Published on January 18, 2006

“So what do you need? How can I help you?” is a line that has been repeated over and over since Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra landed in Roi Et province’s At Samat district on his fast-track mission to eradicate poverty.

Some 748 poor people have registered for help during the five-day reality TV spectacle that’s being broadcast live on UBC cable around the clock.

Many villagers carry with them a paper folder with 10 pages of information prepared by officials detailing their plight – mostly dealing with landlessness, homelessness, debt and health problems.

Although Christmas has passed, the PM’s visit is like Santa Claus coming to town, or rather to the villages, and every villager who is in need – or feel they are in need – seem to have a wish-list drawn up.

Thaksin in turn delivers goodies in a top-down, dole-out fashion after a “diagnosis” encounter with each of the 700-odd registered villagers. Each encounter lasts an average of three-minutes.

“Concentrate on making a living, okay, I’ve already given you a house and land,” Thaksin told one of the dozens of villagers who met him yesterday morning.

One such needy person, 47-year-old widow Sujit Saen-ubon, waited and waited to meet Thaksin. She has no home of her own and wanted 10 to 15 rai of land to farm and some way to clear her Bt22,200 debt, plus fund her 21 year-old son’s education.

All Sujit needs is a three-minute meeting with the prime minister and his approval signature over the diagnosis page, plus instructions on what relevant state agencies are to do for her.

When asked about the budget for all this assistance, PM’s Office Minister Newin Chidchob said there’s no figure but “part of the fund will come from the central government”.

However, people in Muang district, about 40 kilometres away from the villages Thaksin is visiting, are sceptical.

Though most acknowledge and welcome the instant benefits that will be reaped by the villagers the prime minister meets, they wonder if such behaviour is repeatable or whether it can reach needy people in other areas.

By noon, as Thaksin heads for lunch, Sujit is clutching her magic folder.

“I am still waiting,” she said. Asked when she expected to talk with the premier, the widow said, “I don’t know.”

As Thaksin walked towards his lunch table he was just two metres away from Sujit, but did not stop. After lunch, he sped off to yet another village with dozens of cameras and reporters trailing closely behind.

Pravit Rojanaphruk, The Nation

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