EDITORIAL: Waning fortunes for populist PM?
 The Nation
November 13 , 2005 - It was arguably the biggest anti-Thaksin rally in Bangkok since the prime minister came to power in 2001. The gathering at the Lumpini Park Friday evening was largely peaceful, despite the ferocity of the popular man who addressed the 10,000-strong crowd. It would be perilous for the government to ignore the implications and significance of this demonstration. While the event predictably failed to feature in the news of government-controlled television, the nation has begun keeping track of the larger campaign behind the protest: a relentless, controversial campaign against Thaksin Shinawatra by a man once considered one of his best friends, media mogul Sondhi Limthongkul.
What should worry Thaksin is not the fact that it is Sondhi who is leading a crusade against him, but that an increasing number of Thai people are buying what the media tycoon has to say. All the issues raised by Sondhi are important, explosive even. A large section of the public seems to take seriously what he is saying. An even larger number of Thais are torn between whether they should more inclined to believe Sondhi's charges or the government's ambiguous rebuttals of them.
Sondhi's claims, to put it most mildly, are that Thaksin has acted improperly where His Majesty the King's constitutional and traditional status and authority are concerned. Friday's rally focused on what the tycoon insisted was one of the most blatant examples - a government-promoted religious ceremony presided over by Thaksin in August at the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, the country's holiest site. Only one other prime minister has ever taken part in such a ceremony. A newspaper photo of Thaksin, wearing a somewhat casual outfit while chairing the ceremony to pray for an end to the violence in the deep South, has been the main tool in Sondhi's rallying cry.
Thais who are not familiar with royal protocol may not feel that there is something wrong with a Thai prime minister conducting a ceremony with noble purpose inside the sacred temple. But somehow Sondhi managed to put together a jigsaw puzzle that made many Thais raise their eyebrows at Thaksin's action. The government's awkwardly handled response to the charges, providing documents supposedly showing that Sondhi's arguments contained some loopholes, has increased public suspicion and confusion. The government insists that Thaksin did not impinge on royal prerogatives when he presided over the religious ceremony. Approval had been sought and granted by the Royal Palace, government officials said. Sondhi countered that the "approval" was sought in a very urgent manner, one or two days before the ceremony, and that the royal document allowing the ceremony to take place followed the government's suggestion that Thaksin would be only one of the "participants", not someone who would preside over it.
For another of his provocative attacks on the PM, Sondhi has been sued for huge damages. He has had his television news talk programme pulled off the air, and will receive a gag order if Thaksin's lawyer manages to convince a court that his public speeches against Thaksin are malicious. But perhaps the government's differences with Sondhi are minor compared to its larger problem concerning its perceived relations with the Royal Palace. Indeed the nature of this government may be the source of its biggest problems. And unless Thaksin acknowledges this, reining in Sondhi legally will not change public perception.
Why do a lot of Thais believe Sondhi? Probably because the government has shown them why they have reason to be suspicious of its own statements and actions. The impasse over the status of Khunying Jaruvan Maintaka is one case that has sown seeds of doubts in the minds of Thais. Her integrity and the endorsement from the Royal Palace have left Thais with no option but to believe that the apparent efforts by the government and the Senate with the support of the Constitution Court to oust her as auditor-general is a conspiracy. Since she was appointed to her post by royal command, her not being allowed to do her job looks very bad to much of the public.
This has become a big entanglement. The government's trying to dismiss Sondhi as a loose cannon won't change that. It has come to the point where gagging Sondhi would absolutely have the opposite effect of what the government would like to see. But the government should not blame him for its woes. The government has to show total sincerity and loyalty to the Kingdom and its people. Allegiance is easy to pledge. One also has to prove it in actions as well. It's as simple as that.
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