Originally posted by kiwiman
Yes of course Vicco, my quote was in jest, You are right re: Thai economy does indeed seem to be improving , faster than most Western economies, some many billions of baht have been injected into the Thai economy from foreign investors of recent times .Why in your opinion is that ? Suggestion: the current Thai govt is seen to be more stable , absence of Thaksin or at least his influence.
Not sure, do not countries(or their peoples) seem to rise above the silly politics' or despotic leaders eventually, Germany etc.
Thailand to it's credit has not had a colonial country running it( IE western country) at any time in it's history and although it has played games with the Japanese, Americans, English etc, Dutch , Chinese also in times gone by, it has largely governed itself for better or worse( not able to judge)
I'm rambling now , but I see in the USA racial murders are up 50% and the amount of organisations of redknecks are also high. It only takes one madman eg Russell McVeigh(name??), executed 2001 to cause havoc.
I think Thailand, despite the press and their biases(and is not the press in western countries not so !!!) is not a bad base to live
Kind regards
Steve
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Well I'm not an expert...
but think Thailand has seen solid investments because:
(a) It is an "emerging" economy and in general emerging economies have fared much better than
the developed economies and are likely to do so for the forseeable future.
(b) The fundamentals are strong relative to most, if not all western economies. 8 out of 16 EU
Economies are technically bankrupt...and the rest are not that far behind...
I won't even
bother with the UK or USA for now.....
In addition to all of the above...investors have become accustomed to political instability in Thailand
(when was it ever really stable?) but Thailand has a habit of just jogging along despite who is mismanaging things in Bankok. For all the hyper- ventilating about Thaksin...the economy performed well when he was in power and he was considered internationally to be "business friendly" to big corporations and foreign investment. He was despised by the wealthy and powerful minority that has run Thailand for many decades. He posed a huge threat (real or imagined) to their special status so they had to get rid of him....so when he left the country for a trip the military took power. In doing so the military and those behind them effectively disfranchised (once again) the rural masses who viewed Thakin as the only leader who had ever done anything to help them. (Lets not lose sight of the fact that Thaksin was elected by a wide margin and is the only PM to serve a full term of office in Thailand...and then get re-elected)
The ruling class could not have this upstart self made billionaire running things so they did what any self respecting ruling class would do....made up a case of corruption and abuse of power---and had their courts find him guilty. (The judges belong to the same class) The case against Thaksin was full of holes and I doubt if he would have been found guilty in a truly independent jurisdiction but this had nothing to do with the law or justice....it had to do with politics and power.
After the coup....Thaksins re-vamped and re-named party won another election.........oh dear what are we to do now thought the people who instigated the coup......no problem...just have our courts disband the party for electoral fraud and then we can put our guys back in power....
Its all perfectly legal....when you get to make the laws....appoint you own judges to uphold your law and basically circumvent the entire democratic process.. it's a"fait- a- complis"...no worries.
That is what the UDD (Red shirt) movement is really about.....it is not so much about Thaksin per se...it is about the whole process of his removal and the disbanding of the party that
they elected to represent them.....and the replacement of that party with a coalition of puppet parties that are controlled and dictated to by the the same people who had run things before anybody heard of Thaksin in the first place. The UDD leaders harp on endlessly about their hero Thaksin.....because it resonates in their rural base....the real issues are complex legal and moral issues and not very inspiring to simple people...so they have to use their icon and his demise to make a case that the ordinary people will understand and support.
Personally there are many things about Mr T that I don't like....I don't think that I would buy a used car from the man.....but the circumstances surrounding his removal from office and the events that followed do not smack of democratic process....and therein lies the problem. You simply do not run a democratic state by having a military coup...and then having your courts disband an elected political party... and assemble your own government from your own supporters....!!!
Even Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini did not achieve their positions like that.......
I have the sense that most, or at least more that 50% of falangs are anti red.....we all have our
own reasons and feeling about it...but considering that the two English language papers in Thailand are almost hysterically anti Thaksin and the UDD....it is hardly surprising. That is where they get their "information"
I really don't know if Mr. T was really guilty or not.... but it's not the
real issue!!!!
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