The ABC Foreign Correspondent interview with Thaksin was a dud. Too much nice chit-chat about the travails of a travelling ex-PM and Thaksin’s desire to do the best thing by his country. Ho hum! Certainly not enough hard questions about his government’s more controversial actions. Even the briefest preparation would have highlighted that the question about the payment of tax on the Shin Corp deal would meet with an easy, and well rehearsed, response. What about some harder hitting, and well researched, questions about, for example, the so-called “war on drugs” or the heavy handed management of unrest in the south. And when Thaksin started talking about “serving the monarch” what about some direct questions about his relationship with the King (and the crown prince) and even the role of the palace in the coup that bought him down? Whatever one thinks about Thaksin, a more direct and challenging interview would have been much more informative and engaging television. Australia’s national broadcaster can do much better than public relations pieces like this.
At this stage there is only a synopsis available on the ABC web site. I will provide an update if a full transcript appears, or if the interview itself shows up on Youtube.
UPDATE: The transcript is now available here.
4 responses so far ↓
1 nganadeeleg // Feb 14, 2007 at 9:51 am
I doubt if Thaksin would have agreed to an interview if it was going to be too hard hitting.
Hopefully, the interview is distributed widely in Thailand so he can be held to his word:
“You will not see me in politics, not just the next generation, but for life. I want to devote myself to charitable activities and some kind of research.”
Charitable activities???
Maybe thats why he went to so much trouble setting up tax haven companies etc to avoid tax – so he has more money available for his charity work.
2 hpboothe // Feb 14, 2007 at 4:17 pm
“Maybe thats why he went to so much trouble setting up tax haven companies etc to avoid tax – so he has more money available for his charity work.”
Yes, that makes sense. Because while Thaksin knew that he himself only cared for the country and would use the money selflessly for the benefit of the people, he also realized that the government was headed by people who were only interested in putting tax money in their pockets (presumably so they could in the future use the money selflessly for the benefit of the people).
HP Boothe
3 Bangkok Pundit // Feb 14, 2007 at 4:18 pm
Here is an audio only link (3.1 MB):
http://www.box.net/public/jlusr4h1p5
Not much to the interview really. Thaksin has been rehearsing his answers.
4 Hew // Feb 18, 2007 at 11:35 am
The longer version of the Thaksin interview aired this AM on Asia Pacific Focus on the ABC. The extrajudicial killings and the heavy handed southern policy were covered, but the answers were inadequate as expected, and not challenged. For example the extrajudicial killings were justified on the basis of the subsequent landslide election win.
There was also quite a thorough lead-in piece on the airport’s problems.
Maybe the transcipt will apear here:
http://www.australianetwork.com/focus/
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