In the next day or so the world’s most famous pro-Thaksin website is shutting down (it even has a countdown timer!). This site, hi-thaksin.net, has, regular readers might recall, been discussed from time-to-time here. In its last 48 hours online it is broadcasting a video presentation of the past couple of years of Thai politics. This video provides a handy visual summary of much that has been the subject of debate over the years on New Mandala.
There is also a long, and apparently final, statement that contextualises the website’s mission. Is this a case of mission accomplished? Or only in the George Bush, on the aircraft carrier, not quite victory, the war continues, sense of “mission accomplished”?
Thoughts from readers are, of course, very welcome here.
[And, before I forget, anyone hoping to one day write a history of the past few years in Thailand would do well to capture this website for posterity. In its day, it certainly had some of the most interesting (and perhaps important) material available online. Now that it is going offline (and has already taken down most of its content) who knows how much of its material will be available in the years to come. Worth a look, and perhaps some effort, for anyone who is that way inclined...]
Update 30 April 2008: As of this morning, UK time, hi-thaksin.net is no more: “the page cannot be displayed”. Before too long it will be de-indexed by search engines and will, I assume, disappear into the ether. However, using tools like the “Wayback Machine” it is possible to stumble upon some of the old material.
11 responses so far ↓
1 Thorn // Apr 28, 2008 at 11:11 pm
Mission seems to be far from accomplished, but it seems that this soldier is doing more harm than good to Thaksin in the present.
It posed some articles reflecting the inherent conflict in PPP (attacking Chalerm Yoobamrung).
It’s also the point of attack for those who want to use lèse majesté law against Thaksin (some articles contain “sensitive” content). I think this is the main reason why it has to go offline.
I think it’s just obsolete for Thaksin. He is back to Thailand, and can communicate directly to his supporters (through Pongthep). That’s why he got rid of it.
For the mission, I don’t think it’ll be over this year; it might goes on until they all dead. Thank god these people don’t have capable children.
2 Dog Lover // Apr 29, 2008 at 6:58 am
Alas, I think Thorn is right. The war is not over. The royalists now think they are in a battle to the death, and I suspect they’ll stop at nothing. Such bloody mindedness will mean that the opponents will be equally tough. Thailand is in trouble because the royalists refuse to accept that others should have a role in determining the country’s directions.
3 Sidh S. // Apr 30, 2008 at 10:04 pm
… And Ericksson gets the chop at ManCity:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/m/man_city/7372872.stm
PMThaksin has been making very huge decisions lately from plans to dismantle the whole 2007 Constitution (predictibly meddling the the independent bodies and freeing himself and the 11o other TRT executives from political exile) and also shutting down the hi-Thaksin website. This is sending out multiple signals as he intends it to. PMThaksin is as busy as ever – and, as usual, I suggest NM closely monitor his movements if we’d like to know the fate and future of Thailand… If there’s a ‘network monarchist’ movement, they’ve lost the will and appetite (not to mention ruthlessness which PMThaksin has in abundance) long, long time ago. But we can still continue barking up the wrong tree if it makes us happy!
My reading here is that in closing the hi-thaksin website, he is showing maturity and tactical nous. The actions of his red-shirt supporters outside Thammasat must have warned him that things can easily get out of hand if he plays the violence (or threat of violence) card. He has the number, money and influence to get what he wants through parliament and he need not give PAD and his opponents media space – one of the fatal mistake he committed last time. He is betting (and taking the right actions to ensure) that they’ll be no large street protest like last time… Once he amends the constitution, dismantles the Election Commission and Counter Corruption Commission, he will be in the clear to make a grand comeback with his unfrozen billions…
But, with his well-known impatience (as well as unwillingness to consult and intolerance of opposing opinions) he is bound to make critical mistakes along the way. The appointment of PMSamak as his nominee (who, I am certain, will do anything to ‘be his own man’ and govern the full term. LuangPor Koon just gave a blessing that he is PM for more than 4 years which must make PMSamak a very happy old man) is already haunting him. The firing of Ericksson reflects these tendencies (the fans are happy, the players are happy, the sports pressed were impressed with Ericksson – PMThaksin is not happy as finishing top 10 in the EPL is not generating enough good PR in Thailand!!!)…
4 chris baker // May 1, 2008 at 1:42 am
Thanks Sidh.
