Thaksin Shinawatra

Thaksin Shinawatra

Thaksin Shinawatra (Thai: ทักษิณ ชินวัตร, RTGS: Thaksin Chinnawat [tʰák.sǐn tɕʰīn.nā.wát] ; born 26 July 1949) is a Thai former politician, businessman, and police officer who served as the 23rd prime minister of Thailand from 2001 until his overthrow in 2006. Since 2009, he has also been a citizen of Montenegro.

Thaksin founded the mobile phone operator Advanced Info Service (AIS) and the telecommunications conglomerate Shin Corporation in 1987, making him one of the wealthiest individuals in Thailand. He founded the Thai Rak Thai Party (TRT) in 1998 and became prime minister following a landslide election victory in 2001. He was the first democratically elected prime minister of Thailand to serve a full term and was re-elected in 2005.

During his tenure, Thaksin launched a controversial "war on drugs" that resulted in over 2,000 extrajudicial killings, drawing widespread criticism from human rights organizations. His administration implemented major poverty-reduction programs, expanded infrastructure, and introduced universal healthcare coverage, while taking a strong-arm approach to the South Thailand insurgency.

In 2006, the tax-free sale of his family's shares in Shin Corporation sparked mass protests led by the People's Alliance for Democracy ("Yellow Shirts"), accusing him of corruption, abuse of power, and autocratic tendencies. Thaksin called a snap election in 2006 that was boycotted by opposition parties and subsequently invalidated by the Constitutional Court.

Thaksin was deposed in a military coup on 19 September 2006. His party was outlawed, and he was banned from political activity. He spent 15 years in self-imposed exile, during which he was convicted in absentia for abuse of power, and had his police rank revoked.

Despite residing abroad, Thaksin maintained strong political influence through successor parties such as the Pheu Thai Party and the United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship ("Red Shirts"). His younger sister Yingluck Shinawatra served as prime minister from 2011 to 2014, and his daughter Paetongtarn Shinawatra became prime minister in 2024.

During exile, Thaksin frequently communicated with supporters under the alias "Tony Woodsome" on platforms such as Clubhouse. He returned to Thailand on 22 August 2023, where he was taken into custody before later receiving a royal pardon and parole.

Heritage and early life

Thaksin's great-great-grandfather, Seng Saekhu (Khu Chun Seng 丘春盛), was an ethnic Chinese Hakka immigrant from Fengshun, Guangdong, China, who arrived in Siam in the 1860s and settled in Chiang Mai in 1908. His eldest son, Chiang Saekhu, was born in Chanthaburi in 1890 and married a local named Saeng Samana. Chiang's eldest son, Sak, adopted the Thai surname Shinawatra in 1938 because of the country's pro-Central Thai movement, and the rest of the family also adopted it. Seng Saekhu had made his fortune through tax farming. Chiang Saekhu/Shinawatra later founded Shinawatra Silks and then moved into finance, construction, and property development. Thaksin's father, Loet, was born in Chiang Mai in 1919 and married Yindi Ramingwong. Yindi's father, Charoen Ramingwong (born: Wang Chuan Cheng), was a Chinese Hakka immigrant who married Princess Chanthip na Chiangmai, a minor member of the Lanna (Chiang Mai) royalty.

In 1968, Loet Shinawatra entered politics and became an MP for Chiang Mai. Loet Shinawatra quit politics in 1976. He opened a coffee shop, grew oranges and flowers in Chiang Mai's San Kamphaeng District, and opened two cinemas, a gas station, and a car and motorcycle dealership. By the time Thaksin was born, the Shinawatra family was one of the richest and most influential families in Chiang Mai.

Thaksin Shinawatra was born in San Kamphaeng, Chiang Mai Province, and was raised in a Theravada Buddhist household. He lived in San Kamphaeng until the age of 15 before moving to Chiang Mai to attend Montfort College. At 16, he assisted in managing one of his father's cinemas, gaining early experience in business operations.

