“Thaksin Fantasia” – oops! – “Backstage Show: The Prime Minister” is what we meant to say, of course – was naturally the centre of media attention last week. There was a lot of criticism, but here at Soopsip we like to be optimistic. Smirking, snide, yes – but optimistic.
So let’s look at the good things Sir Thaksin Olivier brought into your home with his reality show.
UBC, the producer of the first-ever propaganda – oops! – political reality show of its kind, always touts itself as a source of knowledge, and we’ve got to hand it to the cable guys – “Backstage” was a master class. A bunch of them in fact ...
English as a Second Language
UBC’s right again: Soundtracks do improve viewers’ English. “Backstage” was broadcast in Thai – the language spoken by most Thais, interestingly enough – but Thaksin Shinawatra is a man for all vocabularies.
If viewers were listening carefully, they could have learned plenty of new English words and phrases. There was “self-contained” and “surplus”, “absorb” and “cluster”, “sophisticated”, “extra” and “economy of scale”, and of course “learning by doing”.
So don’t be surprised next time you’re in At Samat if you’re bombarded with food vendors’ invitations to contribute to their “economy of scale”. Just buy something!
Technology and IT
How could the premier’s poverty-pounding tour afford to be without high technology? Viewers soon found out from our motorcycle-riding Country CEO that the satellite images on Google Earth are updated every 15 days.
How this will help eradicate poverty, alas, he left to the imagination.
Metrosexuality
Having to make sure everyone’s got at least a little money causes wrinkles, apparently. You’ve got to sympathise with the PM when he asks everyone to understand he has to use a moisturiser.
At the end of one tiring day, the PM demonstrated how to apply eye and facial cream
before retiring. A crack team of moisturising experts was quickly assembled, and they had to admit that the guy knows how to administer his goop. The speculation was that he’s had some tutoring from beauticians and/or cosmetics salespersons.
So, poor people, attention please – this could be important: Don’t rub the stuff in harshly. Apply a little bit and spread it gently, like your prime administerer does.
Health and Animal Planet
“Backstage” liked to portray Thaksin as a doctor curing the dread disease poverty. And, to be sure, the Big Fella fancies himself a bit of a healer (maybe he played Doctor when he was a kid).
Touring the hungry streets of Roi Et, he spotted a blind boy and, seizing him, gazed into his eyes. “He doesn’t see at all?” Thaksin asked the gawking mob. No prescription forthcoming, though. Boy still blind.
Another time, the premier dispensed medical wisdom to a villager with diabetes. “Don’t eat too many sweet things,” he said. Villager still diabetic, however.
Inside every physician is a veterinarian howling to come out, and when Thaksin glimpsed a sick dog, he recommended a feeding of lalang grass because it would make the mutt throw up whatever’s ailing it. Or something, we’re not sure.
The crack team of animal-lovers that was summoned took a vote and decided that the dog might benefit from a dose of Mauritius grass, not lalang. Dog feeling some relief.
Religious Studies
Thaksin Shinawtra, behind the scenes, is pan-religious. He likes quoting the Lord Buddha, which is nice, and borrowed from the Pali phrasebook to pronounce that “one should stand on one’s own feet”. Then there was a quick segue into Christianity (and English again) with “God only helps those who help themselves”.
But of course he’s a Buddhist, and a good one too, because he told us he’s free from greed, anger and lust (and working hard on the rest of the deadly sins, presumably).
The very next day, however, Thaksin showed some residual effects of the anger issue when he demonstrated the problem with Buddhism (that it’s easier said than done) by fuming at the media, and especially our sister newspaper Kom Chad Luek.
By way of refuting his critics, the PM said he sees the beauty in chaos, unlike those who don’t understand him. Take Roi Et, for example, he said, swinging an arm. Chaotic, but drop-dead gorgeous.
The Buddha also thought differently from others, but at least he thought wisely.
Cooking Class
Like he always does on these upcountry camp-outs, Thaksin showed off his culinary skills, starting with “how to make an omelette PM-style”. Wotta man!
His signature dishes are invariably well received by the crowds of drooling onlookers, but then the appetite does tend to expand when one is forced to stare at a chef at work. The frying of an egg rarely receives such attention.
Thaksin loves incorporating a little razzle-dazzle into his cooking act to show those celebrity chefs like McDang and Yingsak that they don’t know everything. He uses two spatulas to fry stuff ... at the same time ... without a net.
“That’s new!” said a Soopsip fan while drooling along with the mob. Two spatulas. Maybe we should invest in a spatula factory.
Music Class
“Did you hear that?” asked a viewer. Yes, it was the Prime Minister of All He Sees singing a song.
“You’re too good to be true ...” Thaksin crooned. We don’t for a minute imagine he wasn’t referring to himself!
That’s it, boys and girls, pack up your books. A big round of applause to UBC for redefining the word “edutainment”, assuming it is a word. We learned more than we ever wanted to know and almost had fun doing it.
