Thaksin Shinawatra
26 Jan 2014
It’s been a deadly winter for British comedians. John Fortune died on New Year’s Eve, alas, and this week comes news of the death of Roger Lloyd-Pack. So nostalgia has us flipping through some of the best clips and lo and behold, there’s the clue to Thailand’s political problems.
20 Jan 2014
Thais always seem to take things seriously when it comes to social media. At Toptens.com's the Worst World Leaders poll, Thaksin Shinawatra and his sister, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, recently deposed Adolf Hitler to number three on the list, with Thaksin ranked at number one and Yingluck at two.
2 Dec 2013
After news of negotiations and signals from the premier on Monday had led to anticipation of a solution to Thailand’s crisis, it turned out that the anti-government rallies continued, with the police as the new target.
30 Nov 2013
It seems they have belatedly recognized that their message wasn’t getting across to a foreign audience. Talk of overthrowing a democratically elected government in order to create a democratic form of government wasn’t exactly the clearest of messages. So the newly mis-named Civil Movement for Democracy has decided to use one of its great strengths – the superior education of its supporters.
27 Nov 2013
It is not the first time Thailand has seen anti-Thaksin demonstrations at least twice before: once in 2006 and again in 2008 Still, it is an open secret that Thaksin administers the country from overseas. The leader protest himself admitted on the stage that the Thaksin regime would return despite a fresh election. The question for the demonstrators is obvious: What do they hope for from their rally? How can they literally eliminate the Thaksin regime? Is coup d'etat an option? Prachatai talked with four people who have joined the whistle-blowing demonstrations to explore their thoughts and desires.
15 Nov 2013
I was more than 800 kilometers away from Kok Wua and Ratchaprasong during April-May 2010. None of my relatives, not even one, were among those who protested in accordance with the law. But I was anguished by the armed siege on the protests, the seize that caused nearly 100 people to lose their lives and more than 2,000 to be injured. And I was anguished by the unjust use (abuse) of the law against another 1,000 people after the protests.
22 Mar 2013
Former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra left Dawei this early morning to Hong Kong by his private jet, an airport authority told Dawei Watch.
13 Jun 2012
The past is always subject to editing, omission, co-optation and selective memorisation.
This was manifested recently when the red shirts flocked to listen to their leaders' speeches at Muang Thong Thani's Thunder Dome. Before people like Jatuporn Promphan and Nattawut Saigua took the stage, a video showing how resistance to the September 19, 2006, military coup took shape was screened.
20 Apr 2012
Over the last couple of weeks there has been a deluge of opeds in the English language Thai media and blogosphere on Thaksin Shinawatra. The Bangkok Post, the Nation and even Asian Correspondent’s very own Bangkok Pundit have repeatedly poured over every varied aspect of Thaksin's possible return in what only could be described, in a nod to film theory, as the “New Wave of Thaksin Fever”.
8 Apr 2012
A co-producer of the banned Thai film "Shakespeare Must Die", which has been construed as a criticism of Thaksin Shinawatra and the red shirts, said he will launch a petition campaign to overturn the Film Board's April 3 decision to outlaw screenings of the work.
31 Mar 2012
Red shirts and democracy advocates should question Thaksin Shinawatra, the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship and the Pheu Thai Party whether their priority is to bring Thaksin home or to help those red shirts who are in jail, said Somsak Jeamteerasakul, a Thammasat lecturer and political commentator, on his Facebook page.
21 Jul 2011
With the overwhelming win of the Pheu Thai Party in the July 3 elections and as Yingluck Shinawatra is headed to become the first ever female Prime Minister in Thailand, it is eerie to see the parallels between the recent developments in Thailand’s political history centered around the figure of Thaksin Shinawatra and the period of the late General Juan Domingo Peron’s influence in Argentina, particularly during the 1960’s and 70’s.