Thailand’s government under pressure from all sides

Thailand’s ruling party The People Power Party (PPP) is under increasing pressure to do the work it was elected to do. Up until now, the PPP has seemingly been actively doing things to serve just one person named Thaksin Shinawatra with very little if any work for the Thai people.

The PPP is made up of corrupt recycled politicians who’s roster could easily be described as a prison roll call as many have convictions on appeal and others waiting for trial. Is there any wonder why seemingly the judicial system has come to a halt with their cases after they got in power. Interfering with the courts by slowing down or stopping cases against them is one of the games this bunch likes to play.

Typically in the past this was more or less overlooked by the Thais as long as things were getting done to some acceptable level. However because of the extremes of corruption and arrogance by these people when Thaksin Shinawatra was Prime Minister (ousted by the 2006 coup), the educated Thais are much more sensitive to the issues. As a result of that coup a much more powerful constitution was drafted in 2007 that keeps the corrupt politicians in check. The PPP is actively trying to rewrite that constitution to remove the provisions that keep the bad boy politicians under control.

As a result of that, The People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) once again took to the streets in protest seeking to stop the PPP from removing the checks built into the constitution for just that reason. The PAD also seeks the court cases against Thaksin Shinawatra to move forward. At the moment they are seemingly deliberately stalled by the PPP who have control over the mechanisms of government that deal with the cases before being turned over to the courts. The PAD rallies have been between 5,000 and 10,000 people strong occupying a bridge near the United Nations building in Bangkok.

State enterprise labor unions are considering joining the PAD civil disobedience campaign by halting water, electricity and bus services. This could swell the numbers by thousands and cripple the country in similar ways seen in France. This will add even more pressure to the PPP.

In general the Thai people are laid back and often let things slide, however for the first time in Thai history the senate has called the government onto the carpet to explain it’s actions and why they are not doing the work of the people. Once again this heightened sensitivity can easily be traced back to one person named Thaksin Shinawatra. The senate is looking to meet with the government before the end of the month. Thaksin is seen as the real power behind the scenes in the PPP lead government.

Thaksin Shinawatra pushed the Thai people way past their limit with his arrogance and self centered greed for money and power. At the moment there are 16 graft cases underway tied to Thaksin summing to a total of 180,000,000,000 Baht ($5,400,000,000) just to give a idea of how far Thaksin pushed the Thai people. There is also an assorted variety of criminal cases pending for other members of the Shinawatra family stemming back to the misuse of power.

The heat continues to rise and the PPP has only themselves (or is it Thaksin) to blame. Whatever the outcome, Thaksin has no loyalties to anyone except himself. The term “Dance with the devil” has frequently been used to describe associations with Thaksin. If this all turns south for the PPP, Thaksin will simply let the PPP absorb the blame and penalties associated with this and find another bunch of people to do his dirty work. Thaksin is well practiced at insulating himself with whatever means he can make use of. In this case the PPP is a human shield for Thaksin.


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