Pasuk Phongpaichit (born 1946) is a professor at the Faculty of Economics, Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok. According to the Chulalongkorn University website she is involved in research regarding :
Development strategies and political economy of Thailand and Southeast Asia.
Social movements in Thailand in the 1990s.
Corruption and the illegal economy.
Structure and dynamics of capital in post-crisis Thailand
Chris Baker (born 1948) is an independent author and translator of non-fiction books, and based in Thailand. He published on a variety of subjects such as :
Politics of South India (1920-1037)
Van Vliet's Siam. ( an account of old Siam by the Dutch merchant Van Vliet, translated from 'old' Dutch)
Over the last decade or so, Pasuk Phongpaichit and Chris Baker co-authored a number of books about Thailand :
A History of Thailand (2005)
Thaksin : The Business of Politics in Thailand (2004)
Thailand's Boom and Bust (1998)
Thailand's Crisis (2001)
Thai Capital After the 1997 Crisis (2008)
A revised and expanded edition of Thaksin : The Business of Politics in Thailand, was published in April 2009. A lot had happened between 2004 and 2009, and in addition to the previous book, this expanded new edition (with the short title 'Thaksin') relates the last few years of Thaksin Shinawatra as prime minister of Thailand, his downfall, and the subsequent rather chaotic political events in the country.
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Thaksin by Pasuk Phongpaichit and Chris Baker. |
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We did not read the first edition of this work. In retrospect, when reading the updated version, we were amazed that this book actually was published in 2004. Personally, residing in Thailand for close to 15 years, we always considered freedom of the press at the time of Thaksin Shinawatra's government, rather a nominal concept.
In the preface to the new edition, the authors allude to the prevailing political climate in Thailand at the time. Asia Books, Bangkok's largest retailer of English-language books, initially refused to sell the book, because (quote) they did not want to offend the premier. Fortunately, soon thereafter Asia Books relented.
The new edition is divided in two parts : "The business of Politics", likely having similar content as the first edition, and "The Battle of Bangkok", chronicling the fall of Thaksin Shinawatra from power, and subsequent events.
The book reveals that Thaksin Shinawatra, while claiming in public speeches that his family had fallen on hard times, actually was kind of born with a silver spoon in his mouth. His family history in Thailand starts with the migration of his great-grandfather to Siam in the late nineteenth century. After a time the family became successfully involved in the silk business (still existing at present).
Thaksin' father, with varying success, was involved in multiple businesses, and was relatively wealthy by the mid 1960's. Loet Shinawatra was eventually elected as MP for Chiang Mai in 1969. So Thaksin Shinawatra himself likely was politically aware since a young age.
Thaksin, after his basic education, studied at the Police Academy and graduated in 1973.
[it is unclear from this book, what exactly are the topics, or the degrees offered by study at the Police Academy]
Later, Thaksin studied criminal justice at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas.
His initial years in business were far from successful, and for a while he accumulated serious debt. In the 1980 he became involved in leasing IBM computers to governmental offices. After the while, this became a successful entreprise. In 1987, Thaksin resigned from the police force.
Eventually Thaksin, as well known, became a very rich telecommunications tycoon, building up a business empire with the help of a variety of government concessions.
From 1994, Thaksin started to become involved in politics, first as a member of the Phalang Tham party (which had Chamlong Srimuang as its leader. Chamlong would eventually become one his main adversaries, as a leader of the 'Yellow Shirt' movement). He had three short spells a minister. Phalang Tham was kind of removed from the scene in the 1996 elections.
Thaksin Shinawatra, after being member of another party, reentered politics in a major way after establishing his 'own party', eventually named Thai Rak Thai. The book gives a background as to what led to the astounding success of the party in the 2001 parliamentary elections.
Thaksin Shinawatra became prime minister in 2001. His economic program(s) became knows as Thaksinomics. Besides managing economic development, Pasuk Phongpaisis and Chris Baker also show how he attempted to manage society by controlling NGOs and protests, managing and controlling the media, and silencing intellectual criticism. A disturbing chapter is devoted to the war on drugs that occurred in 2003, which resulted in a total of more than 2500 casualties.
Changes in legislation allegedly resulted in larger profits for companies under Shinawatra's family management.
Later chapters of the books chronicle the eventual downfall of Thaksin Shinawatra with the military coup in September 2006.
Politics in Thailand can be challenging to understand. The books gives a concise history of events prior to and after the September 2006 military coup. This is quite useful background knowledge and helps to understand current political events. And it offers a good reference to rekindle your memory.
How did the many different elections in the past few years come about (invariable won by Taksin's Thai Rak Thai party, or its subsequent reincarnations). Why so many prime ministers after 2006 had to step down soon after taking office? How did the 'Yellow Shirt' (People's Alliance for Democracy of PAD, adversaries of Thaksin Shinawatra) and 'Red Shirt' (Democracy Against Dictatorship, or UDD, supporters of Thaksin Shinawatra) movements came about, and what are their policies and aims?
When reading this book you will also find answer to interesting questions like :
Which politician (still very much active) was instrumental in helping Thaksin get important government concession, and help him on the way to become a very wealthy tycoon?
What is the history behind the relationship between Thaksin Shinawatra and Sondhi Limthongkul, a leader of the PAD?
How come most of the ministers in the post-coup government of Surayud Chulanont were so very senior?
In short, 'Thaksin' by Pasuk Phongpaichit and Chris Baker, makes for an interesting read about Thailand's most prominent and controversial prime minister in recent memory. His rise to power, and his fall from grace.
Websites of English-language writers in Bangkok, and online bookstores.
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