Big Jiew up to his old tricks?

[Baton Rouge]

Chaturon Chaisaeng, current TRT Party leader, denies that any of his party have been involved in burning down schools in the N & NE. There have even been those who have suggested that ex-TRTs may have plotted to burn southern schools as well. Doubtless, Chaturon will now have to deny that the TRTs have been burning down Bangkok slums and hotels. And did they also pay for the bomb hoax at Suvarnaphumi on Wednesday?

But the following is probably an indication that it is not just the Dems who have a credibility problem. Chaturon today told a press conference that the TRTs had approached ex-PM Chavalit Yongchaiyud to lead party after the coup, before he was offered the job himself. He also thought it possible that the TRTs had recently approached Chavalit again. Chaturon said he respected Chavalit and if other party core members wanted Chavalit to lead Thai Rak Thai, he would be willing to step aside.

Chavalit might well have been the worst PM Thailand has ever had. Chaturon's respect convinces me that it isn't just Chavalit who is a short-sighted fool.

[Baton Rouge]

No sooner was the previous posted than this popped up. What are the TRTs thinking? Chavalit is undoubtedly the 'Born Loser' of Thai politics. He has the ability to destroy TRT. Let's hope he does precisely that! :) This also doesn't say much good about Thaksin's ability to choose a successor either.
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2006/12/22/headlines/headlines_30022298.php
TRT want me to lead the party : Chavalit

Former prime minister Gen Chavalit Yongchaiyudh admitted Friday he had been approached to become the Thai Rak Thai Party's leader, but said there was no need to talk about the leadership issue because the party faced dissolution by the courts.


"I just told them after they asked me to be leader, why do they have to be concerned about the leader when we don't know if the party will survive or not" he said, referring to the charges of electoral wrongdoing against the party in the Constitution Tribunal.


He said deposed prime minister and former Thai Rak Thai leader Thaksin Shinawatra had even asked him to look after the party's members.


"It is normal that a former leader is concerned about the future of the members. I still have connections with the party today," he said.


Chavalit also revealed that it was hard for Thaksin to keep in contact by phone.


"I have to change telephone numbers every month in order to prevent phonetapping," he said.


Meanwhile, acting Thai Rak Thai leader Chaturon Chaisang said he knew that Chavalit had been approached before him and that he was ready to step down if the party's executives were still looking a new leader.


"It is not a new subject because after the coup the party asked him [Chavalit] to accept the post before me," Chaturon said.


He said he didn't know if the party was still interested in Chavalit, but if the party considers that someone may be more suitable as party leader he is ready to step down.


"Chavalit is a respected person. If key members of the party agree that he should be the party leader I will invite him myself. I am only the acting leader," he said.


Chavalit was a senior adviser to the Thai Rak Thai, but decided to leave both the party and politics after a conflict with Thaksin.


The Nation

[Baton Rouge]

Love this article! There is undoubtedly a deep vein of Chavalit-distain here. Where else would such a heavily-ridiculed man be capable of staging a comeback on several comebacks? It is, of course, symptomatic of a political system that is totally incapable of renewing itself. The comments underneath the article are also interesting.
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2006/12/24/opinion/opinion_30022360.php
SIDELINES
Does Chavalit make noise just to hear himself?

Chavalit Yongchaiyudh, ex-premier and ex-many-other titles during his peak years, is not entirely finished yet, or so it seems.

Emerging the other day to make an ambiguous statement, as always, the old soldier croaked that destiny would eventually dictate his final years.

Those who are familiar with Chavalit's behaviour cannot help but shudder at the thought of his return to active politics, especially when there is only a slim chance of Thaksin Shinawatra staging a comeback soon, now that criminal proceedings are shaping up to keep him busy in legal battles for years.

When he announced his retirement from politics about two years ago, not many people believed Chavalit could resist the temptation, if given a scenario in which he alone could revive the country from the structural decay inflicted by the massive corruption and cronyism of the much-hyped "Thaksinomics".

Whether those who enticed him out of retirement to return to gutter politics have something up their sleeves or good intentions, there is no use wasting words on argument. Chavalit has always been the final decision-maker for himself, though there have been frequent flip flops along the way.

There is a long-standing and dark joke among his friends and subordinates that if anyone wants Chavalit to do something, the person must stay with him until the job is done or the decision is made. Leaving him with somebody else is a total risk. He tends to be swayed by the last person who sticks with him.

Of course, there are people who admire his brilliance as a shrewd strategist, whose moves are unpredictable to friends and foes alike. That was when he worked as an adviser, mostly behind the scenes, for his boss. Yes, to him there is just one - former prime minister, General Prem Tinsulanonda.

Alas, when he became prime minister, Chavalit did not have somebody of his own calibre as adviser. So he made many wrong moves and decisions. The top strategist in politics turned out to be a babe in the woods, bumbling and blustering along. The darkest stain was his decision to devalue the baht in July, 1997, causing financial mayhem in many countries.

Nobody had ever thought he was capable of ruining the world's entire economy with the so-called "tom yam kung disease".

The ambiguous comments about his support for political aspirants, and his own destiny at the dictate of the Almighty, sent a mixed signal that he would return to politics only when the fate of the Thai Rak Thai Party is clearly known. There is an ongoing trial in the Constitution Tribunal, following complaints that the party broke the election law, and the party could be punished by dissolution.

"In that case, we might have to contemplate other possible options, such as founding a new party," Chavalit told reporters.

Chavalit might want to prove that there is life after death in politics, as claimed by former Israeli foreign minister Abba Eban. In gutter politics, Thai style, political resurrection is easy, no matter how disgraced or tainted a politician might have been. The old soldier is a living testimony to this claim. Thai politics harbours a refuge or a resurrection process for politicians to undergo "human laundering" - as seen in the Thaksin Cabinet, which looked more like a gallery of rogues. As long as Thaksin's populist policies pleased the rural masses and gained votes for him, nobody really cared about the extent of the big-time corruption the current administration is trying to unravel.

