It takes two to 'play by the rules'
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In his desperate attempt to portray himself as the victim, Thaksin is trying to throw a veil over his own political misdemeanours
Thais are worse than English football fans. That’s the conclusion of Thaksin Shinawatra in his latest attack on his political opponents here in Thailand. In a Facebook posting last week following the celebration of Manchester United’s 20th Premier League title, he admired the way the blue half of Manchester, in other words supporters of Manchester City, behaved themselves during their own dark hours while the red half was basking in ultimate joy.
Why aren’t Thais like that? Thaksin wondered out loud. He wrote that his motherland would not have been in this political predicament had its people been able to be good losers. He pointed out that “peace” in Manchester in spite of the delight of Manchester United and disappointment of Manchester City was due to the fact that the fans “respect the rules of the game”. “Perhaps we Thais who love to watch English football should adopt the same principles of good sportsmanship,” Thaksin wrote. “Losers should go back to lick their wounds and train harder, so that they stand a chance to win in the future. And for Manchester United, they have won again and again but nobody ever sought to dissolve the club.”
Obviously, it was a remark that came from his own political bitterness. But if Thaksin can be forgiven for being a bit emotional, he should have been a bit more careful when speaking about “the rules of the game”. While it’s fair to say that some basic rules were broken at the expense of his political interests, it’s also fair to say that some basic rules had been broken in his favour. As always, in his attacks on “political injustice” in Thailand, Thaksin has omitted to tell the whole story. He regards himself as the ultimate winner who has been subjected to persecution. According to him, his opponents are losers who would do whatever is necessary to discard his “triumph”. Every bad thing that has ever happened in Thailand, he tried to say, was a result of his rivals being sour losers.
Truth is jealousy alone can never overthrow an honest government, even with some conspiracy thrown in. Sour losers are everywhere, but for them to cook up something against the winners, it must take something worse than envy. Thaksin never mentions in his international complaints that, despite Thais being political sour losers, he managed to rule for about six years, during which he miraculously escaped damning share-concealment charges, and his sister has been the country’s prime minister for about two years now.
The 2006 coup shattered democratic rules. But had Thaksin broken the law before that? He always tried to say that he was convicted in connection with his ex-wife’s purchase of a Ratchadaphisek plot of land because of the coup, but he never admitted that the transaction was in violation of the conflict of interest law – coup or no coup. The fact that he was convicted at a time while his political party was running the country has been twisted to portray the Thai judiciary as a tool to destroy a man popular with the people.
That was just part of the story. But the whole Thai political crisis has the same pattern. When the “rules of the game” are against you, it’s a conspiracy. When the rules of the game” are in your favour, you use them to campaign for “justice”.
If Thaksin sincerely believes that Thais are worse than English football fans, he must be completely honest on which rules have been broken by whom. He also should admit that while sour losers are undeniably bad, bad winners can be far worse. And it takes both of them to make an explosive mix, especially in politics.
