The full transcript of Richard Lloyd Parry’s interview with former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra is available here. It makes for explosive reading. There is so much in the interview that will be of interest to the average New Mandala reader that all I can do is suggest that you digest it in full. Thaksin talks about an unprecedented range of taboo topics, and isn’t shy about expressing some pretty clear opinions. The long stream of comments that follow the interview (many from Thais) are also worth browsing.
Outrage has followed Thaksin’s intervention, and critical jabs are coming thick-and-fast. In one of the most predictable moves from what is now a well-worn play-book, the Thai government has announced a “ban” on the interview. But a translation of the most controversial parts is, of course, already available here. I’m sure the good folk at Liberal Thai will do a Thai-language version of the full interview before too long.
Finally, in a bizarre move, Thaksin has released a statement taking issue with some of the comments attributed to him. His “condemnation” of the “distortions” by The Times is what everybody is talking about today. Big story.
11 responses so far ↓
1 R. N. England // Nov 10, 2009 at 5:58 pm
The Dirty Digger’s toady, presumably the editor of The Times, who provided the dishonest headline, did so to cause a sensation. The Dirty Digger couldn’t care less what trouble and suffering he might cause in a far-off country. In fact he would be happy to make money from the advertising that goes with the news of it.
2 Michael Cahill // Nov 10, 2009 at 6:46 pm
R. N. England,
Would you please explain what you are talking about and whether you are being sarcastic?
Thanks.
3 Portman // Nov 10, 2009 at 7:19 pm
Very amusing reaction from Thaksin, pretending his interview was all made up by Lloyd Parry. The interview sounds just like him, impulsively shooting off his mouth as ever, and he has much less credibility than Lloyd Parry. He always forgets that he can’t cajole and bribe people overseas into meekly pretending to believe his lies. As the law stands and whether one approves of it or not, the government probably has no choice but to file a LM charge against him, if the interview can be verified with a recording. This would create a charge against him that could not be wiped out by cancelling the 1997 constitution and would be a spectacular own goal.
The interview (even though it might not have turned out how he wanted) combined with the hiring of Chavalit and the pre-planned move into Cambodia seems part of a new offensive. He has probably written off his petition for a royal pardon which has no legal merit anyway and feels he has to move before the Democrats start taking credit for an improving economy. Also, he must have written a lot cheques to the red shirt rabble rousers on his frozen assets and the assets confiscation case is grinding towards conclusion in the Supreme Court. If the assets are confiscated he will have repalce those cheques with real cash from his stash overseas. More strife and bloodshed are surely only just around the corner.
4 rirkrit // Nov 10, 2009 at 9:14 pm
[Editor - NSF: Rirkrit - I appreciate the passion of the moment, so we can let this copy and paste slide through this time. In future I encourage you to keep your comments on New Mandala more concise. Thanks for your understanding. Best wishes to all.]
Here is the entirety of my comments sent to the Times, perhaps overly melodramatic, but seeing western journalist and press outside of Thailand (and within) write about the situation here, disinformation is an oxymoron!
Comment to the TIMES:
He speaks of injustices, but he does not refer to the injustices under his government? The UN human rights watch still has not resolve the case where hundreds of southern Thai citizens all Moslem where herded and killed in mass, nor has he talked of the extra judicial killings under his leadership which executed thousands of Thai citizens related to the drug trade, because he feared his sons own drug use.
In his upsurd comparison (and western journalist seems to fall into the trap) to Aung San Suu Kyi that he was kicked out of the country, is untrue, Thaksin himself escaped bail and punishment from a judicial court ruling against him in a land corruption deal. He was not kicked out, he did not appear in court to hear the ruling nor did he attempt to fight the case (if as he has been saying, did not believe that the court was fair to him), he more than anyone else knows that he could have fought the ruling and made appeals, if he believed that the trial was political and unjust.
Its a mockery of democracy and the idea of justice, when we should realized that Thaksin, talking about the injustices of Aung San Suu Kyi, Thaksin as Prime Minister of Thailand did nothing in protest against the Junta of Myannmar. To rub insult to injury, Thaksin was (before his exit) was visiting the Junta regularly to seal telecom business deals with the people he calls undemocratic!
