International Leaders: Thailand

The following is a discussion of the leadership of Thailand’s Prime Minister, Thaksin Shinawatra. It is interesting to note the contrasts and similarities between leaders such as Thaksin and North African leaders. Although basic human indicators are higher and the population has a real choice in who to elect, there is still a tint of kleptocracy present. Here, perhaps, it is better hidden from the least educated, rural majority. Also, with essentially fair elections, there is a need for, and a presence of, populism. Still, while the purpose behind Thaksin’s policies may be to gain influence, as we shall see, they have helped increase many of Thailand’s economic indicators and its global standing.

Thaksin began his career in the Royal Thai Police Department in 1973. Within five years, he had obtained Master’s and Doctoral degrees in Criminal Justice in the Unites States and received a high-ranking post in the police force, which he quit in 1980. An entrepreneur at heart, Thaksin and his wife ventured into several unsuccessful business ventures, before founding Shinawatra Computer and Communications Group and becoming the first to introduce cable TV, paging devices and mobile phones to Thailand. In 2001, after forming the political party, “Thais Love Thais” and rallying against political corruption, Thaksin won a landslide election to become Thailand’s PM.

Thaksin has run Thailand like an efficient business. He has privatized a state-owned oil and gas company and has attempted the same with the state-owned electricity company. The revenues from the IPOs are intended to be used to develop renewable energy sources.

Thaksin’s supporters tend to focus on his policies for reduction of rural poverty (through such policies as extended loans to farmers, subsidized gas prices, universal health care for $0.75 per visit, and so on) and his hand in Thailand’s economic recovery from the 1997 crisis. The name given to Thaksin’s economic policies is Thaksinomics. Since Thaksin has become PM, GDP per capita has risen nearly forty percent, and overall GDP has risen from $122 billion to $177.5 billion. During the first four years of his term, poverty dropped by ten percent, Thailand was able to repay its IMF loan two years early, and its national budget was balanced.

Thaksin also received strong support from the provinces as a cause of his swift actions following the tsunami crisis. While touring the southern regions, Thaksin initiated several processes to deal with the devastation. Interestingly, Thaksin refused foreign aid, claiming that Thailand was sufficiently strong to cope on its own.

Finally, support for Thaksin grew as the result of his heavy-handed anti-drug policies, which have reduced drug use in schools and has increased drug prices 2-3 fold (due to the damage done to the drug supply chain).

Thaksin’s opposition calls him a domineering CEO and bases its claims on his self-interest as a businessman, indeed, perhaps Thailand’s richest. There have been clams that Thaksin has used insider knowledge to promote his business interests and to save his business during the Asian Financial Crisis. However, Thaksin is also considered Thailand’s savior during the crisis. Also, in 2001, Thaksin was almost convicted of concealing business assets. There are also (thus far) unproven allegations that Thaksin bribed judges to acquit him. His opposition also claims that Thaksin’s welfare policies cause government overspending and that these reforms must be paid for by the middle class in the form of income tax.

In March of 2006, there was a mass protest outside of Thailand’s Government House, demanding that Thaksin step down. Interestingly, the protesters were the country’s elite who claim that he helped pass a tax-break which helped his family save $667 million in taxes on the sale of a cell phone company.

Thaksin was also alleged to have restricted freedom of the press in more than one incident. For example, in 2005 he sued a Thai newspaper for publishing a sermon given by a monk, in which Thaksin was claimed to desire the presidency, a non-existent position which would remove the king’s powers. Thaksin did not sue the monk, as monks are considered “above criticism”.

Thaksin Shinawatra certainly has improved Thailand’s economy in several ways, though he has burdened the middle class with these costs. It is hard to make a judgment on Thaksin’s leadership, overall. As westerners, we may be quick to judge him as the “right” leader for Thailand. As Buddhists, however, we might claim that Thaksin has forgotten the principles his country was based on in favor of cut-throat capitalism.