Thaksin married Potjaman Damapong in July 1976. They have one son, Panthongtae and two daughters, Pinthongtha and Paethongtarn. They divorced in 2008. Thaksin's youngest sister, Yingluck Shinawatra (Thai: ยิ่งลักษณ์ ชินวัตร; RTGS: yinglak chinnawat), is said to have entered politics in 2011 at her brother's request as leader of the pro-Thaksin Pheu Thai Party. She was later elected prime minister on 3 July 2011. Thaksin received a doctorate in criminology at Sam Houston State University. Thaksin lectured at the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities of Mahidol University in 1979.

Police career

Thaksin was a member of the 10th class of the Armed Forces Academies Preparatory School, and was then admitted to the Thai Police Cadet Academy. Graduating in 1973, he joined the Royal Thai Police. He received a master's degree in criminal justice from Eastern Kentucky University in the United States in 1975, and three years later was awarded a doctorate in criminal justice at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas.

Returning to Thailand, he reached the position of Deputy Superintendent of the Policy and Planning Sub-division, General Staff Division, Metropolitan Police Bureau, before resigning his commission in 1987 as a Police Lieutenant Colonel and leaving the police. His former wife, Potjaman Damapong, is the sister of Police General Priewpan Damapong and now uses her mother's maiden name.

He was a former university lecturer at the Royal Police Cadet Academy in 1975–1976.

Thaksin's police lieutenant colonel rank was revoked in September 2015.

Business career

Early ventures

Thaksin and his wife began several businesses while he was still in the police, including a silk shop, a cinema, and an apartment building. All were failures which left him over 50 million baht in debt, (£1 million). In 1982, he established ICSI. Using his police contacts, he leased computers to government agencies with modest success. However, later ventures in security systems (SOS) and public bus radio services (Bus Sound) all failed. In April 1986, he founded Advanced Info Service (AIS), which started as a computer rental business.

In 1987 Thaksin resigned from the police. He then marketed a romance drama called Baan Sai Thong, which became a popular success in theatres. In 1988, he joined Pacific Telesis to operate and market the PacLink pager service, a modest success, though Thaksin later sold his shares to establish his own paging company.

In 1989, he launched IBC, a cable television company. At that time, Thaksin had a good relationship with Chalerm Yoobumrung, the minister of the Prime Minister's Office, who was in charge of Thai press and media. It is a question whether Chalerm granted the right to Thaksin to establish IBC to benefit his close friend, seeing that the project had been denied by the previous administration. However, it turned out to be a money loser and he eventually merged the company with the CP Group's UTV.

In 1989, Thaksin established a data networking service, Shinawatra DataCom, today known as Advanced Data Network and owned by AIS and TOT. Many of Thaksin's businesses were later consolidated as Shin Corporation.

Advanced Info Service and later ventures

Advanced Info Service (AIS) was given a monopoly contract by Thaksin's military contacts in 1986 and used the GSM-900 frequency band. AIS grew rapidly and became the largest mobile phone operator in Thailand.

The Shinawatra Computer and Communications Group was founded in 1987 and listed in 1990.

In 1990, Thaksin founded Shinawatra Satellite, which has developed and operated four Thaicom communications satellites.

In 1999, the Shinawatra family spent some one billion baht establishing Shinawatra University in Pathum Thani. It offers international programs in engineering, architecture, and business management, though it ranks quite low internationally.

In 2000, Thaksin acquired the ailing iTV television station from the Crown Property Bureau, Nation Multimedia Group, and Siam Commercial Bank.

Entry into politics

Political career

Thaksin entered politics in late 1994 through Chamlong Srimuang, who had just reclaimed the position of Palang Dharma Party (PDP) leader from Boonchu Rojanastien. In a subsequent purge of Boonchu-affiliated PDP cabinet ministers, Thaksin was appointed foreign minister in December 1994, replacing Prasong Soonsiri. Thaksin left Palang Dharma along with many of its MPs in 1996, and founded the populist Thai Rak Thai (TRT) party in 1998. After a historic election victory in 2001, he became prime minister, the country's first to serve a full term.

