Thaksin-Sondhi ‘deal’ would smack of public betrayal
 The Nation
December 8, 2005 - Even though Thaksin Shinawatra has decided to drop all his lawsuits against Sondhi Limthongkul, the cynics among us still can’t help but wonder whether these two old pals are in fact working together behind the scenes while going for each other’s blood in public. Thaksin seemed determined last week to help boost the number of people attending Sondhi Limthongkul’s weekly show tomorrow.
The premier said that his Google Earth check found that Sondhi had only managed to draw between 7,000 and 10,000 people to his last “Let’s get rid of Thaksin” gathering, while the organisers claimed a crowd of 100,000 to 150,000.
Thaksin did Sondhi a great favour with that statement. The crowd is bound to swell, if for no other reason than to hear what “deal” Sondhi is striking with the premier. The “silent but angry” Bangkok citizens will go out of their way to prove Thaksin’s estimate wrong. This time they won’t go just to listen to Sondhi’s mesmerising vitriol against the prime minister – they will look up and wave to the Google Earth satellite monitoring them.
This may not be anything like Manila’s EDSA’s People Power movement in the making just yet. Perhaps it’s still a long way from Ukraine’s Orange Revolution. And a repeat of Thailand’s very own October 14, 1973 historic democracy march may not be imminent. But don’t be surprised if some keen observers begin to call it “Thailand’s Google Earth March” to show just how badly Thaksin miscalculated the growing sentiment against him.
If Thaksin has, intentionally or not, helped boost Sondhi’s popularity by belittling the voice of dissidence, the Manager Media Group’s founder has likewise enhanced Thaksin’s position by turning an issue of press freedom being threatened into a personal political crusade.
Some may even argue that it’s the other way round – the “Lumpini Park Phenomenon” could well be seen as no more than Sondhi’s attempt to turn an issue of his personal conflict of interests with Thaksin into a national government-press confrontation.
Thaksin has never publicly owned up to being a personal chum of Sondhi. Neither has he denied Sondhi’s public claim that his once generous offer of shares to the premier in a joint venture earned Thaksin a few hundred million baht in capital-gains benefits.
But then, Sondhi dented his own credibility – and perhaps indirectly boosted Thaksin’s standing – when he said on radio the other day that he had never been a real chum of the premier.
“It’s a misunderstanding to say that I was a close friend of Thaksin. We were only acquaintances. We never went anywhere together. We never sat in the same car going places together. The premier used to invite me to Baan Phitsanulok [a governmental guest house] for lunch to seek my views on state affairs. We were never, contrary to what some people believe, very closely associated. We are only erstwhile friends.”
The paradox is glaring here. Thaksin may now want the whole world to know that he had been very, very close to Sondhi so that the public could question his ex-friend’s motives for launching a vehement campaign against him. On the other hand, Sondhi is desperately trying to convince all doubters that he and Thaksin had never had an intimate relationship. The Thaksin-Sondhi record, of course, speaks for itself. And no amount of whitewashing on either side can really change history.
That’s why whispers about possible face-saving climb-downs for both sides are being treated with intensified cynicism, with a good measure of public amusement thrown in.
It smacks too much of two old cronies falling out because of a clash of political and business interests, who, after demanding that the public choose sides for the country’s sake, have decided to divide the cake, call a truce, and tell the people to forget and forgive as if nothing had happened between them at all.
For both sides, the stakes are becoming higher with every passing day marked by strategic moves and political gimmickry. Thaksin has probably put the ball in Sondhi’s court by dropping all six lawsuits against him. But in this highly charged battle to win public credibility it’s just not possible for Thaksin to dismiss Sondhi as a spineless maverick, for the latter does to a certain extent represent the growing disillusionment with the “Thaksin Malaise”.
Neither can Sondhi choose to conveniently climb down from the tiger’s back by declaring victory and retreating. The wolves of public anger and a sense of being betrayed won’t spare him.
Suthichai Yoon
|