In case you missed the show and are considering buying the DVD, we’ve given it a PG-13 rating. You have to watch out for some bad jokes and worse language. Children should be deterred from watching, because despite its “reality show” tagline, “Backstage” was about as unreal as life gets.
What’s on next?
Jan 16, 2006: Baan None Somboon Village, Tambon Nom, At Samat district, Roi Et province
3 pm: The show begins. The opening scene is villagers waiting, local officials lining up on the roadside in front of the At Samat district office to welcome the VIP visitors. Police are telling the well-wishers to keep good order. Before long, the convoy arrives. Newin Chidchob is among the first to get off.
Then the prime minister, with a very nice-looking hairdo, appears, smiling. Villagers approach him and there is some Oscar-night style of handshake. Thaksin Shinawatra obviously is enjoying this.
3.15 pm: The provincial governor starts delivering his report. Basic stuffs about poverty and infrastructure. Thaksin is informed that some 900 people have registered as “poor” hoping to get state assistance. A surprisingly low figure. Then the topic shifts to issues like water resources and public health.
3.20 pm: The prime minister’s CEO instinct is too much to suppress as he starts interrupting virtually everyone on virtually every subject. “Can’t he just wait for them to finish?” a junior Nation editorial staff wonders. Well, welcome to the Thaksin world, girl.
4.10 pm: First major highlight of the day. Thaksin leaves the meeting place and comes out of the building. His fans, oops, sorry, villagers scream like they are seeing a pop star. The prime minister waves to them. Oh yes, he’s really enjoying this.
4.30 pm: It has been a bit boring for 20 minutes now. Camera men are obviously getting desperate to find anything intesting to broadcast. Some villagers are interviewed and as expected full of praise for the star man. “Is he handsome?” one man is asked. “Much more than me,” he says. Oh dear, hope it’s not the first of many such foolish questions.
4.45 pm: Critics of political web boards are getting warmed up. “I love it when the prime minister asked about the road and one guy said they only tried to hurry up the construction before his visit,” said one post on pantip.com. “Priceless.”
5.00 pm: Thaksin re-appears, visiting a local community. More Oscar handshakes. Then he starts interviewing a villager’s family. “What do you want me to do?” he asks the farming couple. “What else do you want to do?” “How much income do you want to live a decent life?”
Well, he has said he wanted to show officials examples of how to tackle poverty, but these are hardly “example” questions, aren’t they? If local officials don’t have or don’t know how to get this kind of information, they should not only be sacked, but also taken and shot.
5.30 pm: The star man leaves the stage again. It's time to recap how we feel. One Nation reporter is impressed by the lighting as Thaksin approached the village. "Very artistic," she said. But we don't think it's a setup lighting. Must be the natural late afternoon light.
"He does know how to act," a male reporter commented, touched by a scene where Thaksin sipped water from a villager's bowl. Had they put the thing through sanitization?
6.10 pm: The prime minister takes a stop at a toilet. Even that, privacy is not possible. More than 30 of his men stand guard. Or is it 50? Yes, if you count reporters and camera men. It will go down as the most guarded and most publicised toilet trip in human history.
6.20 pm: Dinner time. Villagers receive the premier & Co with sticky rice and other local menus, along with easy-listening Isan music. Again, easily the most televised “simple” meal in history. He still talks work once in a while. Hard to tell if he enjoys the food.
6.50 pm: He must be full now. It’s photo session. And surely, he won’t forget to give his autographs.
7.05 pm: Thaksin gives an interview with a reporter from his family-owned iTV. You can sum it up in one sentence: “My poverty-eradication scheme will work.”
7.10 pm: Back to work, meeting with his men and local officials. Time for English class, gentlemen.
7.30 pm: The lecture seems painfully long, but the “headmaster” appears on a roll at the moment. He draws things on a big sheet of paper set up on a board. It’s about local economy, infrastructure and various other things. A floodgate of English words breaks open.
7:58 pm: A supporting actor joining the session dozes off. Meanwhile, a Starbuck coffee mug is spotted. Sort of out of place in a very “poor” village.
The “headmaster” keeps on rolling. The frequency of English words is increasing now. We hear “consumption behaviour”, “selfcontained”, “absorb”, “Learning by doing”, “economy of scale”, “cluster”, “sophisticated” among other things. He also writes English words on the paper.
The Cabinet boys and girls act like good students. Newin appears to be thinking about what the prime minister says. Prommin Lertsuridej nods frequently. Sudarat Keyuraphan scratches her head often.
8.10 pm: One hour has gone. The prime minister has run a solo lecture about how to achieve the royal “sufficiencyeconomy” theory.
8.40 pm: The session is closed. Small talks begin. We can’t notice if any in the audience heaves a sigh of relief.