For Thai Rak Thai's leftovers, Chavalit seems an ideal choice. There is no need to discuss quality or competence, as long as timing and other ingredients suit the party. His 75 years of age serves as a strong asset because Thais respect elderly people, in line with the traditional seniority and hierarchical system. Chavalit can be a compromise choice for those who want to fight for meaningful positions in the party.

Or maybe nobody actually wants to be party leader? Before Chaturon Chaisang took the job, he showed the utmost reluctance and needed a lot of persuasion and prodding before he accepted.

We also knew from Chavalit's chortling that he has been in contact with Thaksin, now in exile in China, claiming that he had to change phone numbers many times just to avoid tapping. He also complained his residence had been under constant watch by people who hid in a room on the seventh floor of a condominium opposite.

With just a few comments, Chavalit will surely get attention, lukewarm or otherwise, though he has been seen as a man who belongs to yesterday. Well, we cannot count him out yet, though the latest scene might just be a clowning-around interlude to the real show, which is yet to resume after the general election. But nobody knows when it will take place.

Sopon Onkgara

[GWR]

http://www.ipoll.th.org/article/cabinet/chavalit1.gifI've been told that General Chavalit has agreed to return to the Thai Rak Thai Party; but only if certain things occur first. These would be the court's decision not to ban TRT as a party and the government's lifting of limitations on political parties. However, it is still unclear whether Chavalit might attempt to become party leader. Chavalit has supposedly said that he has no such intention, but with the general that can be interpreted as meaning that he might consider it if a whole load of people get down on their knees and beg him to do it. In the strange world inhabited by 'Big Jiew', it wouldn't surprise me in the slightest if that's precisely what happens next: -

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/breakingnews/read.php?newsid=30022478

There has also been a rather bizarre press conference with the PM today that seems to involve General Chavalit: -

http://www.angkor.com/2bangkok/2bangkok/forum/showthread.php?p=12791#post12791

[GWR]

It's turned up in The Nation now: -

Chavalit agrees to return to Thai Rak Thai: Ekkaporn

Chavalit Yongchaiyudh has agreed to return to the Thai Rak Thai Party when restrictions on political parties are relaxed, said a senior party figure Monday.

Ekkaporn Rakkwamsuk, member of the Thai Rak Thai's caretaker executive board, said that during their recent meeting, Chavalit had told him and other party executives that he would make a comeback to the party after the coupmakers' announcement limiting political activities was lifted.

Ekkaporn however, declined to confirm or deny that Chavalit would serve as the next Thai Rak Thai leader, as had been speculated.

"Chaturon Chaisang is doing a good job as the caretaker party leader, and many colleagues in the party are glad to support him as the next party leader. General Chavalit has no desire to become the party leader," he said.

The Nation

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/breakingnews/read.php?newsid=30022469

[Baton Rouge]

One insightful comment I have heard in recent days is that Thaksin began to become dangerously over-reactive in his handling of the insurgency in the deep south when he realized that TRT's 'Wadah' faction of Muslim MPs wished to extract a very high political and monetary price for its continued presence in his government. The same observer also remarked that Chavalit had had the same problem with the 'Wadah' faction when it decided to latch itself to his 'New Aspiration Party'. How, ironic that all these players still continue to pay some degree of allegiance to the 'rump' TRT! More proof of a distinct lack of any ideology at all in Thai politics.

This doesn't tell us who murdered two and injured over 20 in Bangkok last night, but it does show us TRT helped to lead us into this mess by playing money politics with flesh & blood issues. Indirectly, we could and SHOULD blame the whole current Thai political party system for using its less-advantaged citizens as expendable political pawns.

As for 'Wadah'. Very much to blame too! At no point in their entire history have they demonstrated that they are in it for the sake of their community rather than their own pockets. No wonder the younger generation has gone against it!

[Baton Rouge]

It was inevitable that Chavalit would eventually summon up the gall and mental power to utter his usual, "Pom mai roo! Mai naa nawn!". ["I don't know! I'm not sure!"]

Former Prime Minister Chavalit Yongchaiyudh said Monday that he had not yet received information abut the bomb attacks in Bangkok on New Year's Eve.

[Baton Rouge]

http://thainews.prd.go.th/newsenglish/previewnews.php?news_id=255005150020
http://www.2bangkok.com/07/chavolit.jpg
15 May 2007
Gen. Chavalit hints his return to the political scene
Political veteran and former prime minister Chavalit Yongchaiyudh yesterday traveled to the province of Nakhon Phanom to make merits on the occasion of his 75th birthday. About 100 people, including civil servants, vendors and public members, joined Gen. Chavalit’s birthday celebration in front of the provincial city hall.

Gen. Chavalit stated that while he was praying, he asked for the holy spirits to bring peace and order back to the society. He said there are many conflicts in the society today and everyone has to help the government in tackling social issues because without public cooperation, the problems would not be solved. Thus, he would like all sides to join hands to solve the problems because conflicts can cause losses and pains as can be seen in the past.

Gen. Chavalit said if he decides to return to politics, he rather forms a new party instead of becoming a member of another party.

[GWR]

http://thainews.prd.go.th/newsenglish/previewnews.php?news_id=255005150020
http://www.2bangkok.com/07/chavolit.jpg

Chavalit will not form new party: aide
Former prime minister Chavalit Yongchaiyudh will not set up a new political party, his aide said Wednesday.

Gen Wichit Yathip said Chavalit would like to take a rest instead of playing politics. :D

The Nation


http://www.nationmultimedia.com/breakingnews/read.php?newsid=30039319