Or how justice didn’t work when he himself violated election regulations when he hid money in fake bank accounts in the names of his chauffeur and housekeeper? Or the over turning of tax regulations by his majority parliamentarians so his family related business can avoid paying taxes?
He spoke of historical moments in Thailand for his election and raise to power, but without the acknowledgment of electoral frauds and vote buying by members of his party? Who should have been kicked out of politics, if there was true democracy in Thailand under his rule,without the intervention of a military coup. He spoke then about the oppositions making rumors against him and his family, but speak not of what he has done to political activists and grassroots citizens who stand against his idealism.
He speak of defection from his party as electoral and parliamentary manipulations, but he does not speak about how he brought (with cash) politicians which gave him votes to be come (historically) elected a majority.
He spoke of learning form Him Majesty’s teachings, yet in every New Year address, made to the people of His Majesty, the ex fugitive Prime Minister turns blind, deaf and dumb to the cautions His Majesty spoke on those occasions.
Thaksin spoke of his popularity, if he was or is in reality that popular, where are the sixty million people who thinks otherwise, who have not spoken up? Should he be in his own measure at least as popular or regarded by the people as His Majesty as he himself said n the interview, why did he escape into exile? For fear that they (His delusional “They”) will come after him and murder him? And all his beloved followers would standby and let such things happen to him!
His Majesty feels unwell, because Thaksin is a large part of His Majesty’s burden, and Thaksin by all means manipulating the situation to his advantage. (This interview being a case and point.) He speaks of unity and forgiveness, but he initiated the crisis, now with Cambodia knowingly creating tension through a neighboring Government (note that its not the people of Cambodia who speaking but its oppressive one man rule regime, friend of “Truth Today”) that has always been antagonistic at best of time. As well as the southern provinces, which Thaksin himself inflamed during his watch as government, is also being manipulated for his end.
As I believe that should Thaksin return, all who have been writing or acting in any way shape or form against him will surely be eliminated without a doubt! His espousal of democracy and his edict against dictatorship, are not supported by his actions, his relationship to Cambodian Prime Minister is a clear example of that. He fashions himself after the dictator of Singapore and now Cambodia, which indicates that he has no intention of delivering democracy to this nation. His return to politics will lead to Thailand’s demise, and from his statements from this interview, it is clear he intends to manipulate the weakness of the highest institution which is the Monarchy. He is not at all interested in burying the hatchet as he speaks, he is causing rife and conflict and not just through his words but through his money.
The way he attacks the Privy Council, is how he is paving his road to the Republic debate. He says that they are manipulating the court and his situation to hold on to their (the Councils) power, but no one has ever seen such an act? It has only been the words of Thaksin and his men that speaks about how the Privy Council is manipulating this or that or the courts or the military, but the reality is only Thaksin and his words are! Because when there are questions towards the institution of the Monarchy, all discussions will be determined by the Privy. If Thaksin, can not discredit and dismantle the Privy Council, Thaksin will not have the absolute power he so much desires.
In Thai culture and society, if there is no respect then it becomes very very difficult to have a dialogue, Thaksin has been very much in his manipulation to destroy the respect and civility we have in Thai society. Thaksin is doing that by accusing the Democrat Party of undermining democracy and the constitution. Though Thaksin himself does not address the situation when he himself as Prime Minister was doing just that when in power!
He speaks about how all this effects investments and the country’s economic health, but those are again words to manipulate both internal and external forces, which he clearly sees himself as having the grip on all these matters.
The idea that Thaksin was never defeated in an election is as laughable as the ex-president of Singapore never being defeated in an election, the west has been able to be blind or turn it eyes blind to their own needs. This has been and always will be the case in such an idea of a developing democracy, we end up with dictators in Savile row suites talking about democracy and how prosperous we have become. You mean one Tambon one product? That is the measure of our lives betterment? Or 30 Baht cures all diseases, take two tablet of aspirin and drop dead health care?
If Thaksin comes back to make his long march, I will join him but his (Thaksin) are the words of a coward who refuse to face the trial and the rule of law.