9 pm: The prime minister retreats into his sleeping place, but the camera still focuses on him. He looks at his computer, clicking the mouse. Nobody knows what’s on the screen or in his mind , though. A nice end to the first day of the “Reality Show”, or so it seems.
9:25 pm: It's metrosexual time. PM demonstrates how he chases those wrinkles away by applying eye and facial cream gently. The beauty ritual is necessary as he also has to star in the Fantasia again tomorrow.
Jan 17, 2006: Baan Kloy Village, Tambon Nom, At Samat district, Roi Et province
6 am: Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra heads for the bathroom. Hard to say if he’s still enjoying the spotlight. Some officials and villagers are already waiting for him. PM’s Office Minister Newin Chidchob and Natural Resources and Environment Minister Yongyuth Tiyapairat are also up and about.
6.30 am: The waiting ministers check out today’s newspapers. No major development, and our monitoring team has to be content with spotting Newin not fancying Patonggo for breakfast.
Sets of food and flowers are laid out so Thaksin can present them to the monks on their morning rounds.
7 am: Thaksin is done with his ablutions. He greets the people and makes small talk until the monks arrive.
7.05 am: Thaksin talks to reporters. Villagers with shrimp farms need help, he says, because their shrimps, which Thaksin had for dinner last night, were way too small to compete on the nationwide market. Their itsybitsy size, 6070 shrimps per kilo, at Bt100 per kilo, are bound to keep the farmers poor. Gotta fatten those shrimps up.
The PM said the trip is providing him with the chance to see the small picture before solving problems in the big picture. It's a twoway solution by the government; the central government comes to see the locals and goes back to get the goodies from headquarters. Everyone's happy in the big picture. And the small picture. And lets not forget the middle picture too.
Our leader says he will stress well, a, “self contain” system for all families and communities. Self contain, he said, was the same as self sufficiency, but just spelt differently. Its the perfect system. Everything everyone could possibly need is right here in the community. The three main occupations, agriculture, labour, and merchandising have to be balanced in a community. So everyone can barter and banter with each other. In a big picture.
He stresses that every governor in Thailand will be learning from the live broadcast programme. That is, as long as they remember to switch on the TV... And oh, as long as they can keep themselves awake.
7.15 am: Thaksin heads for the breakfast tent. Newspapers are laid out on the table, but he said he doesn’t usually look at the newspapers because he'd rather make the news than read it. Indeed, headlines gave him headaches. He like to read the foreign stuff, and of course, keep an eye on all those stocks and shares.
7.35 am: Thaksin finishes breakfast. A female villager comes to see him. He askes her whom she lives with. She says she's alone but her children send her money. She has a swollen neck. Thaksin advises her to see some doctors at Rama VI (Phra Mongkutklao) Hospital in Bangkok. He gives her money to get there. First freebie of the day. And its only 7.35am.
7.40 am: Thaksin calls reporters to hear his comment on one of those pesky headlines. ("No vending allowed at At Samat") "This sucks, it's unconstructive. I bought roasted meatballs, squid and Tako (Thai dessert). If I didn't, I wouldn't have blamed this. Writing like this can hurt the country. The writer must be write dreaming, not awake. OK, Thank you," he says.
Ummnn.... so much for “I have no greed, anger and obsessions”. In case you missed it, he said this three days ago.
7.45 am: He meets and greets the people.
7.48 am: Thaksin and his ministers take a small agriculture truck. A line of vans follow. People wave. He waves back. Everyone is happy in the "self contain" picture.
8.15 am: Thaksin arrives … Ban Kloy, Nom, At Samat and waits for the Cabinet teleconference meeting. Yawn yawn.
8.30 am: Thaksin greets Social Development and Human Resource Security Minister Watana Muangsook. Watana says he checked out the UBC 16 at 2am last night and the broadcast was still there. Nothing is happening. But it is still there. Thaksin asks Watana to find jobs for villagers who can sew but have no sewing to do. (The idea came from a family he met yesterday.) Watana says, "Yes, Sir. I'm taking your command. I'm right on it." He says he would let the Social Welfare directorgeneral see Thaksin in Roi Et.
Thaksin reviews what happened yesterday for his ministers. He says he had met a mob at the airport yesterday. Almost as bad as reading a headline, but decided to make an appointment to meet them next week anyway. He says the group is in trouble and he has to help. Well, some of them. Because others just want to topple the government and they don't deserve to be talked to because they can't understand human language, he says. They are cheating people who hire stray people for a mob. The Social Development Minister (Watana) and police should cooperate to rehabilitate them. However, cheaters who try to get help from officers must be eradicated. Removed from the picture.
"Nepotism must end," he says. Look who’s talking.
8.35 am: He reviews the selfcontain system to ministers in Bangkok and tells them how to help people. He asks district chiefs to apply the "At Samat Model" to their districts.
Thaksin mentions children’s' proposal to rate the media (constructive, unconstructive) proposed on Children's Day, and the Teacher's Day that Education Ministry has to improve the quality of the teachers. But decline to say how. A decent salary might be a start.
