Thaksin & co too busy looting the ship
In reply to Dom Dunn, November 1: "He (Thaksin) calls The Nation 'prejudiced and biased' and points out that this is manifest not just in the stories you publish but in the headlines you use, and he advises foreign readers not to believe what they read ab
Actually, Dom the majority of the Nation’s readers (or the other Major in Bangkok) aren’t really as eager as you may presume to hear a response from the independent media regarding Forbes regurgitation of what Thaksin has maintained all along: That all the charges against him are politically motivated and that he is of course innocent and being denied his ‘legitimate rights, freedom to return and justice’, which is exactly what his proxies in the illegal Rajaprasong 2010 protest/occupation also pounded into the disenfranchised Thai psyches and all those like you gullible enough to believe them. No, he can most certainly return and face his sentence anytime he wants....
The fact Thaksin has co-opted the legitimate cry of the working poor, like the Forum of the Poor, landless Thai farmers and masses marginalised through decades of Bangkok- centric hyper growth is really the true crime as Thailand now descends down the path of a Chinese style quasi- socialist command economy, with but one overarching priority. One need look no farther than the rice pledging scheme to see it is a massive and wasteful boondoggle aimed at consolidating political power and corrupting the rural electorate and local power brokers in the rice dominated economies of the central and northern provinces. Who cares if the country’s principal income earner and bastion crop is flushed down the toilet as long as it benefits Shinawatra & Co!
Does anyone think Forbes really has a strong interest in gaining a long-term look at the real ‘man with the mask’ and provide an in-depth look into what Thailand has devolved into since the Thaksin debacle resulted in an armed class struggle bordering on civil war? No more than most Americans! Forbes is principally a high powered and elite economic and political op-ed publication based on movers and shakers in global corporate enterprise who could care about as much about the rural poor in SE Asia as Thaksin does with his intricate reigning oligarchy that stemmed from masterminding Thailand’s first telecom monopoly and who has since based his fortunes on legally proven corrupt and unethical practices andabuses of power. The legal system has already declared his guilt and his option was to fight in court, serve his sentence as charged or flee. Well, the rich and cowardly of Thailand’s elite political class tend to revert to their innate survival when presented with such stark choices. It’s atime tested strategy. Yet only Thaksin whines and pines for his return to the limelight as Thailand’s ‘savior’.
What the readers of The Nation are really yearning for is truth. That’s why they read The Nation, and not Thaksin Version of Distorted Truth Today. But, it’s a fairly free and open press, and surely if you published your legions of redundant, droning and deceived letters to the local press together, I’m sure Thaksin would be happy to receive a free copy to adorn his gold plated bathrooms in his various mansions and hotel penthouses as he champions the cause of those, like you, who believe he really cares about them. Let’s face it, he’s used his wife, children, brother-in-law, sisters, loyal friends, servants and everyone else he can scrape up from the heap of nepotism and shamelessly corrupt, selfish political cess-pool of unethical and vested interests in order to expend them for his own selfish gain.
Meanwhile there’s no question you as a loyal devotee would be happy to lay your life down in blood for the cause. Let’s hope you won’t have to wait too long. Surely you were part of the armed insurgency forcibly squatting in the rank and squalid Red Zone when it flourished in its ‘Democratic Struggle’ while the glossy photos of Thaksin were given out like party favors by the millions and the entire pathetic mob were indoctrinated by classic brainwashed ideological hyperbole for hours upon hours of virtually uninterrupted bombast.
When they couldn’t find any other viable solution, they covered their faces like the terrorists they were, burnt down, shot up and attempted to blow up half of the area in a zero-sum game. Only the selfless dedication and determination of rank and file Thai soldiers and highly trained commandos saved the area from near certain destruction. But hey, that’s just how they roll.
But fighting the cancer of corruption and anarchy for others isn’t the kind of sacrifice the Thaksin clan will make anytime soon. They’re far too consumed with feudally ruling the ill-fated Thaitanic and looting as much as they can before it completely sinks. Bon Voyage Messieur Dunn!
Caveat Emptor
