If Thailand woke up today to the news that Thaksin was gone, there would be a variety of mixed emotions. Some of the emotions would be positive, and others very negative. However when it comes to Thaksin, nothing is subtle.
The thing that would effect the most people is the ruling party the People Power Party (PPP) would fall into total disarray. Seeing is so far the PPP has done everything for Thaksin, and essentially Thaksin has been given the nickname “The Big Boss” by many, the PPP becomes a serpent without a head.
So far non of the members of the PPP have demonstrated any true leadership ability. Also it is very obvious they were looking to ride Thaksin’s coattails to power and riches as he was the man with the knowhow. So essentially the PPP will be consumed by it’s inability to govern and be tossed from power.
In Isaan, there will be profound sadness as they see Thaksin as being the only one who cared. Hopefully the other political parties will see how important it is not to neglect this group of Thais again as it was them that put Thaksin in power to begin with.
The anti-Thaksin people will be most interested in what happened. They will want to know all the gruesome details as they will want to see if Thaksin escaped justice or if justice was served. Depending on how Thaksin departed will set their mood. Some will be content he is gone for good, and others will want to see him pay.
With the Thaksin chapter closed that simply leaves what is left. With the sad state of the Thai education system, nothing short of a miracle will produce leadership quality people from a government school. However the Thais that have sought their education in other places will be better groomed for the job of leading Thailand. Hopefully they will have learned some lessons that did not happen in the classrooms.
There is no doubt Thaksin has helped Thailand to get ahead in the global marketplace. The once isolated Thailand has now had a taste of the sweet nectar of the big money that flows through the global marketplace. The little nicknacks that Thailand makes to support the tourism trade is nice, but when a major industrial manufacture sets up shop in Thailand, the economy prospers. Getting other countries to invest in Thailand was another one of Thaksin’s strengths. So now in absence of this Thailand will slide back to where it was.
Thailand will have changed as a result of Thaksin. The tolerance of having corrupt officials is much less as Thaksin pushed the Thais way too far. The Shin deal wis the icing on the cake that made the Thai say enough is enough. The Thais wont mind small scale corruption, but when 5 or more zeros follow an integer things will start to happen. The Thais will also eventually see a better life as more of the money that was essentially meant to make their lives better, starts to finally get to them and not in some corrupt politicians pocket.
Justice must be served in order to restore peace in this country. The fact that he was recently allowed to leave the country made me doubt. My hope is to see him pay – the sight of him walking into jail – may be wishful thinking. But then,even if THAT happens, our media needs to be reformed. So far too many of them (esp TVs) are only after the money, ignoring their real reponsibility.