He urges Deputy Prime Minister Chidchai Vanasatidya to be more active about situation in the South, and to stop all that car smuggling from Malaysia. It was giving him a headache.
9.30 am: UBC is asked to leave the meeting room as the Cabinet is having a meeting in the meeting rrom.
10 am: Thaksin comes out and meets the people. They have complaints. Lots of complaints. But this is why he is here. A man presents him with a letter. His house collapsed last year. Thaksin says he will give him a new house. Freebie number two.
Another man says he wants that paper document thing for his land. "If you have anything to ask from him, just ask. Don't know how long it will be before he's back here," a female hostess urges the man. So he keeps asking.
A woman talks in tears. She wonders how Thaksin can eradicate poverty as the poor have the ability to work but they have no money to make anything work. A male UBC host tells her to talk those agriculture officers standing around outside looking unemployed.
10.20 am: Thaksin sits at his desk with a microphone. Villager talk to him with a microphone. Everyone has a microphone and is talking at once. Thaksin manages to interupt everyone.
10.25 am: A man in debt, without assets, sees Doctor Thaksin. He wants his poverty cured. Thaksin asks him information and says, "You're not good at merchandising, so you should do agriculture, OK? The minister (Agriculture Minister Sudarat Keyuraphan sitting next to him) is finding land for you," he says. Freebie number three. This appears to be news to Sudaret, who tells the man to go and talk to those agricultural officers standing around outside.
10.39 am: A woman asks Thaksin for his autograph. She is delighted, but surely would have preferred 40 rai and a new tractor.
12.15 pm: Thaksin ends his anti-poverty demonstration with a summary of his principles of public assistance. “It’s easy!” he says. “If anybody is strong but has no land, we provide land suitable for his use for merchandising or agriculture. If he has some land but not enough, we find more until he has enough. If he’s using public land and wants the documentation, we have to verify his rights and consider giving him the papers.”
Wow, should we start celebrating the beginning of the end of poverty?
12.20 pm: Thaksin comes out of the temple hall. He is once again greeted by people. The head of the Tambon Administration Organisation thanks the prime minister and says all the people in all constituencies of the province will be on Thaksin’s side.
A master of ceremonies at the temple thanks the prime minister. He says the prime minister is so kind. He came to help people at their home villages. The solutions found here will also be examples for other localities. The prime minister will eat the same food as local villagers: glutinous rice and som tam. “We disagree with Sondhi Limthongkul who protests against Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra,” the speaker says.
12.30 pm: Thaksin eats lunch. Meanwhile, the same MC is still speaking . He introduces a Thai Rak Thai MP who comes from Huay Kwang constituency.
1:00 pm: Thaksin takes on a motorbike alone, riding along the village’s roads to a prawn farm. Other 20 motorbikes carrying ministers and officials trail him in quite a distance.
2.00 pm: Fans of “The Prime Minister Show” wonder what on earth happened to Thaksin after he departed on a motorcycle. They hope that nothing bad has happened to him.
2.15 pm: Oh he’s back. Thakin is back on stage, meeting with a crowd of several thousand villagers, some of whom complain about their persistent poverty. Is it still “easy”? Well, our leader still looks confident.
2.25 pm: Thaksin tastes a dish of grilled prawns on a visit to a successful prawn farm. What really impresses him? Well, the spicy sauce. “Excellent ” the premier pronounces.
3:00 pm: Once again, Thaksin holds another interview session with a jostling pack of reporters, telling them how much he loves the “spicy sauce”.
3.20 pm: The prime minister leaves the prawn farm by van, while a group of villagers shout at the TV cameras that they want Thaksin to rule the country for many years.
3.40 pm: Thaksin is on his way to Ban Pao village. The live programme shows how eager local officials organised the crowd prior to his arrival. Hope their jobs are not on the line here.
4.00 pm: Villagers cheer Thaksin’s first visit to Ban Pao with an orchestrated show of local dancers. It appears the officials’ jobs are secure now. The premier looks tired, but doggedly stays on.
4.25 pm: Thaksin walks along a line of local-product stalls, giving advice to villagers on how to develop their handicrafts to add value.
4.40 pm: After complaining to Thaksin about economic plight, a local woman weeps in gratitude when he promises to help her.
5:40 pm: The prime minister may think that the poor and government officials do not know how to make omlette properly. He demonstrates elabolatively on how to make omlettes. Government officials and Thai Rak Thai members look on attentively as if they have never seen someone frying omlett.
5:50 pm: The prime minister's signature dishes are distributed to reporters. He says the food is for reporters' only and he has put a love potion into the dishes. Whether the potion works, we'll see from tomorrow's headlines.