Thaksin introduced a range of policies to alleviate rural poverty. Highly popular, they helped reduce poverty by half in four years. He launched the country's first universal healthcare program, the 30-baht scheme, as well as a notorious drug suppression campaign. Thaksin embarked on a massive program of infrastructure investment, including roads, public transit, and Suvarnabhumi Airport. Nevertheless, public sector debt fell from 57 percent of GDP in January 2001 to 41 percent in September 2006. Levels of corruption were perceived to have fallen, with Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index improving from 3.2 to 3.8 between 2001 and 2005. The Thai Rak Thai party won in a landslide in the 2005 general election, which had the highest voter turnout in Thai history.

Twelve years later, after Thaksin was removed from power, Chamlong Srimuang expressed regret at getting "such a corrupt person" into politics. The PDP soon withdrew from the government over the Sor Por Kor 4-01 land reform corruption scandal, causing the government of Chuan Leekpai to collapse.

PDP leader and Deputy Prime Minister under Banharn

Chamlong, strongly criticised for mishandling internal PDP politics in the last days of the Chuan-government, retired from politics and hand-picked Thaksin as new PDP leader. Thaksin ran for election for the first time for the constitutional tribunal and lost.

Thaksin joined the government of Banharn Silpa-Archa and was appointed Deputy Prime Minister in charge of Bangkok traffic. In May 1996, he and four other PDP ministers quit the Banharn Cabinet (while retaining their MP seats), prompting a Cabinet reshuffle. Many have claimed that Thaksin's move was designed to help give Chamlong Srimuang a boost in the June 1996 Bangkok Governor elections, which Chamlong returned from retirement to contest. But Chamlong lost to Bhichit Rattakul, an independent.

Chamlong's failure to buttress the PDP's failing power base in Bangkok amplified divisions in the PDP, particularly between Chamlong's "temple" faction and Thaksin's. Soon afterwards, Chamlong announced he was retiring again from politics.

Thaksin and the PDP pulled out of the Banharn-government in August 1996. In a subsequent no-confidence debate, the PDP gave evidence against the Banharn government, and in September 1996 Banharn dissolved Parliament.

Thaksin announced he would not run in the subsequent November 1996 elections but would remain as leader of the PDP. It suffered a fatal defeat in the elections, winning only one seat, and soon imploded, with most members resigning.

Deputy Prime Minister under Chavalit

On 15 August 1997, Thaksin became Deputy Prime Minister in Chavalit Yongchaiyudh's government, after the Thai baht was floated and devalued on 2 July 1997, sparking the Asian financial crisis. He held the position for only three months, leaving on 14 November when Chavalit resigned.

During a censure debate on 27 September 1997, Democrat Suthep Thaugsuban accused Thaksin of profiting from insider information about the government's decision to float the baht, but the next Democrat party-led government did not investigate the accusations.

During this period, Thaksin also served on the Asia Advisory Board of the Washington, D.C.–based Carlyle Group until he resigned upon becoming prime minister in 2001.

The Thai Rak Thai Party and the 2001 elections

Thaksin founded the Thai Rak Thai (TRT) ('Thais Love Thais') party in 1998 along with Somkid Jatusripitak, PDP ally Sudarat Keyuraphan, Purachai Piumsomboon, and 19 others.

With a populist platform often attributed to Somkid, TRT promised universal access to healthcare, a three-year debt moratorium for farmers, and one million baht locally managed development funds for all Thai villages.

After Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai dissolved parliament in November 2000, TRT won a sweeping victory in the January 2001 elections, the first held under the Constitution of 1997. At the time, some academics called it the most open, corruption-free election in Thai history. Thai Rak Thai won 248 parliamentary seats (more than any other party previously) and needed only three more seats to form a government. Nonetheless, Thaksin opted for a broad coalition to gain total control and avoid a vote of no confidence, with the Chart Thai Party (41 seats) and the New Aspiration Party (36 seats), while absorbing the smaller Seritham Party (14 seats). Thaksin became Prime Minister of Thailand on 9 February 2001.