There has been a lot of space and printed spaces in Western media and journals giving room to Thaksin, but on the contrary there are no journalists in Thailand really assessing the situation on the ground, from the voices of the Thai public. Thaksin is a one man propaganda machine, which the west has given credibility to, when in reality (political or not) he escaped the law! He ran from his responsibilities towards his own people, he sits in a comfortable sofa in air conditioning while his people stand out in the sun and rain, for the cause which we are all being duped into believing that it was for us! The reality is that we are not in the millions, as he would like us to believe, at most we are a hundred thousand in ‘Red shirts’.
Reading his words in the TIMES, I realized that we are being manipulated, Thaksin does not have an ounce of respect for His Majesty the King, if you can read what he is saying between the lines! His reforms are for Thaksin and company, they were not in reality reforms for the people or for the grassroots,how do we forget, Thaksin is a business man and his business is for himself, he will soon enough own the country, and the fields, and he will divide and sell it to his friends in the west or the east, just where ever he can make his wealth and power through that wealth.
If his assets were as he says frozen, how is it that he is able to buy the friendship of the Sheiks of Dubai, or Hun Sen for that matter, and fly around the world in a private jet? How does he afford all of that? By doing business with heads of other corrupted governments, undemocratic governments, against his own words and supposed ideology! Taking advantage again and again of the poor and the destitute, lottery licenses in Uganda!
The word ‘Failed state’ comes out of his mouth because Thaksin wishes it were true, and Western press promotes such a manipulations for the news and readership value. If Thailand was not on the world stage how would it be possible to have representations in ASEAN summit which just pass and previous to that the meetings with the G8 group which Thailand was in the discussion as well. Thaksin talks about the collapses of the Thai economy as if he were the only person that can keep this economy going, this is another falsehood and manipulation into the economy of Thailand. With that in consideration, how can one possibly believe that Thaksin actually cares and feels for this country, for Thailand and or for his people, in fact?
“Thailand is near to being a ‘failed state’. Because every institution almost cannot function because you don’t allow the rules of the game to take their course. You don’t allow the rule of law to prevail and you are biased against others. You don’t shine before the whole world. You just want to control power regardless. That’s why I’m saying Thailand has almost become a failed state, because no one trusts each other.”
The “you” Thaksin mentions in this statement, pretty much applies to how one feels when he was the Prime Minister, for a lot of the population. Thaksin’s rules of the game was and still is for SHIN Corp. not the people of the grassroots not for democracy. The shine before the world was the shameful purchase of a Premiership football team which he was manipulating financially and propagandistically. The “you” Thaksin is talking about is himself!
The capital gains tax laws which exempt revenue on capital gains was put into law by Thaksin Shinawatra’s government, again it is the rules of his game. To say that he didn’t understand the culture of Thai politics is laughable, since he himself, from the very beginning of his political career has manipulate every root and branch of the political institution, so he can now sit back and claim that we can not trust the institutions, we can not trust the government, we can not trust our system of Monarchy!
“Its the jealousy of the elite.” Yet everything Thaksin did in his time in power was to build up the Elite, there was Elite for everyone from everywhere who can pay to buy into the Elite Shinawatra Club, but in reality he never offered it to the grassroots or for that fact to any Thai’s. He is the Elite, he speaks of millions in his wealth and his existence and then he blames the Elite for taking him down? Like people in their position of power they can not see the end of their own nose and how the lies hang on it!
5 R. N. England // Nov 10, 2009 at 10:09 pm
Michael Cahill,
The Dirty Digger is the nickname of Rupert Murdoch, the (formerly) Australian proprietor of The Times and numerous other media outlets throughout the world. He earned this name several decades ago when he made his English debut as proprietor of The News of the World, the very worst of the loathesome, semi-pornographic newspapers that exploit English working people, and are collectively known there as “the gutter press”. “Digger” is a slang term for an Australian, originating from the trench warfare of World War 1.
He is now an old man, and we can look forward to writing something like this for his epitaph:
A conspicuous Proof and Example
Of how small Estimation
Exorbitant Wealth is held in the Sight
Of the ALMIGHTY,
By his bestowing it on
The most unworthy
Of all mortals.