6 pm: Thaksin says he wasn't aware of the camera last night when he was applying his facial cream. Everybody is curious what the brand is. He doesn't fall into the trap. But the talk leads to yet another occasion where he says things that is unlikely to boost his image. "Oh.. that "Cream Na Deng" of Public Health Ministry? I'd rather apply it on my golf club so my ball will bounce."
7:00 pm: After taking a bath, Thaksin is back on stage, wearing a light-blue polo shirt, dark-blue shorts and a pair of blue sandals. The prime minister in casual dress continues his one-man show, lecturing the anti-poverty class while all his supporters listen like students.
7.20 pm: Technology classroom. At least, audiences have learnt from Thaksin Google Earth is updated every 15 days. Maybe only he knows how this will help the poverty eradication scheme.
8.31 pm: TRT spokesman Sita Divari makes his first appearance in the show giving a presentation on a water management plan in the district. He does a good job on it, fluently lecturing the Cabinet without having to read the detailed information from script.
8.45 pm: Interior Minister Kongsak Vantana gets involved by providing Thaksin with additional details on the plan, apart from general information on local affairs. Contrary to Sita, the former Air Force chief reads out almost all information from a prepared report.
8.50 pm: The lights go off for a presentation on a projector. Thaksin and the Cabinet members leave their seats and gather in front of the screen to discuss plans.
9.03 pm: The session ends. Thaksin excuses himself and leaves the meeting together with all Cabinet members but Agriculture Minister Sudarat Keyuraphan, who then chairs a new meeting seven minutes later with farmers to discuss problems concerning rice.
Jan 18, 2006: Wat Puchao Mahaesaksitaram, Bansala, At Samat
6.42 am: “Good morning,” somebody says in English to Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra when exits his tent and turns up for breakfast: boiled rice, shrimp, Vietnamese noodles, pa tong ko pastry, coffee.
Thaksin’s first question of the day is: “Which team did Arsenal beat yesterday? 7-0. Which team?”
6.48 am: Interior Minister ACM Kongsak Wantana is almost last to come to the table. The talk is about Dream Schools. “If they’re happy at school, they’ll want to go to school every day,” Thaksin says, recalling the school children who sang for him on Tuesday. Another suggestion is to sell pa tong ko to raise funds for the South, Bt500 a dish, limited to generals.
6.58 am: Thaksin finishes breakfast and leaves the table.
7.00 am: He gets ready for a television programme broadcast on Channel 11
On the show, he repeats his principle of self-containment. Answering the host’s question about criticism of the prime ministerial reality show, he says that he wants the show to be a distance-learning class that 20,000 district chiefs and government officials can study. He will assign the officials to do what he demonstrates and he will evaluate them within the next three years of his term.
7.30 am: He presents food to four monks at the local temple.
7.54 am: The prime minister appears at the breakfast table. He has to wait for the district chief assigned to practice prescribing measures to cure people’s poverty to try on his own.
Thaksin repeats what he said yesterday. “Do you believe currently I don’t read newspapers? My mind is clear when I don’t read them,” he said.
He also insists he can’t say differently from what he thinks. Ummn.. We believe that. He says he cannot lie. Umnn.. Let’s think about it.
Talking about criticism, Thaksin says people think different from him and don’t understand him. He, unlike others who don’t understand him, sees the beauty of chaos, like what he is doing in Roi Et. The Buddha also thought differently from others but he thought wisely. Umnnn...Let’s hope he’s not thinking what we are thinking.
8.05 am: Thaksin said he wants to let the local official “play” on their own. He is talking about the officers’ practice and he will check the “homework” later.
8.10 am: Thaksin says losers will see problems in all occasions, while winners see answers in all problems. Nice one. But have we read this somewhere before?
He illustrates the government as a mountain climber that will ask for higher mountains after conquer one. He says other categories are quitter, camper- those who just camp on the way and leave the mountain. Ummnn... lots of philosophy today.
8.20 am: He’s got an idea of allowing military officers to help eradicate poverty. “Let those who know meet those who don’t, that will help,” he repeats what he said yesterday again. He hopes soldiers, with disciplines and knowledge, will help villagers in both aspects, and they get allowance in return.
PM’s Office Minister Newin Chidchob said Thaksin should test all to-be-district-chief with the poverty solving skill before promoting them.
Back to his idea, Thaksin says his idea, if done in all Tambon, will create network of help. He then goes to his background that he has grown with people network and communication network.
“If we distribute officers that are now scattered to build a network and see anti-poverty mission as a war,...the network can occupy all areas of the country,” he says.
Newin then says currently the elected leaders for SML projects are not officers from Administration Department, so they are not using the existing network.
Thaksin has got another project. He will in some time hold a weekend meeting with high rank and exclusive officials to do a workshop on poverty. Related ministers and NESDB high rank officers will be invited.
8.43 am: Thaksin walks out of the tent to call his daughter, Praethongtharn or Ung Ing. When he comes back, he says Ung-Ing is alone at home because Oak is working in Khonkaen.
