What is clearly turning out to be a self serving blunder that exposed Thaksin Shinawatra’s true nature and intent, roughly 90% of all Thais reject the tailored amnesty bill that wipes Thaksin’s slate clean. The full fallout of this blunder has yet to be felt, and it does provide Thaksin’s political enemies with a reason to be able to say ‘We told you so!’
Not to also say we told you so, but Connecting the Dots all along was saying this to be the true underlying nature of Thaksin. We have had a few feisty emails from Thaksin supporters saying we did not know what we were talking about and it was not true. But in the light of this very strong rejection from all corners of society that include judges, lawyers and doctors, it is hard to find face in the Pheu Thai Party (PTP) politicians that voted for it and pushed it through the lower house.
This clearly will have an impact on the coming elections, and as the saying goes in Thailand, ‘All fatal moves are self inflicted’. It is way too early to predict the fallout in the election arena, but at the very least we can expect new faces to be elected.
The brazen nature of this bill suggests Thaksin sees his opportunity slipping past. With the PTP Government looking to borrow money for the failed rice scheme says it is taking longer than planned. The amnesty bill looks to almost be a Hail Mary pass that was to be force fed on the Thai people. Unfortunately for Thaksin, the bill is being regurgitated. Now indications are they are trying slight of hand to convince protestors that they will back off the bill and let it die. However with Thaksin’s history of saying opposite of what he means, that ploy is not being bought and protests continue until the bill is dead.
How much damage Thaksin has done to himself is not clear yet, but with his private army the Red Shirts turning on him as a result of the amnesty bill, his options appear to be less. Clearly he will not have the same level of respect with his supporters. It does not take a rocket scientist to see Thaksin was using them for his own advantage, and many of his supporters now see that.
This also once again shows that Thaksin is the focal point of conflicts in Thailand. Even after 7 plus years since the coup, the Thai People have not forgot and don’t plan to forgive him until after he has answered for all his crimes and done his penance in jail. This attempt to force his own freedom has only cost him support, you can call it a rich man’s jail break.
The bad part about this is he will not give up. In his own words he has no reverse, so that means the conflicts in Thailand will go on until he dies. To put it another way, Thailand has been on a path since Thaksin came into the picture, and that path stirs all the wrong emotions.
