Kasit unbalanced

Spiegal Online has an interview with Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya, worth reading in full. Here’s some choice selections:

SPIEGEL: Mr. Kasit, the world has not forgotten the images of the bloody unrest in Thailand. At the time it looked as if Thailand was on the brink of civil war. What measures is the government taking to reconcile the two political camps?

Kasit: It is not an issue of two camps. The interpretation of a divided country does not reflect the real situation in Thailand. Rather, it was created only six months ago by protest leaders to incite people to take part in the anti-government demonstrations. The Red Shirts protested in order to support the former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, to bring him back to Thailand without having him serve the jail sentence he has received for corruption and conflict of interest while in office.

PPT: Kasit neglects yellow-shirted protests, the 2006 coup, the initiation of the red shirt movement soon after that, the 2007 constitution fix, judicial interventions, April 2009 and military meddling. The coup was widely interpreted as an action by the conservative, palace-dominated elite. We know Kasit is psychologically fixated on Thaksin, and he again confirms this.

SPIEGEL: Apart from the political attitude towards Thaksin, the farmers of the north believe they do not benefit from the country’s economic growth.

Kasit: In the past 30 years, we have had a growing middle class and rising urbanization in Thailand. Poverty has been reduced greatly. If you look at this statistically, the latest United Nations figures show that level of economic disparity in Thailand is no different from that of other developing countries and even better than some developed countries. Having said that, in every society there will always be people who are not satisfied.

PPT: Look at the latest UNDP report on Thailand for a more realistic interpretation of inequality.

SPIEGEL: What is your explanation for the protests?

Kasit: The Marxist-Leninist interpretation was used by some protest leaders to paint a picture of disparity in Thai society — between the rich and poor, rural and urban areas — to attract supporters. This notion has also been accepted by the leftist media around the world.

SPIEGEL: But the protesters themselves are not Marxists?

Kasit: Some of their leaders are. Indeed, some are former members of the Communist Party of Thailand.

PPT: Kasit is in la-la-land here. Arguably, the People’s Alliance for Democracy had more support from former communists than the red shirts.

SPIEGEL: How have the leaders succeeded in gaining so much support?

Kasit: The protest is coordinated, organized and financed by Mr. Thaksin and his people. It is not something that happened naturally like in other countries, where demonstrations are spontaneous, like in Greece.

PPT: Standard government line that most knowledgeable observers reject. This is more evidence of Kasit’s Thaksin complex.

SPIEGEL: What is Thailand’s sickness?

Kasit: Ethics, and good governance issues. The interference of money politics. And the one who has instigated all this corruption was the former prime minister, who is now travelling around the world with foreign passports.

PPT: Everything evil in Thailand is due to Thaksin. Frankly, PPT thinks Kasit’s fixation has become the source of serious imbalance in his thinking. This is truly a bizarre comment.

SPIEGEL: Wouldn’t it be best to hold new elections?

Kasit: Why not? But the conditions must first be conducive.

PPT: Indeed, the current regime needs to be sure they can triumph.

SPIEGEL: But many media are being censored, like Prachathai.

Kasit: Well, if you have media that keep on promoting hate campaigns and reporting news that infringe upon the private lives of other people …

PPT: This indicates where the lack of balance in thinking and understanding has seriously infected the cabinet level of government. To seriously suggest that Prachatai spreads messages of hate is to lack any understanding of media, internet and critique. It is simply anti-democratic thinking at its worst.

SPIEGEL: So you think it is necessary to block thousands of Web sites?

Kasit: Those sites were attacking the prime minister and the royal family in a very inappropriate manner. Would you allow that in Germany?

SPIEGEL: The German government doesn’t block thousands of Web sites.

Kasit: The German media does not use inappropriate language like the Thai media.

PPT: Kasit’s marbles are all over the floor. The interesting point he makes in this quite bizarre statement is that Abhisit is now on a par with the royal family. PPT mentioned this recently.

SPIEGEL: What do you think? Who shot the people, if not the army?

Kasit: Look at German history: What happened when Joschka Fischer was on the streets in Frankfurt? Wasn’t there shooting at that time? It is also possible that the Red Shirts were shooting among themselves in order to pass the blame to the government.

PPT: If Kasit’s seriously crazy view is representative of thinking iside the Democrat Party, then Thailand is is deep, deep trouble. Deeper than PPT had realized, that’s for sure.

Advertisement