8.45am: Natural Resources and Environment Minister Yongyuth Tiyapairat talks about the opposition’s role in checking alleged corruption (in Bangkok Metropolitan Administration). Newin says the opposition should have done their best for scrutinising both the government and BMA.
Thaksin says, “I told you if there is a situation of “Avijja” or ignorant, don’t worry too much. People want to take others down because of fool, anger, love, greed. If these things are out of your mind, your mind will be clear as mine.” He says the Buddha teaches but people don’t remember. Ummnn... We don’t remember Lord Buddha with Bt70 billion worth of assets. But well, we take Thaksin’s words for it _ that he has no greed.
He goes on that the government and opposition have their duties. They should just do their best, and don’t do anything else. In time, people will decide who benefit them most.
“Don’t think Bangkok voters voted for us last time because they all love us,” he says.
Handling disagreement need doing the best for one’s duty. Hitting back will be like street fight which will lead to lose-lose competition. When people do their best, it will be like fighting on stage, they will get supports and rewards, he said.
8.54 am: Newin comes back from sneaking out to see the performance of district chiefs. He tells Thaksin the officers was too bureaucrat. Thaksin says it’s ok. People can have re-examination when they failed in the first exam. “If they know as much as we know, they would have been governors by now, not district chiefs,” he says.
8.56 am: Thaksin says people like to bring him letters because he listens and understands people quickly. Thanks for telling us the latest of your unlimited qualities.
9 am: Agriculture Minister Sudarat Keyuraphan arrives at the table.
9.07 am: After listening to local politicians speaking to please Thaksin for half an hour, after the man said “I knew since 1995 that MR Thaksin will be a prime minister,” Yongyuth says, “let’s just talk about poverty eradication, not politics. The prime minister doesn’t talk about politics now.”
Meanwhile, Thaksin turns to talk to Sudarat.
9.30am: A foreign television programme interviews Thaksin. Thaksin says in English he is just happy helping people. Being more popular is just by-product. Ummnnn ..What on earth is UBC doing here?
He also wants to show government officials what to do. He says the death sentence of two fishermen who killed British woman in Samui is according to the law. The quickness of the case comes as it hurts people’s feeling.
9:45 am: Maybe he might dream of being a doctor during his childhood. While he is walking part a crowd waiting to greet him earnestly, Thaksin grabs a head of a blind boy in a way a doctor would do and tries to look into the boy’s eyes. “He doesn’t see at all?” Thaksin asks. Luckily, the prime minister does not prescribe any drug for the boy’s eyes, but just walks past on.
10:34 am: While the main camera focuses on the district chief trying to imitate Thaksin in solving the problem, a camera switches to Thaksin briefly, capturing him distributing cash to some villagers who are kneeling down next to him.
He says situation in the South must be better and better. He says the media should give people the fact, not opinions. If they want to give opinions, they should say this is the media’s opinion and provide the fact as well. He tells the reporter to ask his children for the question if he will sell the shares in Shin Corp.
1.25 pm: Thaksin arrives “Ban Nong Hua Khon” village. As expected, a crowd of several thous sands of local people greet the premier, even a young woman in the “Democrat” jacket
1.50 pm: In a round-table-like discussion, Thaksin listens to villagers complaining about their living problems. Thaksin still runs the one-man show, teaching them how easy they will get out of the troubles.
2.30pm: “Wish Thaksin stays as the prime minister forever,” a villager shouts to many other of her neighbours standing to greet Thaksin. Sondhi Limthongkul should hear that.
3.10 pm: Next destination? Back to At Samat district headquarter. However, Thaksin won’t forget to give his autographs and take pictures with villagers before he leaves “Ban Nong Hua Khon.”
A elderly man says he wants to talk personally with Thaksin about the controversy in the village if digging a new well will relief the community’s drought. But he has no chance to reach the premier.
4 pm: The TV screen has showed the same scene in the village for more than half an hour since Thaksin left for At Samat district headquarter. What happens is that no camera is allowed to embed in the Thaksin’s van.
5.30 pm A reporter at The Nation’s editorial office starts to complain about how he gets bored with the “Back Stage Show.”
While the sun is going down, “nothing on earth seems to be new there [in At Samart] after three days of Thaksin’s visit,” he says.
From the TV screen, it recalls the first day that Thaksin put his first footstep here: Thaksin having chats with his men, the PM’s secretary-general giving interviews with reporters, police officers walking around, local musicians taking their show to the visitors.
5.50 pm The “action” show turns “musical.” While Thaksin has vanished from the TV screen for quite a while, two Thai Rak Thai MPs lead some villagers running traditional Isan dance. What do other villagers do? Well, they “play” with the TV camera: yelling, talking, and joking.
6.45 pm: “Meet the Press” hour. The sky is dark now. Thaksin gives interviews with Channel 9, telling what he discovers and achieves after “touching” the local people. Well, it sounds alright. At least, he gets “something.”
