Insulting stunt doesn't help with reconciliation

Thaksin Shinawatra is known as a man who likes to contradict himself. Therefore, it was not so surprising that, in Cambodia last weekend, he mocked his own reconciliation plea with an adapted Beatles song that his rivals, critics or detractors found hard to watch all the way through. “Let It Be” was sung in Thai as “Chang Mae Man” (“Screw it, I don’t give a damn”, or “screw their mothers, I don’t give a damn what their mothers do”). 

He might have done it on the spur of the moment, with prompting from key red-shirt leaders, but he should have known better. At the very least, the big-hit video clip of his singing is not going to get him sympathy from the other side of the Thai political divide.

Thaksin may be trying to portray himself as a changed man who is renouncing vengeance for national reconciliation’s sake. All we have seen, however, is a character switch back and forth constantly. He is subdued one minute, only to become provocative the next. This hot-and-cold attitude would not have been such a big deal five or six years ago, when information did not spread as fast as it does now. He does not seem to realise that the best way to help Thailand’s rocky reconciliation process is for him to stay humbly on the sidelines.

The country’s toughest choice now involves him and his wish to come home. It’s already hard enough without him singing “Screw their mothers” for millions of Thais to watch. He was having fun – albeit emotionally-driven fun – singing this in Cambodia, but if he had only known the reaction of those who are not his supporters. Thaksin is not helping anybody or even himself.

Even a newspaper that is normally seen as sympathetic toward Thaksin has cautioned that to link “reconciliation” with his return could be dangerous. This underlines the main dilemma in the country’s effort to get over the political crisis that has gone on for over five years now. One camp seems to identify Thaksin’s return as a key condition for peace, while the other side sees his possible comeback as a trigger for new political unrest.

It is difficult to find common ground in this kind of divide. Yet a sincere, non-provocative, low-lying Thaksin would help the situation. Problem is, Thaksin apparently believes that humility means accepting guilt, so he needs to promote the “injustice” that he has suffered. 

The Songkran reunions with his Thai red-shirt supporters in Laos and Cambodia were caused partly by homesickness and partly by an insatiable urge to advertise what he thinks is his undeserved plight. Whatever else happened over the border, the events culminated in his singing of “Screw their mothers”, which has now overshadowed his previous calls for reconciliation.

One doesn’t need to be a political guru to know whether an amnesty bill will go well with the song he has sung. “Dislikes” on YouTube far outnumbered “Likes”. Most of the online comments have been offensive, but a common theme, reiterated in varying degrees of anger or disappointment, is that this Thaksin show came at a bad time and will not do the reconciliation process in Thailand any good at all. 

Songkran is supposed to be a period of fun, happiness and forgiveness. One can get carried away when drunk. One can succumb to urges to sing an adapted song before hardcore political supporters. But the fact is that Thaksin should have let his supporters do the nasty job of taunting his political enemies. He’s not supposed to be doing what he did on that stage in Cambodia.

Let’s be fair and not proclaim Thaksin’s version of “Let It Be” a huge blow to the reconciliation attempt in Thailand. Still, the attitude or mentality that led him to sing it should change as a quid pro quo. Of course, political peace is not up to Thaksin alone, but he can either help or he can rock the boat.