Vote-Buying in Thailand: Mundane, Possibly Deadly In the wake of Thailand’s general election came the inevitable allegations of voting irregularities, including vote-buying. Vote-buying is an endemic problem inThailand, part and parcel of its political culture and a major symptom of the wider corruption prevalent in its society. Some vote-buying occurs among the urban poor, but [...]
Archive for July, 2011
Thaksin Shinawatra is not involved in politics. His sister Yingluck Shinawatra, who has just been elected as Thailand’s prime minister on a ticket of her big brother’s Pheu Thai (PT) party, does not take orders from him. Talks in Dubai (or is it Brunei?) that involve Thaksin and prominent Thai politicians are not about cabinet [...]
A Big Defeat – and a Small Victory – for Thailand’s Democrats
Posted: 5th July 2011 by bangkokdave in 2011Democrats Lose Thailand’s 2011 General Election but Secure a Crucial Win in Bangkok Yesterday, on July 3, Pheu Thai (PT), Thaksin Shinawatra’s proxy party, scored a decisive victory over the Democrats,Thailand’s ruling party since 2008. At last count, PT had won 265 parliamentary seats to Democrats’ 159 (updated from 262-160 on the graphic above). As [...]
Yingluck Insists, Ensures, Denies…in 15 Headlines
Posted: 31st July 2011 by bangkokdave in 2011With Yingluck Shinawatra about to be officially signed, sealed and delivered (well, maybe not sealed) as Thailand’s new PM, the shadow of the man who created her candidacy and called her his ‘clone’ – her big brother and the fugitive ex-PM Thaksin Shinawatra – continues to loom large. While both Yingluck’s supporters and detractors know [...]