One of the great texts of Thai politics in the past year has been the blog on the Manchester Evening News. When Thaksin bought the club, and some of the British press drew attention to the drug-war killings, corrupt sources of wealth, and dictatorial behaviour, the dominant theme of the bloggers was: we don’t care how many people he killed or fleeced in funny little Asia as long as we win games. Ah, religion! In the last few hours, the blog has gone mad. Sentiment is about 9:1 against Frank, there is a save-Sven petition, and talk of protests at the coming games. Familiar? The current thread is here Below is a sampler.
======================
Lets wait until the end of the season, the guys certainly not a fool and I have a feeling he would shoot everyone else in the foot before himself.
Thaksin will take this club the way Leeds have gone. He needs to be ousted immediately. Just when you thought things were going pretty nicely, you get this bombshell. Sven is the best manager we’ve had for ages. O.k at times his tactics and team selections have baffled us, but at least the players seem to want to play for him. what a huge step backwards for this club. I’ve finished with city now and I hope several more thousand stay away in protest next season
Frank is a dictator over in Thailand but we as fans need to make him aware that in this country we won’t put up with a dictatorship at Manchester City,any city fan renewing there season ticket,well thats your choice but all your doing is adding fuel to the fire and saying ok Thaksin you can do what you want we will follow you like sheep
Is there a protest being arranged outside the ground? Does any one know?
Thaksin – almost overnight you turned our club from being a running joke (when we didn’t score at home after Xmas) into a club that was respected. You have now turned it back into a joke again – well done!
Noel Gallagher reckons that ‘Frank’ is a bit of a nutcase. He does look a bit short of stuff upstairs, I have to admit.
But its never been a secret that raising his OWN profile in Asia and Thailand was always on Thaksin’s agenda,…
All the excitement, all the promise we felt gone in an instant!
The worst fears about this man taking over our club rumbling in tandem have now become horrifically true. We now have a dictator and his familly in charge who know zilch about football and care even less about the fans or this clubs tradition. All he wants is to score political points and pave his way to acceptability in Thailand.The sooner the whole sorry lot of them go there permenantly the better and give us our club back!!
Thaksin Shinawatra OUT Thaksin Shinawatra OUT Thaksin Shinawatra OUT Thaksin Shinawatra OUT Thaksin Shinawatra OUT Thaksin Shinawatra OUT Thaksin Shinawatra OUT Thaksin Shinawatra OUT Thaksin Shinawatra OUT Thaksin Shinawatra OUT Thaksin Shinawatra OUT Thaksin Shinawatra OUT Thaksin Shinawatra OUT Thaksin Shinawatra OUT
Dr Shinawatra has set his stall out now. THIS is how I’m going to run this club ladies and gentlemen. I might ask your opinion occasionally but ultimately if i want to do it…I’ll just do it. How long will it be before other members of the staff think…stuff this for a game of soldiers? If that’s how he treats someone who’s done well???
Apart from the disgusting treatment, the sacking of Sven isn’t the main reason for concern and upset. The reason for serious concern is that the owner is interfering with decisions he shouldn’t. Regardless of the fact the Thai clown has bought the club (however with funds questionable earned) he should not and I repeat not, interfer with any managerial decisions. If he’s allowed to do that without any resistance, he will continue to do so with whichever manager we’ll have, eventually leading to no manager will be interested in the job. That is why I urge every true fan to stop naming possible successors and accepting the mess, and stand up for the manager instead.
Thaksin has really no idea just what he’s started. He’s completely gone back on his 3 – year commitment (year1 top ten finish).
shinawatra is a ruthless despot whose power does not take anybody elses opinion into account.MCFC is an investment. Fans should make sure it becomes a bad investment and STAY AWAY
The club is being run on a whim, from a few thousand miles away. I have no doubt that the Board will be sacked too (i.e. Mackintosh, Bodek and Wardle) and I think that’s a good thing. They are shop keepers and we need a management structure more fitting for a supermarket chain. However, I am beginning to wonder whether Frank is a good businessman or a just a dicatator backed up by a few dodgy business deals.
The guy is a top businessman and he expects results and when the results are not to his satisfaction he takes action, end of!!
What do the board expect? If you drink with the devil that is what happens.