7 pm: Dinner time. A main dish is grilled chicken. The way Thaksin chews the chicken, which is full in his cheeks, recalls his “solo eating show” shortly after the outbreak of bird flu disease first hit Thailand in 2004. That time he sat beside a larger-than-life likeness of Colonel Sanders while holding a KFC fried-chicken wing, and ate it.
Looking on the bright side, the “At Samart” residents can hope for better sales of grilled chicken. Thaksin loves the chicken!
Jan 19, 2006: Wat Banlao and Wat Huanong, At Samat district
6.30 am: Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra is ready for an interview with a Channel 7 television programme. While waiting for TV staff members to prepare the broadcast, Thaksin goes out for a walk and a phone call.
6.40 am: Thaksin tells Channel 7 about the burning of a mobile phone transmitter in Yala last night, pointing out that the militants just wanted to cheer themselves up that they still could do something to cause chaos. However, government officials are now better and better at their jobs and managed to arrest seven people for the crime.
About the fire at the THAI catering building in Suvarnabhumi Airport yesterday, Thaksin blames it on a welding spark, not a flaw in the construction of the building. He says it was normal for construction contractors to speed up work when completion date is near. However, the kitchen is one kilometre away from the airport so it wouldn’t affect the airport operation.
Further on in the interview, he summarises the problems of poverty in At Samat district: flooding, debt, isolation, ignorance of supply and demand, and a large proportion of elderly and disabled people abandoned by family members who leave for industrial jobs in Bangkok. The Social Development and Human Resource Ministry and the Public Health Ministry will have to help rehabilitate them.
He says from his evaluation of the situation, the results of his mission in At Samat district will be seen within a year. Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?
The programme host asks for his reaction that some critics expect capitalists to come and occupy the district. Thaksin replies that such people need to have their heads checked.
Thaksin says that what he wants is for people to make a living on their own and help themselves. Except the elderly and the disabled, those who can earn a living will have to pay for a government-provided house, maybe Bt500-600 per month, and not just receive the house for free.
He says foreigners from many countries are interested in his anti-poverty reality show programme because some countries are still poor. Well, he should copy-right it, because humans have tried to tackle poverty since the world was created.
“Providing papers for land and land management in At Samat will be good example for other areas. District chiefs all over the country need to work whole-heartedly for poverty eradication. If not, they will not receive promotion,” he says.
He says every family needs a family account book so that they know their income and spending.
7.00 am: Thaksin greets reporters, saying “I feel tired, and the media staff are tired, too.”
7.07 am: Thaksin offers food to monks. He tells his assistant to hand him the offerings in order: food, dessert, and water.
“Staying upcountry is good, you can make merit every day,” Thaksin says. The thoughtfulness of the local people encourages him to do his job. He was tired at times during each day but he sleeps well, he says.
7.10 am: Thaksin arrives at the breakfast tent. He takes a glimpse at newspaper headlines and passes the papers to others. He has breakfast: wonton soup, boiled corn and pa tong ko pastry.
An assistant tells Thaksin that he’s not well. Thaksin asks if he has taken medicine. He prescribes Amoxy and Paracetamol to relieve fever and sore throat. How about some viewers complaining they are feeling sick?
7.14 am: PM’s Office Minister Newin Chischob talks to Thaksin about a large mob protesting about rice mills – so large that they are blocking traffic. Thaksin says all mobs must open way to public transport, wherever they are, or else they’ll get used to making trouble.
As for dishonest rice mill owners, he says, police should charge them with crimes.
7.18 am: Thaksin finishes breakfast. He says he likes the wonton soup and can go through three or four bowls.
7.21 am: Ministers talk about yesterday’s news and the role of the media. Thaksin says television host Sorayuth Sutassanachinda’s nickname is “Bang” (for bang chang yu in Thai, meaning a malicious character who likes to drive a wedge between people). He tells the UBC cameraman that this comment can be put on air. Some people are happy to see others in trouble, he says.
Thaksin talks about the selling of grass as means for extra income for local people. He moves on to recall his childhood, saying animals have an instinct to solve problems on their own. For example, dogs eat grass when they feel sick. Too bad some UBC viewers can’t eat grass (But they can just switch channels. We, who are doing Net update of this show, can’t).
7.33 am: Thaksin sees local villagers. They ask him to help regarding a fraudulent land broker and a court order. He says that the issue is outside his authority, They should appeal to the court with the help of lawyers.
Ah yes, finally. At least there’s something he admits he can’t do.
7.40 am: He says to his followers that if MPs had to bail out people, nobody would want to be an MP. Government officials should address the problems of the people before they turn to politicians. Unless politicians portray themselves as God, that is.
8.00 am: While Thaksin is enjoying free time at the breakfast table, Newin and PM’s secretary Prommin Lertsuridej talk to reporters and local people.
8.25 am: “Today I have few tasks to do and much free time,” Thaksin says. “I should have more tasks to do.”
