It seems very obvious Thaksin is looking to strengthen his position in Parliament by adding some quality people to the Pheu Thai Party (PTP) roster. This also means the present useless ‘C’ team is destine for the trash bin.
Over the past few weeks, several people who are friends of Thaksin that still have fairly untarnished reputations have been joining the PTP. Needless to say that factor alone adds to the elect ability factor if you ignore the fact that they will simply be puppets of Thaksin. As that public relationship continues that untarnished condition will quickly change.
Needless to say Thaksin’s original ‘A’ team still has a bit over two and a half years to go before they can reenter politics, and the ‘B’ team still has 4 years to go. It is hard not to imagine they somehow feel betrayed, used and tossed away. However that is the fate of dancing with the devil, if you are no use to Thaksin, no matter how close you feel to him you quickly discover reality.
This new situation is a significant threat to democracy in Thailand and is one of the multitasking things Thaksin is doing to get back into power. Buying people both inside and outside of Thailand, keeping the red shirts on the attack and a diversion all are signature Thaksin moves. There also is a new effort underway to win over Thais in the north and northeast who have strayed from the Thaksin camp. All while physically attacking any other political party who would seek to do the same. The issue of vote buying is a concern as well in pro Thaksin areas. The Thaksin image make over is part of it as well with input from Cambodia and other places.
As Connecting the Dots has said in the past Thaksin will do several attacks at once, and we expect at least one more to emerge in the coming days.
Speaking from a political and legal standpoint, all of this is within the law except for the fact Thaksin is a convicted fugitive as well as banned from politics. For the new ‘A’ team to directly link and get cozy with Thaksin could bring the wrath of the court if Thaksin has not bought the court yet.
The underlying vote buying cancer to all of this is a big concern of the newest political party the “New politics Party” (NPP) spawned from the People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD). It is very clear the risk and the motivation behind this.
This still brings us to the only viable solution to Thailand’s political turmoil is a dead Thaksin as his money seems for the most part to make him immune to capture for the moment. At Thaksin runs around doing his best to look above the law, the Thais most susceptible to this ploy are Thaksin supporters.
