He may be hunkered down in Dubai avoiding corruption harges, but Thaksin Shinawatra's populist appeal remains.
By Rachel O'Brien, in Udon Thani for AFP
Published: 25 Feb 2010
via CAAI News Media
A supporter of Thaksin Shinawatra is overcome by emotion when he hugs her during a visit to Chiang Mai province in northern Thailand. Photo: AFP/MADAREE TOHLALA
Down a bumpy rural track in Thailand's impoverished north-east, Pichit Peema is gathering produce for his thriving local business, set up seven years ago under a village loan scheme.
Previously a struggling rice farmer, he used the policy introduced by Thaksin Shinawatra, the ousted prime minister, to start a mushroom-growing operation, and can now collect up to 200 kilogrammes (440 pounds) a day to sell across Udon Thani province.
"My life is better - I can give the money to my children so they can graduate and have a better life," said Pichit, 47, adding proudly that his eldest son is a qualified electrical engineer in Bangkok.
Taking a break by his brightly painted new house topped with a huge satellite dish, he praised Thaksin, who was elected twice, for bettering his lot with the low-interest lending programme.
"Thaksin was a great social engineer because he helped poor people," he said of the telecoms tycoon, who was deposed in a coup in 2006 and now lives abroad, mainly in Dubai, to escape a two-year jail term for graft.
The controversial former PM continues to be a source of deep divisions in Thailand, where his numerous critics accuse him of corruption, widespread cronyism and grave human rights abuses during a notorious "war on drugs".
But Pichit is one of the "Red Shirts" - the brightly-dressed, pro-Thaksin group planning their next mass anti-government protests after a court ruling due Friday on whether to seize the billionaire's assets, which were frozen after the coup.
Here in Thaksin's stronghold - the neglected north-eastern region of Isaan, the poorest part of Thailand - his followers say he was the first prime minister to properly address the needs of the rural populace.
"In our era we have not seen a person like Thaksin before. He is a hero for us," said Tongsri Yothkeaw, 55, who works as a rice farmer and on her family's small flower-growing operation in the village of Huay Samhan, also in Udon Thani.
Pointing to her throat, she explained that a thyroid operation cost her less than one US dollar thanks to the so-called 30-baht health care scheme introduced by Thaksin after he came to power in 2001.
"He used to help us. I want him to come back," she said. "The government doesn't help us any more... We are very scared about the economy nowadays."
While agriculture is the main economic activity in Isaan, which is tucked away from Thailand's well-trodden tourist trail, farming has been hindered by the mainly arid, sandy land that allows for fewer rice harvests than in other areas.
Analysts say a dearth of quality education, technology and infrastructure has also been instrumental in the poverty of Isaan's people.
Thaksin appealed to these marginalised masses not only with his populist policies but also in his style of leadership, according to historian Chris Baker, who has written extensively on the former premier.
"Here was this man who appeared in his open-necked shirt, not very smart, coming to the village and saying, 'Tell me what you want me to do'," said Baker.
"This was a very empowering idea in a country where politicians have tended to be rather remote," he said.
While the current prime minister, Abhisit Vejjajiva, has maintained some of Thaksin's policies, Baker said he has returned to the older, more detached style of governance - only serving to strengthen Thaksin's popularity.
"He was a little bit corrupt but he worked more for the people," said Bangkok food vendor Yoon Poodindan, 47, one of the capital's many economic migrants from the north-east.
The fugitive ex-PM's supporters have vowed to hold fresh protests in mid-March until they see the back of Abhisit's government, which took power in December 2008 after the fall of the previous, pro-Thaksin administration.
The Red Shirts say they are campaigning against the power of Thailand's elite - including army and palace officials - whom they accuse of ousting elected governments and defending entrenched social inequalities.
"I think the Red Shirt movement is not about Thaksin alone, it's for equality in society," said Samreng Mahakor, 40, a Bangkok motorcycle taxi driver also from Isaan.
"Red Shirts have been treated as second-class people. Even if Thaksin dies, we won't stop until we get fairness," he said.
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