APSN | Taksin says the Thai political crisis 'was just about himself'

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Taksin says the Thai political crisis 'was just about himself'

Red Thai Socialist - May 19, 2012

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Giles Ji Ungpakorn – Speaking over the phone to thousands of Red Shirts who were assembled on the spot where nearly 90 people were killed by the military two years ago, Taksin claimed that "the 91 deaths, the thousands of injuries and the imprisonments... were for one thing only: to get rid of ME and my supporters."

Like the interview he gave in Cambodia last month, his ego has no limits and he is trying to rewrite history where the Red Shirts were "merely" his followers. In fact Taksin played no role in building the Red Shirts and never actively led resistance to the military junta before that. He is now denying the strong pro-democracy current among most Red Shirts and even the republican mood which resulted from prolonged struggle. The Red Shirt movement was the biggest social movement to ever arise in Thailand. Its members have a dialectical relationship with Taksin, Thai Rak Thai and Pua Thai. While they supported Taksin and his parties, rank and file Red Shirts were also fighting for their own dignity, freedom and democracy and they made huge sacrifices for their goals.

The Red Shirt movement grew in political maturity as people struggled against the military after the coup of 2006. The movement to reform or abolish the lese majeste law and to support the "Nitirat" reforms, which would scrap all laws resulting from the coup, is clear evidence of this. The Nitirat proposals would also allow for the punishment of those generals and politicians who were responsible for killing unarmed demonstrators.

Taksin almost totally ignored lese majeste in his speech and concentrated on urging Red Shirts to help rebuild Thailand under the slogans of "Nation, Religion and Monarchy", with "Democracy" mentioned as an afterthought. The reality is that Thailand can never be democratic and free as long as the lese majeste law exists and as long as the generals and politicians who gun down political activists in the streets are never made accountable for their actions.

Taksin went on to indicate that he would return home to Thailand very soon. If he does manage to return, it will be at the expense of those charged with lese majeste who are rotting in jails and those killed by the military, none of whom can return home.

One reason why Taksin can dishonestly claim that the Red Shirts were "only about him" is the fact that those Red Shirts who are much more progressive than Taksin and Pua Thai are not organised enough and have yet to wrestled or properly contested the leadership from the hands of the UDD which fully supports the Yingluk Government. But some by-election results where Pua Thai voters stayed at home, causing the party to loose, may be an indication of a general dissatisfaction.