It does not take much to see the motivation behind the Pheu Thai Party (PTP) in Thailand. Just read their comments and statements in the news and it is clear they do not serve the Thai people, they only serve Thaksin.
People would think that politicians would be careful in their choice of words just before election periods. They would carefully indicate their interest in serving the people who would be voting them into office. Taking care to note issues at the top of their constituency to do list and pledging effort to make it a priority while in office is a no brainer.
But what is happening it the PTP will focus their efforts on getting Thaksin back, and that is what they have been marketing to the voters. With their campaign theme being “Thaksin”, it quickly translates to ‘We have not a clue on how to fix or run things’. To help the Thai people they need Thaksin’s know how. Once on Thaksin’s coattails they will simply vote blindly as he tells them because that is what Thaksin will reward them to do.
This quickly translates into a period of time of no action for the Thai people. In short a repeat of the first half of 2008 and the People Power Party (PPP). They did nothing at all except try to reinstall Thaksin. There will be resistance and one way or another this will not be allowed to happen and thus repeating the second half of 2008. In short Thailand will once again stagnate for a year hurting every man woman and child in Thailand be they Thai or not.
However there is a glimmer of hope in the PTP. Apparently there are several PTP members of Parliament who feel Thaksin is too deeply involved and will hurt everyone and everything. Their concepts of government match the ideology of the PTP, but to them Thaksin is a liability and have become disenchanted with him. They want to do what is right for the Thai people based on that ideology.
This leaves the PTP in a huge state of turmoil. Thaksin will no doubt offer them more money for their loyalty and will need to do that across the board for the entire party. How this will unfold is hard to say as the outcome will be eventually driven by greed and money and not for the concern of the people they represent. The ones that turn down Thaksin’s money are the people who are more human than puppet. Needless to say they will end up on Thaksin’s enemy list for having some shred of morals and ethics.
