Anti-NK Refugee Thai PM “Wins” Election
by James Na ~ April 4th, 2006. Filed under: Asia, Defectors & Refugees.[Update] PM Thaksin is resigning!
[Original Entry]
Controversial Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra was reelected, but the result is disputed.
The heightened uncertainty comes as Thaksin’s foes have vowed to intensify their demonstrations later this week. Opponents accuse him of weakening the country’s democratic institutions and, in particular, improperly enriching himself when his family agreed in January to sell its telecommunications empire to a Singapore company for $1.9 billion.
I have seen some goofy names for political parties in South Korea, but Thaksin’s party name beats them all:
Though initial returns showed Thaksin’s party, Thais Love Thais, headed toward a commanding majority, large numbers of people in Bangkok registered their discontent with the prime minister by signifying on their ballots that they were abstaining [boldface mine].
Readers of TKL might recall that PM Thaksin tried to scrounge up votes in the border areas by calling for a “crackdown” on North Korean refugees who make their way through the area.
April 4th, 2006 at 9:22 am
In fairness, similar things could be said about Bush.
If he would announce that all North Koreans that reach official US installations or personnell anywhere in the world would be granted asylum, we’d be living in a different world.
Of course, that would upset our allies in Seoul, and their friends in Pyongyang.
April 4th, 2006 at 12:19 pm
While what you say about the current policy is quite legitimate, I don’t think this is equivalent to what Thaksin did, i.e. to make turning back the refugees an actual campaign issue.
Bush has been generally pro-refugees, at least in principle if not in action (yet).
April 4th, 2006 at 3:46 pm
It looks like the King gave him a shove. Past history suggests you can’t rule Thailand without the King’s blessing. Thaksin lost that.