5 Teth // May 1, 2008 at 9:14 am
Man City fans seem quite a fickle bunch…. Anyways, I think Thaksin and City are a match made in heaven.
6 jonfernquest // May 2, 2008 at 2:31 am
I wonder if Thaksin: 1. anticipated this reaction to the firing of Sven at Manchester, or 2. didn’t anticipate it and now regrets it?
I remember one columnist arguing that one of the secrets of Thaksin’s success was his marketing research, i.e. knowing what customers or voters want.
Did he mess up this time or he just being the Genghis Khan he once touted himself to be?
7 Sidh S. // May 2, 2008 at 1:25 pm
Wow! It is almost like 2006 all over again – just that the protestors are English/ManCity fans and not Thai/anti-Thaksinites!!! Thanks AjarnChris for the samplers – they are gems.
Jonfernquest, I suspect that PMThaksin’s marketing research was conducted in Thailand amongst the millions of EPL fans – not England or ManCity fans (if past actions (e.g. the proposed buying of Liverpool) can be considered as evidences, he doesn’t care about ManCity, their fans – or football for that matter). This is about making instant media impact amongst Thai voters – and just the rumors of Luiz Felipe Scolari or Jose Mourinho taking over alone should generate a lot of news and excitement.
Would this lead to a ‘coup’ at ManCity? A fans (or another rich businessman) buyout? Personally I don’t think this will happen in the immediate term – as long as ManCity is useful for Thai media promotion (think Ericksson flying over to buy three Thai players; ManCity players accompanying PMThaksin back to Thailand; and the latest stunt, PMThaksin’s name on the Thai flag) – which should be as long as PMThakin’s political exile…
What he seems willing to risk here is exposing his ‘true’ self to the foreign media and they may eventually have less sympathy for the self-proclaimed ‘hero of Thai democracy’. I suspect that he does not care (”the UN is not my father”) – as the most powerful man in Thailand and especially once he also gets his PM post and money back… Maybe Teth’s comments on the Burmese Junta’s “shamelessness and obviousness” might even apply in Thailand then (if the past serves as evidence, especially in terms of the ‘rule of law’, ‘corruption’ and ‘human rights’).
8 Sidh S. // May 6, 2008 at 4:42 pm
“Thaksin’s ‘demand’ that the players ‘wai’ him before kick-off is being seen as a dictatorship streak ” :
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2008/05/06/headlines/headlines_30072334.php
(can this be true?)
9 Sidh S. // May 17, 2008 at 9:41 pm
Fair Play The Dr Thaksin Way
http://football.guardian.co.uk/Fiver/0,,2279237,00.html?gusrc=rss&feed=football
How Thaksin turned from saviour to sinner in a single season
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2008/may/14/manchestercity?gusrc=rss&feed=football
‘สเวน’นําทัพ เรือใบถึงไทย
http://www.thairath.co.th/news.php?section=sports&content=89834
Interesting contrasting media coverage of PMThaksin and ManCity. A year ago, it may have been the another way round! The three Thai players Ericksson ‘bought’ will also play for ManCity too according to the news. Scolari have resisted PMThaksin’s money and now Frank Rikaard (formerly of Barcelona) is the new target so the rumour goes. The best option (for the future of the team) is to kiss and make up with Ericksson I say.
The news that ASC’s investigations into PMThaksin’s and TRT government alleged corruption may be derailed sooner (for being ‘unconstitutional’) rather than later (through PPP’s constitution ‘amendment’) also speaks volumes about “Fair Play The Dr Thaksin Way”. It is possible that we’ll never get to see that “evidences” of corruption (that many in NM call for) – and not because there aren’t any. On the contrary, these developments points and confirms the opposite that there are probably too many cases/evidences of corruption.
10 Tawatchai // Apr 13, 2009 at 8:55 pm
I once repect in you Dr. Thaksin as a smart politician. But now, what you are doing, is hazard to Thai economic, society and safety. I hope you stop to do more thing to damage Thailand. Don’t forget your children and your ex-wife still gonna lives there for a long.
11 จันทรัสม์ เถาหมอ // Jul 28, 2009 at 7:49 pm
ขอให้ท่านกลับมาพัฒนาประเทศไทยเหมือนเดิมนะคะ
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