Indictment of Thaksin for hiding his wealth

Thailand's National Counter Corruption Commission (NCCC) submitted an indictment to the Constitutional Court accusing Thaksin Shinawatra, the prime minister-in-waiting at the time, for failing to disclose assets worth about 2.37 billion baht ($56 million) while he was deputy prime minister in 1997 and a year afterward. If found guilty, Thaksin could be banned from political office for five years. This case is known as the "stock hiding case" because the Constitution prohibits politicians and their spouses from holding shares in private companies as per the law. However, Thaksin transferred the shares he owned to his domestic staff and other nominees in order to conceal his ownership.

According to his own testament in the constitutional court, his reasons for failing to reveal his complete asset include: (1) the constitution does not define the term "personal property", (2) the accounting explanation is not clear, (3) not showing the property using another person's name as a substitute, which was not previously required to be shown, is not considered a violation, (4) not intentionally not showing the list of property using another person's name, (5) it is not his responsibility to submit the accounting before the announcement of the use of the organic law on the Prevention and Suppression of Corruption Act, B.E. 2542 (A.D. 1999), which was just announced on November 18, B.E. 2542 (A.D. 1999) and (6) in the confidential letter dated November 14, 24, and 30th, B.E. 2543 (A.D. 2000) to the chairman of the Audit Committee, the accused (Thaksin Shinawatra) had already explained the list of assets and debts and the reasons why they were not shown in the accounting, considering the notification of additional asset lists as part of the three times submitted accounting.

While Klanarong Jantik, the Secretary-General of the National Anti-Corruption Commission-NACC, argued in the court that (1) although the constitution does not define the term "personal property", but it is a common sense understanding, (2) the accounting explanation may have minor changes but the important information remains unchanged and has been edited to make it clearer, (3) It is not shown that there have been any instances where a minister or individual who submitted the accounting has stated that they did not show the asset list because they used another person's name as a substitute, citing that they did not understand the accounting explanation and (4) although the organic law on the Prevention and Suppression of Corruption Act, B.E. 2542 (A.D. 1999) was announced on November 18, B.E. 2542 (A.D. 1999), the accused has the responsibility to submit the accounting according to the current constitution from the day it is mandated, which is October 11, B.E. 2540 (A.D. 1997).

Later, the Constitutional Court ruled 8 to 7 that Thaksin Shinawatra did not have any intention in the matter. This ruling may have been influenced by public pressure against the Constitutional Court because at the time, Thaksin was very popular and some believed he should have been given the opportunity to govern the country. However, there is still a part of society that is skeptical of the court's decision and sees Thaksin as disrupting the justice process, leading to the complaint and removal of four Constitutional Court judges.

In 2011, the Truth for Reconciliation Commission of Thailand released a final report after two years of work, stating that all political crises were caused by the "Thaksin stock hiding case" in which the Constitutional Court acted unlawfully. Seven judges of the Constitutional Court ruled that Thaksin Shinawatra was guilty of the charges, while six other judges ruled that he was not guilty. However, the Constitutional Court then included the votes of the two judges who had ruled that the case was not within their jurisdiction, but had not ruled on the substance of the case, and added them to the votes of the six judges who had ruled that Thaksin was not guilty. This resulted in a ruling of 8 to 7 in favor of Thaksin, which was perceived as a violation of the law and led to public mistrust of the judicial process in Thailand.

Prime Minister of Thailand (2001–2006)

Thaksin Shinawatra was the first prime minister of Thailand to complete a full term in office, and his rule is generally agreed to have been one of the most distinctive in the country's modern history. He initiated many eye-catching policies that distinguished him from his predecessors. They affected the economy, public health, education, energy, social order, drug suppression and international relations. He gained one re-election victory.

Thaksin's most effective policies were reducing rural poverty and the introduction of universal healthcare, allowing him to gather the hitherto-neglected support of the rural poor, especially in the populous northeast.

His cabinet consisted of a broad coalition of academics, former student leaders, and former leaders of the Palang Dharma Party, including Prommin Lertsuridej, Chaturon Chaisang, Prapat Panyachatraksa, Surapong Suebwonglee, Somkid Jatusripitak, Surakiart Sathirathai, and Sudarat Keyuraphan. Traditional regional power brokers also flocked to his government.

