Thailand’s acceptance in global community Part 2

As we look deeper we start to see a general concept of right and wrong in the global community of nations. There is a common thread that is loosely based on morals and ethics. If this seems to be lacking in a country, the country comes across as a bit of a bad boy and thus not earning the respect needed to have strings that can be pulled from time to time. In short favors are much harder to come by.

Thailand has a bit of a running history that must be looked at. Any one government simply does not have adequate pull to show a trend, and it is a trend that other countries look at. Looking at the present and recent Prime Ministers in Thailand, you begin to see why favors and influence are weak and far apart.

  • Abhisit Vejjajiva is seen as a Thai Prime Minister with significant western spices. His moral and ethical character is strongly influenced with western values. He is generally well received in the global community as he genuinely has Thailand’s best interest in mind.
  • Somchai Wongsawat was seen as a puppet Prime Minister for Thaksin Shinawatra. His government was seen as self serving and his demeanor was far from being decisive. He was not Prime Minister long enough to establish himself in the global community.
  • Samak Sundaravej was seen as a puppet Prime Minister to Thaksin Shinawatra as well. His short temper made him someone people wanted to avoid. The entire time he was in office Thailand was ignored and all efforts were put on restoring Thaksin to power. Needless to say he did not rack up a lot of points in the global community.
  • Surayud Chulanont was installed by the Junta that staged a coup on September 19, 2006. The word Junta in the global community of countries rivals the word pedophile in regular communities. It is simply a trigger word that is seen as negative. As a result he was not seen as a legitimate Prime Minister by many countries. His government for the most part was inept and lacked knowledgeable people to dig Thailand out of its problems.
  • Thaksin Shinawatra although seemingly good at the start of his time in office, gave way to greed and corruption at levels never seen before in Thailand. Although he was very business savvy, he lacked honesty, morals, and ethics. Without that the international community could never place Thailand very high in status.

So with 4 Prime ministers viewed in the negative column, and only Abhisit being in the acceptable column over the last decade, it is hard to see Thailand as changed. Abhisit may only be an anomaly in Thailand’s political history. Generally it seems the division in Thailand is between taking Thailand forward and taking Thailand backwards. A few more consecutive marks in the plus column will raise Thailand’s status in the global community, but from the outside that is far from a sure bet. What will happen between now and the next schedule government as defined by the Constitution is anyone’s guess. It will not be until the positive and acceptable roots grow deep enough into Thai political soil so as to offset any political storms will Thailand be viewed as changed.


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