Gaslighting, grandstanding, racism, and sexism, Thaksin Shinawatra has been on a rampage. Over the past few months, the former prime minister has been on tour to campaign for the Pheu Thai Party\u2019s candidates in provincial elections. He gaslit government critics on stage and in interviews, including ordinary citizens with a social media account and grievances to air. He also threatened to bring lawsuits against some individuals. His fighting words included:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cPathetic.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBarking.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSuffering from stress.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThey curse everyone; the only ones left are their parents.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cShould go hang themselves.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cTheir husbands or wives don\u2019t love them.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
While Donald Trump boldly discussed taking over Greenland, Panama Canal, and perhaps even Canada, Thaksin proudly claimed:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m about to tell Myanmar and Cambodia to handle their call center scams and mule accounts. If they can\u2019t handle it, I will ask for permission to send in people to handle it. Furthermore, I\u2019ve told the KNU [Karen National Union] and Myanmar to handle things around Myawaddy. If they don\u2019t have the forces to do it, I will send in the forces to do it.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Thaksin also harbors ambitions to see Thai women become international models. To that end, he compared the physical traits of Africans (people of a continent with diverse ethnicities) and Thais (people of a country with diverse ethnicities) to perpetuate racist stereotypes and reduce women to objects of aesthetic value:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI went to live abroad, and I thought to myself\u2026 African people, they are so black\u2026 and their noses are so flat\u2026 difficult to breathe\u2026 but apparently, they\u2019re hired to be world-class models, making millions\u2026 but our people are better looking\u2026 don\u2019t need a nose job\u2026 don\u2019t need to add jawline [facial contouring]\u2026 don\u2019t need plastic surgery\u2026 don\u2019t need to add milk [breast implants]\u2026 we should find our people with a good personality, train them and send them to compete as world-class models\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra defended her father\u2019s statements, saying they are not \u201cprejudicial.\u201d Instead, his statements meant to \u201cempower.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Furthermore, speaking to investors at a local business forum, he stated that once he is cleared of Article 112 charges (the lese majeste law), he will be able to travel abroad to secure foreign investments for Thailand, as global investors have confidence in him and his abilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Thailand\u2019s Superman Politics <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The heated rhetoric of late are not without rationale, though it may be misplaced. Bold claims and feisty diatribes have been successful for Trump, so why not for Thaksin? After all, Thaksin has never been one to mince words or shy from boisterous claims. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In 2003, responding to international condemnation for the extrajudicial killing in his war on drugs that resulted in some 2,300 dead people, Thaksin said to local reporters, \u201cThe UN is not my father.\u201d In Thailand, these are considered aggressive words to show contempt and disdain. In addition, during the 2010 Red Shirt protests, he stated: \u201cIf and when there\u2019s a sound of gunfire, I will come to lead my brothers and sisters to march into Bangkok.\u201d He showed up 14 years later. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In the past, Thaksin has been compared to various national leaders. Opponents likened him to Italy’s former president, Silvio Berlusconi, a tycoon who entered politics and was marred by corruption scandals. With the 2006 military coup and his self-imposed exile, supporters referred to him as Thailand\u2019s own Nelson Mandela, a freedom fighter. Now, with the rise of \u201cstrongman\/woman\u201d politicians elsewhere, such as Trump in the US, Giorgia Meloni in Italy, and Dick Schoof in the Netherlands, Thaksin appears to be positioning himself as Thailand\u2019s superman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In times of persisting political polarization, economic woes, and social discontent, culturally, we Thais often look to a ‘Superman’ to rescue us. However, there\u2019s one technical problem. Thaksin isn\u2019t the prime minister. He\u2019s the father of the prime minister. Nonetheless, it\u2019s generally accepted that he calls the shots. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Electoral Implications <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Beyond rhetoric, Thaksin\u2019s movement has substantial political implications. It is widely reported that Thaksin\u2019s return to Thailand, without serving any prison time, is due to a deal between him and those who ousted him from power in the first place. That is, for Pheu Thai to form a coalition government with conservative and pro-military parties to prevent the reformist People\u2019s Party from coming to power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The deal must hold if Thaksin also wants to bring his sister, former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra, back to Thailand without serving prison time. The deal must also be held through the next General Election in 2027. The People\u2019s Party targets 270 out of 500 possible MP seats, a convincing majority that would enable the party to implement its reform policies. Thaksin must prevent this outcome. In fact, he wouldn\u2019t want to settle for Pheu Thai taking second place and forming a bickering coalition like in the 2023 elections. He wants an outright victory to have firm control of the government. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The elections for the chairs and members of the Provincial Administrative Organization (POA) held nationwide on February 1 of this year are significant. The POA controls the budget in each province and is responsible for local development. Traditionally, local powerful families with deep patronage ties to major political parties control the seats. Except for the 2023 elections, which the People\u2019s Party won, these powerful families that control the POA have traditionally been instrumental in delivering their patrons to the prime minister\u2019s seat. Thaksin hopes for the same. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The People\u2019s Party winning a substantial number of seats will hurt Pheu Thai in the General Election, damage Thaksin\u2019s reputation as a man who can \u201cget things done\u201d and decrease his bargaining power with those who allowed his return to Thailand. Moreover, Pheu Thai has to contend with its second-largest coalition partner, the Bhumjaithai Party. Both are major players with patronage networks nationwide. Joining forces means they could potentially beat the People\u2019s Party at the polls in 2027. However, the fight for the prime minister’s seat would be between Thaksin\u2019s daughter and Bhumjaithai leader, Anutin Charnvirakul.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Therefore, the POA elections will be the first real test of Thaksin\u2019s ability to compete against the People\u2019s Party and the Bhumjaithai Party. Whether gaslighting, grandstanding, racism, and sexism remain effective in helping his candidates at the polls remains to be seen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Gaslighting, grandstanding, racism, and sexism, Thaksin Shinawatra has been on a rampage. Over the past few months, the former prime minister has been on tour to campaign for the Pheu Thai Party\u2019s candidates in provincial elections. He gaslit government critics on stage and in interviews, including ordinary citizens with a social media account and grievances […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":653,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-652","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-thisurpt"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thisrupt.co\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/652","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thisrupt.co\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thisrupt.co\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thisrupt.co\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thisrupt.co\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=652"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thisrupt.co\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/652\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":654,"href":"https:\/\/thisrupt.co\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/652\/revisions\/654"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thisrupt.co\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/653"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thisrupt.co\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=652"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thisrupt.co\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=652"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thisrupt.co\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=652"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}