Who’s the real boss?

The Bangkok Post (15 January 2010) reports that the Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva “has said his politically divided nation would be better off if it stopped relying on the widely revered king to intervene in times of difficulty.”

Repeating something he also said in an interview with the Financial Times several days ago, Abhisit told the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Thailand that the country had “struggled at times of crisis to solve problems,” adding that the king’s role had been “critical, crucial, vital.” Further, Abhisit stated “Now what I’m saying is that it would be better if we can all resolve these issues without having to rely on His Majesty’s interventions, even though they are always within the framework of the constitution. It will take time…”.

Abhisit wouldn’t be doing his job if he didn’t add the “always within the framework of the constitution” which is now standard royalist propaganda. Most people realize that this is a lie.

But what is to be made of the call to not rely on the king? As a royalist, Abhisit can’t be saying that the king should not intervene (“always within the framework of the constitution”). Is he warning that the king’s interventionist role is unlikely to solve problems now that the palace’s role in the 2006 coup has been seen as so problematic? Is he worrying about post-succession politics?

Whatever the motivation, how is Abhisit doing in following his own advice? On Wednesday, the prime minister met Privy Council President General Prem Tinsulanonda (The Nation, 15 January 2010), setting off considerable speculation in the local press. Abhisit has had to dismiss many of the media reports he had visited Prem to discuss politics (on some of the speculation, see Bangkok Pundit – us.asiancorrespondent.com/bangkok-pundit-blog/abhisit-goes-to-report-to-his-leader).

Abhisit said he had gone to Prem’s residence “to offer him New Year’s wishes and ask for the senior statesman’s blessings.”

Thaksin Shinawatra and the opposition Peua Thai Party “questioned the appropriateness of the meeting and accused the chief royal adviser of interfering in politics.” Peua Thai spokesman Prompong Nopparit said Prem should “step down from the Privy Council if he wanted to get involved in politics.”

In fact, it was Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thugsuban who explained the meeting most clearly (The Nation, 14 January 2010) when he said that the meeting was “about … updating of the general situation to the country’s senior figure…”. Adding to this, Suthep revealed that “it was routine for Abhisit Vejjajiva to keep in touch with Prem.”

It seems that Abhisit is having trouble taking his own advice and this represents a clear case of the junior prime minister reporting to his boss.

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