I have previously blogged on Democrat Party, Chat Thai, and PPP TV ads, but there is another political party with ads on Thai TV. The newly formed and also newly renamed Matchima Thippatai, led by Prachai Leophai-ratana, have a new TV ad where they promise free education until the end of university, free healthcare, and a social welfare system of up to 1,500 baht a month for the elderly.
COMMENT: Why not just go the whole hog and throw in free beer too? If Thaksin and TRT were such big spenders, what should one call Matchima Thippatai?
Their policy sounds like an update to the policy advocated by the 2005 Democrats although Abhisit recently ruled out free university education under a Democrat government so there is some point of distinction. The current military-installed civilian government has already made healthcare "free" so I am not sure how "freer" they intend to make it here. Unsurprisingly, they are very short on details now and don't state how they will finance such policies.
I do hope the media will ask for costings and further details of policies promised by each party. Many policies will need to be fleshed out over the next couple of months, but policies cost money and no party should be able to get away without stating how these policies will be financed as a Post Today editorial, translated by the Bangkok Post noted (cache):However, none of these parties has declared how they will get the money for the projects. Therefore, economic experts should analyse these economic platforms and spell out their good and weak points. This will help the electorate make a good decision at the polls.
Good ole Prachai was in full display in the ad. Word on the street is that he is financially backing a number of different "third alternative" political parties. There is another ad which solely focuses on Prachai and doesn't make any mention of the party - will this continue beyond today as election advertising is now banned? It talks up his "leadership qualities" and his achievements in "successfully" running his company. This reminds me of Nattakorn's op-ed (cache) last week in the Bangkok Post. Key quote:
The real disappointment here lies in Somsak, for why would he associate himself with the likes of Sondhi and Prachai, knowing full well what these two are after. If this is not an about-face U-turn, I wouldn't know what is. Please don't tell me it is because of the money; that answer is not good enough. And let's not even compare Prachai to Thaksin.
One ran his company into the ground, amassing millions of dollars of debt after the financial crisis, and is still bent on a personal vendetta that dates back to as far as July 1997.
The other made his company into a multi-billion-dollar telecommunications conglomerate before becoming foreign affairs minister and deputy prime minister.
If Thaksin is not fit to be leader, Prachai certainly does not even come close.
It is fair for society to question the motive behind Prachai's push for the premier's post. If not to pursue a personal cause in reclaiming Thai Petrochemical Industry, what then is it for?
This is not necessarily a man who has ostensibly fought for political causes in the past, except for ones which related to his own firms.
COMMENT: Will he go back to his little sand bit once all the kids give him his little toy (TPI) back? Exactly, how does he expect to get TPI back? Buy out the shareholders at full market value? Or "nationalize" the assets and "donate" them to the Leophai-ratana clan?
Now it seem every freaking parties platform focus on populism and mega project. What happen to the battle cry Populism is bad and Democracy do not work with uneducate rural holding majority?
When election time, every insult thrown are forgotten and everyone join the bandwagon.
Agree that we should be hearing more about how each parties would finance their policy. Last election I remember Abhisit cite he will finance with using oil reserve fund (citation?), and that was an unpopular approach criticized by many.
I guess explaining the source of fund would not attract more vote, but only hold up as another point for academic and other party to attack.
It would be a good time to start debate and criticize the feasibility of each party platform. If (uneducate) rural are attract by benefit, perhap (educate) urban should be attract by cost?
If Thaksin used policy corruption, Prachai would just sweep money under the table.
(By the way, how the hell did he got off this case?)
BPundit I remember someone somewhere saying that Thaksin Shinawatra patented Thailand's current dead-end democracy. And that label rings truer today as we see the colors and shades of politicians inspired by Thaksin's "accomplishments". And let's not forget too the lessons of Zimbabwe's Mobutu and how far a megalomaniac elected leader can go to bring ruin to his country while enriching himself. And last but not least is the Venezuela experiment, led by that charismatic elected Chavez, on his way to completely turning around his country's constitution 360 degrees, by MAJORITY vote, of course, with ONE PURPOSE only - - to perpetuate his rule (and more self-enrichment).
I don't think Prachai is in politics to regain his TPI baby (I don't even think it is recoverable). If Thaksin can steal billions (and still get away with it), Prachai will surely have more ingenous ways to do Thaksin better.
If only Thailand can produce political leaders with integrity, honesty of purpose, people empathy and the courage to resist lure of money politics that create the cycle of vote buying, party switching and the inevitable c-o-r-r-u-p-t-i-o-n . . . but "if only" gets more remote than ever.
I am pessimistic. Thaksin Shinawatra had pointed Thailand's politics to the way to 'harvest' more plunder from Thailand's near dead democracy. And Thaksin Shinawatra's removal had not changed anything at all about the rate of decay in Thailand's dead-end democracy. Old or new political faces but the same or more corruptness endures.