she has had to endure. Most of these comments came from those who would regard themselves as belonging to Suthep Thaugsuban’s much cherished “higher class and educated elite”, and who therefore should have known better.
Yingluck is well out of it. I hope she finds a safe haven somewhere, and one day is able to return to her homeland. 
Robin Grant
Bangkok