Are there really any political heroes?
Our politicians perform U-turns with such regularity, is it any wonder they are held in such low esteem by the public?
Thailand’s turbulent politics has created real-life characters that could have inhabited “The X Files”. Among them is General Sonthi Boonyaratglin, who has gone full circle. He led the Army when Thaksin Shinawatra was in power, spearheaded the coup that overthrew him, and then made another U-turn to support the Pheu Thai Party’s contentious “reconciliation” plan. Sonthi now advocates rewriting the Constitution promulgated after his 2006 power seizure. The newspaper Matichon recently called Sonthi a “real man” who is brave enough to admit his “mistakes” and try to fix them.
There are countless high-profile 360-degree turnarounds in our political crisis. It is largely forgotten that Sondhi Limthongkul, Thaksin’s arch enemy, was once his chief cheerleader. Chamlong Srimuang, Sondhi’s closest anti-Thaksin ally, ushered Thaksin into the political limelight by letting him take over his Palang Dharma Party. Snoh Thienthong was a Thaksin ally, then became disillusioned to the point where he cringed at sharing a celebratory stage with him and joined the Sondhi-Chamlong camp, only to end up coming under Thaksin’s wing again. The list goes on.
There are also former activists – known for their anti-American stances in the 1970s and ’80s – who now never hesitate to invoke “democracy” in their defence of Thaksin. Thaksin himself was no fan of democracy while he ruled. He once said he was unconcerned about rights or authoritarianism as long as the country progressed and the people were happy. “Democracy is a good and beautiful thing, but it’s not the ultimate goal as far as administering the country is concerned,” he said. “Democracy is just a tool, not our goal. The goal is to give people a good lifestyle, happiness and national progress.”
On another occasion Thaksin warned voters that his government would ignore constituencies favouring his rivals. Perhaps he was being overly emotional after a minor polling setback, but those words might also reflect his conception of democracy.
Matichon praised General Sonthi after he backed a charter amendment to revamp the Senate. It is debatable whether his about-face was noble, just as the merit of making the Senate “more democratic” can be challenged. The Senate’s composition and means of formation has haunted Thailand for decades and is now made more complicated by Thaksin.
The man in exile allegedly wants to clip the powers of “independent bodies” that were set up under the 1997 Constitution and allowed to continue under the post-coup 2007 Constitution. To do so, tighter control of the Senate, which oversees membership among those independent organisations, would be essential. It seems there is more to it than meets the eye when Sonthi supports just such an amendment.
Is he brave? Is he a “real man” admitting his mistakes? Chamlong has said he blundered by letting Thaksin into politics. Sondhi has endured mockery for having once been Thaksin’s “pom-pom girl”. If admitting mistakes is what it’s all about, Sonthi is not the first and won’t be the last. It’s the intention that counts, and that’s where someone should be considered courageous or not. And that’s why Sonthi still has a very long way to go.