Later, he asks for another cup of coffee, saying he is beginning to feel sleepy.
8.50 am: Thaksin gives an interview to the media. He answers many of the same questions as in the morning.
He says he will have to decide whether to go on an anti-poverty mission in the deep South. He must eradicate poverty for all Thais, but he may send other authorities there and not go himself. He says people in the South have a different culture so the government’s work will be hard.
He says officials in the South did a good job yesterday. They are going in the right direction, but they have further to go. He says it is possible that militants in the South yesterday might have burnt the mobile phone signal transmitter in reaction to the SIM card registration campaign because now they are not able to use mobile phones to ignite bombs.
He says his and the ministers’ jokes about the plane crash in Suphan Buri yesterday – that the pilot was distracted by giant billboards of Chat Thai Party leader Banharn Silpa-archawere – were not supposed to be broadcast. He adds that the Royal Air Force has now accepted a policy not to extend the use of old planes.
He changes the topic by saying, “Don’t shoot when I’m in bathroom or there will be more criticism.”
9.00 am: Thaksin meets the people and gives autographs before going to see how At Samat district chief Somkiat Ratanamethathorn performs in solving problems of poverty.
9.25 am: Somkiat tells Thaksin he has finished giving solutions for six poor people today. Thaksin asks him to call those people back so Somkiat can show Thaksin what he has decided for them.
1.20pm: After lunch, Thaksin meets the people again, guiding them on how to add value to their products. He tries weaving silk cloth along with the villagers, showing off yet another talent in front of the TV cameras.
3.10 pm: The camera catches PM’s Office minister Newin Chidchob behind Thaksin, carrying a sack on his back – the one he has brought along all the time since the first day. Some reporters suspect it might have banknotes inside as Thaksin has kept giving money to villagers along the routes he visits.
4.00 pm: Thaiksin just left Ban Noan Chai village for somewhere. So, the TV screen turns the viewers from boring to more boring. It now shows nothing more than tents, which Thaksin will return at the end of his fourth day in mission, and chefs preparing dinner for the prime minister.
4.40 pm A reporter at the Nation’s editorial office is having a chat with one of his colleague. “Substance,” he says, “might be the last thing we could find in this d**n show. Bring ‘Byrd’ (popular singer Thongchai McIntyre) along. I need some fresh stuff.”
5.10 pm It’s another interview, this time with reporters of UBC’s Entertainment Channel. Guess what movie did Thaksin watch recently? Well, he doesn’t talk about it. What he says is, oh no, what he achieves from his footsteps in At Samart.
6.00 pm A local official talked to Thaksin in a round-table meeting, complaining about the government’s failure to solve the social problems in his region.
“You don’t know. You just join us today,” Thaksin says, interrupting the official. “We have talked during our first three days what you should do to get the best solutions.”
6.30 pm Dinner time, but no more close-up shots on Thaksin appear on the screen. He might know that his bad-tasted humour about the death of a pilot killed in a plane crash yesterday furies many people beyond At Samart.
But nobody guarantees that Thaksin isn’t making another dirty joke with his men. The case is we the viewers cannot hear the chat. That’s it.
Jan 20, 2006
7.30 am Thaksin appears and says that he is fresh to start his fifth day of his reality show. Tonight he will not stay overnight in At Samat district mainly because his daughter telephoned and asked him to go home. He agreed to her request. What a family man and daring father!
Asked on his spending spree during the show, the billionaire-turned-premier says he has some money left because he did not use much money when working in Bangkok . “I am happy to give money. That's it.”
9.00 am Entourage of foreign ambassadors and diplomats arrive at At Samat. They appear to be enthusiastic to learn Thaksin's At Samat model. The premier boasted that they expected to adopt the model for their country.
10.00 am Thaksin briefed the envoys of his works at At Samat and what he expected from the show. He then opened the floor for questions from visiting envoys. One of them asked about his government's policies on helping poor people in Roi Et and other provinces. Well, his explanation seems clear as that diplomat nods several times.
12.36 pm After treating the envoys lunch, Thaksin meets people again. Among them are three people suffering from paralysing. The premier prescribes them by assigning Social Developing and Security Ministry to consider their request for carriages. The envoys watch this with eagerness.
1.00 pm The premier and visiting envoys travel to Baan Noannaree to visit an agricultural project.
1.20 pm Thaksin waves goodbye to the ambassadors and diplomats who he said are interested in his At Samat model. We expect that the foreign diplomats will be able to adopt At Samat model to their homeland.
1.27 pm He starts his travelling again. This time to Kuprakoena Temple in Suvannabhumi district and Tung Kularonghai project. Tung Kularonghai was once said to be most drought land in the country. Here Thaksin said a centre to produce Khao Hom Mali Rice should be set up.
5.40 pm Thaksin says farewell and heads to the Roi Et airport. The ‘fantastic show’ has come to an end.
