On overage, the market capitalisation of companies within the Shin empire has risen by 152 per cent.

Thaksin has claimed that the sell-off will put an end to criticisms of conflict of interest on the part of his family. This sounds rather funny because it implies that he has been aware of the conflict of interest between politics and his family business all along. By selling off Shin Corp to Temasek, Thaksin’s family has just realised the full gain from the conflict of interest, which has been artfully nurtured over the past five years to build up the value of Shin Corp. This is truly a visionary move on the part of our leader, who can see several steps ahead of his compatriots.

After selling Shin Corp, Thaksin now plays the “Catch Me If You Can” tune. If you don’t congratulate him on his enormous business success, then you’re a sore loser. Thaksin has just coined a new term for those who question the murky takeover deal as the “jealous guys” or phuak khi ijcha. If you can’t make as much money as him, don’t come out to criticise the deal with the left side of your brain. “Try to use your right brain instead of your left lobe,” he suggested.

This may imply that the majority of Thais, who are poor, are not as smart because they have been thinking mainly with the left side of the brain. They are dreaming and using too much imagination and not enough logic. The idea of the sell-off must have come from Khunying Pojaman Shinawatra, Thaksin’s wife. She has always commanded a shrewd business sense. If the Shinawatra family were not to part with its flagship business now, the question is when. It is not easy to find a buyer for a $2-billion business. In fact, the Shinawatra family started to sell Shin Corp six months ago. When Boonchai Benjarongkul of United Communication Industry heard about the Shin move, he decided to make the first move by selling out Ucom to the telecom giant Telenor.

If the Shinawatra family can sell its flagship Shin Corp to Temasek of Singapore, then practically everything in Thailand now can be auctioned off to foreigners. Now you begin to understand why Thaksin yesterday held another Thailand Grand Sale at Government House in order to bring in foreign investors to invest in every strategic business in Thailand. Now you begin to understand why he is anxious to conclude the free-trade agreement with the United States.

Liberalisation is not a bad thing, so long as there are good regulations or strong institutions in place to protect the interests of Thai consumers. You don’t see evidence of good regulations or sound public policy. Neither have you witnessed institutional development to guard the interests of Thais.

Thaksin is indeed a hard-core capitalist, although he likes to claim that he is a champion of the cause of the poor. The Shin sell-off to Temasek of Singapore is in stark contrast to his populist platform, such as when he met with 10,000 taxi drivers recently for some give-aways. He also recently went over to the poor district of At Samat in Roi Et to conduct a reality TV show, in which he showed off his leadership skills by prescribing measures to eradicate poverty for the underprivileged living there. Thaksin can artfully travel from the world of capitalism to the world of rural poverty in a flash of light. The so-called dual track economic policy has been repeatedly proclaimed as his policy to balance the growth of the modern sector and the development of the rural sector. But at the end of the day, you can see that he is always riding on top of the stock market. Selling Shin Corp is the ultimate end of the second chapter of the Shinawatra family’s tale of wealth creation. The first chapter was when Thaksin decided to go into politics by taking over the Palang Dharma Party in the early 1990s. Then he was already a billionaire.

So what is the third chapter of the Shinawatra family’s wealth creation story?

Well, you never know because you can’t think several steps ahead with the political wind on your back, because you only think with the left side of your brain, because you’re a sore loser and because you’re a khon khi ijcha.

Thanong Khanthong
The Nation