Suu vs ex-Thai PM: rights trump wealth

Yes indeed, the world absorbs the ASSK effect, and everybody is celebrating The Lady’s values, courage, and tenacity, hoping indeed that those countries that had formerly cold-shouldered her, including her closest neighbour, Thailand, will at last find the courage to embrace her and her vision. 

The present ironies were legion as The Lady prepared for the World Economic Forum in Bangkok, as the star of the show. Robert Amsterdam, former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra’s lawyer, compares his own star-client to ASSK all the time, saying Thaksin is equally devoted to freedom, and has equally sacrificed himself in his personal struggle against injustice and dictatorship. Yet Thaksin won’t be in Bangkok to greet her because he still can’t face those two little years in jail on behalf of freedom. And do take note, had Thaksin accepted that sentence in order to stay faithful way back in 2008, he would have been a free man more than two years ago, and would have been able to greet her in Bangkok in person. They could have compared notes on their tribulations!

And if by some ill-chance Thaksin had been found guilty in one of the other legal cases waiting to be heard against him, some involving deals with Burma too, don’t forget, do you think ASSK would have visited him in prison to express her solidarity with him?

The article also points out that only Chuan Leekpai of all previous Thai leaders took an ethical stand on ASSK’s behalf, and that was way back in the late 90s. All the Thaksin years were still to come, cosy-cosy with the Junta all the way to the bank, so to speak. Former Prime Minister Chuan finally did get to visit her in February this year, 12 years after he took his uniquely principled stand on her behalf, and that must have been a very moving encounter indeed. Thaksin, on the other hand, has been in Burma a number of times recently on business, yet he has never tried to visit her, or even mentions her name anymore. His sister, Thailand’s new Prime Minister, Yingluck Shinawatra, did see her for a few minutes, but that was an official visit with the Burmese opposition – there’s no courage involved with meeting ASSK now, or need to take any sort of ethical stand on her behalf. But wouldn’t it be nice to know what the ladies talked about all the same? Do you think anything? 

And do you think The Lady may have been able to speak on Thaksin’s behalf while in Bangkok, to encourage Thailand to forgive him for democracy’s sake, and let him come home for the sake of the people? 

I was particularly struck by the last paragraph of this fine article. It points out that ASSK is different from other Southeast Asian leaders “who go after economic growth as the only redemption for their tight-fist rule that often trumps human rights and democracy”. 

Do you think Robert Amsterdam might like to pick up on that similarity too?  

Lung Kip

Chiang Mai