Banned Thai Politicians Are Back in Full Swing

 

Chaturon Chaisang (right) and Phongthep Thepkanchana (right)

Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand. Bangkok. June 12, 2012. Five years ago, the Thai courts dissolved Thaksin's political party, Thai Rak Thai, for voter fraud, and banned its leaders from politics for five years. The ban is now over and the politicians are back in force and are joining the Phua Thai party, which is the new name for Thaksin's party, and which is now the majority party in parliament. Thaksin himself controls the government from Dubai, to which he fled to avoid serving a two-year prison sentence for official corruption. Thaksin's sister, Yingluck, is prime minister. The main goal of the Phua Thai party and the government it controls, is to get Thaksin back to Thailand without having to serve any prison time, and to have the court return to him, the US$1 billion the court seized from him as the amount Thaksin benefited from his corrupt acts.
 
Two leaders of the old Thai Rak Thai party, Chaturon Chaisang and Phongthep Thepkanchana, spoke at the FCCT, and made it clear that they want Thaksin back regardless of the cost to the country in terms of political stability and civil unrest. About two weeks ago, the courts enjoined parliament from discussing amendments to the Thai constitution, which would have whitewashed Thaksin's crimes. In the view of Chaturon and Phongthep, the court's injunction is a judicial coup. Without going into any detail about the arguments of these two politicians, which are supported by many in the government and which are extensively reported in the press, it is my impression that their strident rhetoric and unyielding positions make reconciliation impossible in Thailand right now, and that Kh. Chaturon's projections that the crisis will continue and get more severe is correct.