It is a very big list of people who have had their lives destroyed by Thaksin. In fact just sitting down and coming up with a number, roughly it has been about 1 person per month. The sad part about it, although it was because of Thaksin, the destruction of each one has been self induced.
Perhaps it could be best described as tempted by the devil. Although Connecting the Dots frequently talks about the dance with the devil, it is the temptation that made people put on their dancing shoes to begin with. As it would be some of the people that have laced up seem to be in a state of denial. Others are hopeful the political landscape will change and are pushing on trying to bring that about. But in reality it is like just cutting off another bit of infected leg. Sooner or later that cutting is going to get up to something vital they do not want to part with.
Starting off in reverse chronological order and for give us if we mess up of forget one or more, we have the Red Shirt leader, rotting away in jail waiting for their day in court. All things considered and looking at the burned out shells, they are probably looking at never seeing the outside world again.
Then there are the Red Shirt leaders that are on the run. Many will face the same fate as their comrades when arrested. Some are running from their 2010 street party, and other still running from their April 2009 street party.
Going back in time a bit further there are the People Power Party (PPP) Politicians and cronies. Some are fighting legal battles and looking to run out the clock, and others seemingly have tossed in the political towel and hope for the best. They have concluded that their usefulness to Thaksin has ended and that they should try to move on. The respect for these people is gone. The days of Thais overlooking some bad behavior have ended. That is because of the level Thaksin took things too.
Stepping back even further there is the Thai Rak Thai (TRT) party. Many of them are waiting for their 5 year ban to end, but that is not until June 1, 2012. Again a similar pattern as with the PPP is with the TRT. However if people still see them as a means to bring back Thaksin, they are looked at like dirt and have no face to show.
In this list we have identified about 250 to 300 people that have thrown everything away, and that only goes back about 5 years. We know that this number is bigger than 1 per month, so perhaps we should clarify that the 1 per month number is people that have given it all up for good. The others have had differing degrees of damage, but all are worth mentioning.
Trying to think of another person that could do this much damage to people is difficult. So there is little wonder why things are as they are with such a divide in Thailand. With Thaksin and his Red Shirts taking to the streets to take back power by force simply reminds people of how bad things will be under a Thaksin dictatorship, and that thought also keeps the people Thaksin damaged from taking advantage of fading memories. What they did to get where they are is still fresh in peoples minds.