However, his government was increasingly accused of dictatorship, demagogy, corruption, conflicts of interest, human rights offences, acting undiplomatically, using legal loopholes and displaying hostility towards a free press. A highly controversial leader, he has also been the target of numerous allegations of lèse majesté, treason, usurping religious and royal authority, selling assets to international investors, and religious desecration.

Economic policies

Thaksin's government designed its policies to appeal to the rural majority, initiating programs like village-managed microcredit development funds, low-interest agricultural loans, direct injections of cash into village development funds (the SML scheme), infrastructure development, and the One Tambon One Product (OTOP) rural, small, and medium enterprise development program.

Thaksin's economic policies helped Thailand recover from the 1997 Asian financial crisis and substantially reduce poverty. GDP grew from 4.9 trillion baht in 2001 to 7.1 trillion baht in 2006. Thailand repaid its debts to the International Monetary Fund two years ahead of schedule.

Income in the northeast, the poorest part of the country, rose by 46 percent from 2001 to 2006. Nationwide poverty fell from 21.3 to 11.3 percent. Thailand's Gini coefficient, a measure of income inequality, fell from .525 in 2000 to .499 in 2004 (it had risen from 1996 to 2000). The Stock Exchange of Thailand outperformed other markets in the region. After facing fiscal deficits in 2001 and 2002, Thaksin balanced the national budget, producing comfortable fiscal surpluses for 2003 to 2005. Despite a massive program of infrastructure investments, a balanced budget was projected for 2007. Public sector debt fell from 57 percent of GDP in January 2001 to 41 percent in September 2006. Foreign exchange reserves doubled from US$30 billion in 2001 to US$64 billion in 2006.

Critics say Thaksinomics is little more than a Keynesian-style economic stimulus policy re-branded. Others claimed that the policies got the rural poor "hooked on Thaksin's hand-outs."

Thaksin helped legalise Thailand's massive underground lottery system numbers game (Thai: หวย) to be run by the Government Lottery Office. Lottery sales of approximately 70 billion baht (US$2 billion) were used for social projects, including the "One District, One Scholarship" program. The Thaksin government also privatised MCOT, a large television and radio broadcaster.

After the 2006 coup, many of Thaksin's economic policies were ended, the OTOP program was rebranded, the Government Lottery Office's program was deemed illegal, and the government nationalised several media outlets and energy companies. However, economists from the Thailand Development Research Institute (TDRI) published a report indicating that many of the populist policies had not boosted the economy and some were by coincidence.

Educational policies

According to World Bank Thailand has recentralized rather than decentralized during his administration.

One of Thaksin's educational reforms was school decentralisation, as mandated by the 1997 Constitution. It was to delegate school management from the over-centralized and bureaucratised Ministry of Education to Tambon Administrative Organizations (TAOs), but met with massive widespread opposition from Thailand's 700,000 teachers, who would be deprived of their status as civil servants. Teachers also feared that TAOs lacked the ability to manage schools. In the face of massive teacher protests and several threats of school closure, Thaksin compromised and gave teachers whose schools were transferred to TAO management two years to transfer to other schools.

Other intended policy changes included learning reform and related curricular decentralisation, mostly through greater use of holistic education and less use of rote learning.

To increase access to universities by lower income people, Thaksin initiated the Student Loan Fund (SLF) and Income Contingency Loan (ICL) programs. He initiated the ICL program to increase access to higher education, whereby needy students could secure a loan to support their studies from vocational to university levels. Thai banks had traditionally not given educational loans. The ICL, however, required recipients to start repayments when their salaries reached 16,000 baht a month, with interest equivalent to inflation from the day the loan was granted. The SLF had an eligibility limit on family income, but interest was 1 per cent starting a year after graduation. The programs were merged and the income limit modified after Thaksin's government was overthrown.

Thaksin was one of the first supporters of Nicholas Negroponte's One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) project, with the Thai Ministry of Education committing to purchase 600,000 units. The junta later cancelled the project.

