The former prime minister, he said, is still popular among the poor because of his populist policies, such as cheap health care and loans when he was in power. There's an us the poor in the north and north-east against them elite Bangkokians mentality," he said. Boonpracong said: "Thaksin is just a politician who we should not overpraise. But overall he has he has done a lot of good for the people on the periphery who make up 70 percent of the bottom rung of Thai society.
Satrusayang, however, feels that Thaksin is still hated by most Bangkok people. But there's not as much intensity between the red shirts pro-Thaksin and yellow shirts anti-Thaksin , he said. According to Satrusayang, this is because when the military came into power it promised that it would be gone in a year.
They kept on postponing the elections, they keep on lying, they keep on infringing on civil liberties. Wongsuwan is said to own a collection of undeclared luxury watches. It looks like Thaksin's alliance will win the popular vote but it won't be easy for it to form the government.
It needs about senators to switch sides or for the junta under pressure from a higher power to blink on polling night. The writer is a former editor of the Asia News Network. Join ST's Telegram channel here and get the latest breaking news delivered to you. We have been experiencing some problems with subscriber log-ins and apologise for the inconvenience caused.
Like the reds, it was Thaksin Shinawatra that initially united the yellow-shirt camp. A loose grouping of royalists, ultra-nationalists and the urban middle class also known as the People's Alliance for Democracy PAD , the yellow-shirts utterly opposed Mr Thaksin. They were behind the huge street protests that led up to the military coup of September and the ones two years later which led to Mr Thaksin's allies being forced from power.
Led by media mogul Sondhi Limthongkul, Chamlong Srimuang, who is a former general with close ties to the king's most senior adviser, the yellow-shirts accused Mr Shinawatra of corruption and abuse of power. They also accused him of inadequate loyalty to the monarchy - and wear yellow because it is the king's colour. Street protests in Bangkok in attracted tens of thousands of people, shutting the capital down. Amid political deadlock, the military ousted Mr Thaksin. There was calm for several months.
But rumblings began when Mr Thaksin's allies won the post-coup elections in December and formed a government. In May the yellow-shirts restarted their protests, arguing that the government was merely a proxy for Mr Thaksin. They staged sit-ins at government offices and there were sporadic outbreaks of violence. In late November they staged a week-long sit-in at Bangkok's two airports, shutting down air traffic and crippling the tourism industry.
That ended up costing him 2m baht. So since then, I learnt more about wine, not just to go by price.
He immediately creates another gastronomic distraction, calling in the waitress to ask for black vinegar and mustard. At the end of the meal, he offers me a copy of his slab of a book. It boasts of his fighting qualities, foresight and courage, culminating in a famous image of him prostrating himself on his return for his last months in Thailand in February Yet, not for the first time, I sense uncertainty beneath the braggadocio.
Can a man who once broke bread with fellow heads of government be entirely satisfied with life as a super-elite nomad, making boutique healthcare investments, trawling high-end malls and politicking from afar? Is his renewed public profile as much an attempt to remain relevant as a challenge to the junta?
As we get up to leave, I ask why the generals and their establishment allies hate him quite so much. Then this footloose democrat-autocrat conjures a final contradiction. But they make me a tiger. Manage cookies. If you think the same, join us. Share on twitter opens new window Share on facebook opens new window Share on linkedin opens new window Share on whatsapp opens new window. Sign up for our life and arts newsletter.
Reuse this content opens in new window Comments Jump to comments section. Right after news of her disappearance broke, observers reacted in varied ways. Some people showed support for her, especially farmers who benefited from the rice-pledging scheme. But there were many who assaulted her with abusive posts, using sarcasm or simply showing disappointment at her escape and a deep-rooted distrust of politicians. Thais have hated politicians for a very long time.
Making of bad images of politicians can be traced back to the coup against a civilian-led government. Coup leader Field Marshal Phin Choohavan alleged the government failed to solve many problems including the economic slump and, ironically, corruption in the rice-control policy that caused a shortage of rice in the domestic market. Keeping her promise to supporters, Ms Yingluck launched the rice-pledging scheme immediately when her term started.
Thousands of billions of baht from state coffers was spent buying rice from farmers at twice the domestic price. Even though many farmers showed gratitude for the scheme, academics warned that it opened channels for corruption at every turn while manipulating the market without fixing the slump in the price of the grain. But, initially, it was not the rice-pledging scheme that led her government to collapse.
The protest was largely supported by middle-class Bangkokians and southerners. Almost a year of tension amid the continuing unrest led to the military coup on May 22,
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