6 New: Thaksin, Cambodia, PAD, new lese majeste charges and more « Political Prisoners in Thailand // Nov 11, 2009 at 12:36 am
[...] interview with Thaksin (although we suspect a hoax on this one for the Not the Nation tone) but see here as well, Kasit Piromya on the same interview, and the prince. Possibly related posts: (automatically [...]
7 Insanity // Nov 12, 2009 at 2:18 am
Re:
Thai government bans Thaksin Shinawatra interview with The Times
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article6909856.ece
The penultimate paragraph reads:
Mr Thaksin issued a statement saying that The Times’s report was “distorted” and “untrue”. The text of the interview, posted on Times Online, matches the recording of the conversation and was transcribed by a press representative of Mr Thaksin.
8 Nganadeeleg // Nov 12, 2009 at 9:33 am
The reality is that we are not in the millions, as he would like us to believe, at most we are a hundred thousand in ‘Red shirts’
The ‘reds’ are a very diverse group if it includes Giles and Rirkrit
9 Somsak Jeamteerasakul // Nov 12, 2009 at 11:53 am
Never for a moment would I think of suggesting that “rirkrit” should be gagged. But I’d like to draw attention (especially HIS attention) to how absurd, irrational, propagandistic his whole thinking is. See these two sentences of his:
The first from another post
http://asiapacific.anu.edu.au/newmandala/2009/11/09/thaksin-on-crown-prince-vajiralongkorn/#comment-671988:
we have a hard working Monarch who worked and spent all his time for the betterment of his people.
Now I just would like to respecfully ask: How in heaven would you proof such a statement? It is univerally accepted in modern times that, one should not believe anything without the right and freedom to CRITICALLY examine it. Now, EVERYTHING about the monarchy in Thailand cannot be subjected to critical scrutiny (without risking jail terms), cannot be held accountable in any shape or form, how would you know that such a statement is true? Blind faith, of course.
The second from the above:
His Majesty feels unwell, because Thaksin is a large part of His Majesty’s burden
Wow! This is new to me, and I guess new to the entire medical world not only in this country but the whole planet. From the statements of the Royal Household Bureau as well as from what we can observe, His Majesty suffers from pneumonia-like illlness, or some other illness naturally assaociated with old ages.
Rirkrit now discovers that such illnesses is caused by Thaksin!
I simply suggest that next time Rirkrit feels like commenting on anything here, he should first WAKE UP from his sleep in the 19th century, and try to catch up with how the world had evolved these past couple of hundred years.
10 rirkrit // Nov 12, 2009 at 6:05 pm
Khun Somsak, I did prefaced the text as “melodramatic”, and know for my self that these are commentaries and do appreciate how (as far as I have experienced) free and flowing these comments are. So, I appreciate you opposition to blind fate, if anything at all we should all be more like you. And awake in the 21st century!
11 Susie Wong // Nov 14, 2009 at 3:51 am
I think past records can reflect the current Thai government’s behavior. If you come to power using illegitimate methods, you won’t be afraid to do it again. Here is another reflection of the same type of behaviors, Aphisit, Kasit, Suthep, and the first secretary of Thai embassy in Cambodia on the espionage charge.
Bangkok Post:
Thai arrested on espionage charge in Cambodia
Published: 13/11/2009 at 03:35 PM
Cambodian police have charged a Thai man with spying on fugitive former Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra, further inflaming a diplomatic crisis between the neighbouring countries.
The spy row erupted as Thaksin played a relaxed round of golf with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, underscoring Bangkok’s powerlessness to make Phnom Penh extradite the fugitive politician to serve a jail term for conflict of interest while prime minister.
Siwarak Chothipong, a 31-year-old employee of the Cambodia Air Traffic Service, which manages flights in the country, was accused of stealing Thaksin’s flight schedule and sending it diplomats at the Thai embassy in Phnom Penh, Cambodian deputy police chief Lt-Gen Sok Phal said on Friday.
Lt-Gen Sok Phal alleged that Siwarak handed over the flight schedule to the first secretary at the Thai embassy, who was then ordered by Cambodia on Thursday to leave the country on Thursday for carrying out activities inconsistent with his official duties.
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