Thaksin street protests before the June arrival of the world’s kings, queens and other royalty to honor Thailand’s revered monarch.
He named Justice Minister Chitchai Wannasathit, who is also a deputy prime minister and former police general, as this Southeast Asian nation’s interim prime minister.
Thaksin suggested his decision to resign was aimed at bringing back stability to Thailand, a move expected to be welcomed by Christian missionaries and tsunami aid workers who made the country a base for their Southeast Asian operations.
It was not immediately clear how a new prime minister would deal with religious tensions in Thailand’s restive south, where three Muslim-majority provinces have been plagued by a separatist insurgency that has left over 1,300 people dead since January 20, 2004, according to estimates.
In one of the latest incidents Sunday, April 2, remote-controlled bombs reportedly exploded near three polling stations in Thailand’s Narathiwat province, injuring at least two soldiers and one police officer after polls had closed and ballot boxes were being removed for counting, police said.
THAILAND’S POLICE MAN
However analysts say Chitchai, considered a close friend of Thaksin, has extensive police experience including previous posts as Immigration Commissioner, Secretary-General of the Narcotics Control Board, and Interior Minister.
Chitchai, 59, also has close ties with America as he received a Ph.D. in Justice Administration in 1976 from the University of Louisville, Kentucky, according to his official biography.
"I have appointed Chitchai to do my work from now on. I need to rest," Thaksin told the nation on Wednesday, April 5. "It’s not that I’m not willing to fight, but when I fight, the nation loses," Thaksin said. "I don’t need to see bloodshed among Thais. Thai blood must not paint the land of Thailand."
Thais cautiously welcomed Thaksin’s solution to the past two months of anti-Thaksin street demonstrations, amid accusations he may manipulate the country behind the scenes, or stage a comeback after June.
THAKSIN’S POLITICAL ENEMIES
His political enemies, led by Bangkok’s middle class, academics, leftists and what some view as "turncoat cronies," cheered Thaksin’s downfall. Thaksin’s supporters, including many in the impoverished countryside who enjoyed his government’s inexpensive health care, cheap loans and other welfare, expressed dismay.
Thaksin had come under pressure to resign after allegations of financial wrongdoing, including a controversial telecommunications (deal with Singapore. He insisted his family did nothing wrong by using off-shore accounts to sell their telecommunications empire, Shin Corporation for $1.8 billion tax-free, to the Singapore government’s investment wing, Temasek Holdings, in February.
Critics accused him of abusing his position saying Thaksin spend the past five years as prime minister muzzling the media, crippling institutions involved in good governance, and running Thailand as if it were his "private corporation."
Thaksin’s unsmiling wife and three adult children listened to his televised resignation speech this week at his Government House office, alongside other supporters. "Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to apologize to all of you for my decision not to accept the prime minister’s job," Thaksin said in his speech, linking his departure with an altruistic quest to protect the king.
60TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATED
"This is because this year is very auspicious for the Thai people, as His Majesty the King is to celebrate the 60th anniversary of his accession to the throne on June 9," Thaksin explained. "Royal guests — kings and queens from all over the world — are to join the celebrations, but the protests have continued," he said, referring to 100,000 people who have been snarling Bangkok’s streets, demanding Thaksin quit. King Bhumibol Adulyadej, born in Massachusetts, is widely respected by Thais who look to the constitutional monarch during extreme political disputes, trusting his guidance to restore peace.
Thaksin’s resignation speech on Tuesday, April 4, came hours after his visit to King Bhumibol, but it was not clear what intervention, if any, the monarch played in Thaksin’s departure. In 1992, the king helped bring an end to bloodshed in Bangkok by calling on a coup-installed dictator, and a pro-democracy leader, to stop fighting after the military opened fire on protestors, killing at least 50 people.
That 1992 televised broadcast became an inspiration for Thais, and is often invoked as a pristine, moral high point. Thaksin, in his resignation announcement, referred twice to the king’s 1992 speech, and quoted the monarch’s warning at that time about how "the country will lose" if Thailand wallows in political chaos.
Thaksin’s resignation came despite his Thai Rak Thai or ‘Thais Love Thais’ party winning about 16 million votes in the nationwide April 2 election, official results showed. He had called the snap ballot after winning 19 million votes in February 2005, and hoped Sunday’s poll would prove he was still popular despite his family’s tax-free deal. The three biggest opposition parties boycotted the election as a farce.
MILLIONS VOTING "NO"
They told people to cast a "no" vote, so Thaksin’s nominees would not muster a required 20 percent of the vote in constituencies where they ran as the only candidates. In an impressive anti-Thaksin slap, about 10 million people cast "no" votes, making at least 39 of Thaksin’s candidates ineligible to take their seats in parliament.
Fresh elections were scheduled for April 23 in those 39 constituencies, so Parliament can meet and appoint a new prime minister because Thailand’s parliament should have all 500 seats filled before the prime minister can form a government.
Before the election, Thaksin’s party held 375 seats. Leery opposition politicians indicated they would not participate in the April 23 by-elections for the remaining 39 seats, and may hold out for fresh nationwide voting, as they want a bigger slice of the parliamentary cake. They scheduled a mass rally in Bangkok for Friday, April 7.
(Award-winning reporter, photojournalist and author Richard S. Ehrlich with website http://www.geocities.com/asia_correspondent/news.html has covered Asia for 27 years for a variety of media, including as staff correspondent for United Press International from 1978 to 1984, based in Hong Kong and New Delhi. He also co-authored the non-fiction best seller "HELLO MY BIG BIG HONEY!" — Love Letters to Bangkok Bar Girls and Their Revealing Interviews. The book, reviewed by Time magazine and other leading publications, looks beyond the red light of Thailand’s nightlife, and gives a rare insight in the often tragic and difficult relationships between prostitutes and their clients. Ehrlich, who was born in the US and is currently based in Bangkok, received the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism’s Foreign Correspondent’s Award in 1978. He speaks some Mandarin, Hindustani, Urdu, Thai, Spanish and French. Ehrlich can be reached for assignments and/or more information via website: http://www.geocities.com/asia_correspondent/news.html)