Thaksin also initiated the controversial "One District, One Dream School" project, aimed at developing the quality of schools to ensure that every district had at least one high-quality school. It was criticised, with claims that the only beneficiaries were Thaksin and companies selling computers and educational equipment. Many schools fell deeply into debt in implementing the project, receiving inadequate financial support from the central government.

In addition, he altered the state university entrance system, which had relied exclusively on nationally standardised exams. Thaksin pushed for greater weighting of senior high-school grades in the hope of focusing students on classroom learning rather than private entrance exam tutoring.

Healthcare policies

Thaksin initiated two key healthcare policies: subsidised universal health care (UHC) in 2002 and low-cost universal access to anti-retroviral HIV medication (ARVs). Thaksin's 30 baht per visit UHC program won the praise of the general public, but was criticised by many physicians and officials. Prior to the program's introduction, a large portion of the population had no health insurance and only limited access to healthcare. The program helped increase healthcare access from 76% of the population to 96%. At its outset, UHC was reviled as a "populist" policy. Post-coup public health minister Mongkol Na Songkhla called the 30 baht program a "marketing gimmick". Nearly half of UHC patients were dissatisfied with the treatment they received. The program has downsides: excessive workloads for health care providers, crowded waiting rooms, and insufficient time spent diagnosing each patient, and costs have tripled from 56 million baht in 2006 to 166 million baht in 2019, but still remain below one percent of GDP.

The War on Drugs

On 14 January 2003, Thaksin launched a campaign to rid "every square inch of the country" of drugs in three months. It consisted of changing the punishment policy for drug addicts, setting provincial arrest and seizure targets including "blacklists", awarding government officials for achieving targets and threatening punishment for those who failed to make the quota, targeting dealers, and "ruthless" implementation. In the first three months, Human Rights Watch (HRW) claimed that 2,275 people were extrajudicially executed. However, a forensic examination of the 2,275 figure in 2007 by Bangkok Pundit writing for the now defunct Asian Correspondent found that HRW's source for the 2,275 figure was Agence France-Presse (AFP). It further found that the figure of 2,275 was the total number of people killed nationwide from the start of the "war", published in police figures released in mid-April 2023, with AFP itself acknowledging "it is not known how many were drug-related killings" Compounding the false narrative, AFP then went on to later attribute the 2,275 figure to HRW in future reports. In December 2003 Thailand's police chief, Police General Sant Sarutanond, told a Bangkok media conference that an internal investigation had found that 72 people died as a result of "extra-judicial killings". The BBC's use of the word extra-judicial killing it is a translation of วิสามัญฆาตกรรม which actually equates to justifiable homicide. The government claimed that only around 50 of the deaths were at the hands of the police, the rest being drug traffickers who were being silenced by their dealers and their dealers' dealers. Human rights critics claimed a large number were extrajudicially executed. The majority of these individuals were listed on the government's blacklist, but there is no evidence to suggest that they were actually involved in the drug trade. The blacklist was unreliable, with some drug dealers not being listed and many individuals who were listed having no involvement in the drug trade. The government encouraged community members to report drug users and dealers to authorities, who would then put the names in a box for the government to review. This led to confusion and mistakes, including the inclusion of innocent individuals on the blacklist. There were also instances of people using the blacklist for revenge against rivals.

In a 2003 birthday address, King Bhumibol subtly criticised the handling of the war on drugs by the government, hinting at a misplacement of accountability for its casualties onto him, despite constitutional provisions that exempt the monarch from governmental responsibilities. The King expressed concern over the broader accountability within the country, emphasising the challenge of identifying and distinguishing the casualties caused by state actions and others. The speech delicately pointed out the legal and moral responsibilities of the government officials in managing national crises.

Bhumibol also asked the commander of the police to investigate the killings. Police Commander Sant Sarutanond reopened investigations into the deaths, and again claimed that few of the deaths were at the hands of the police.

The war on drugs was widely criticised by the international community. Thaksin requested that the UN Commission on Human Rights send a special envoy to evaluate the situation, but said in an interview, "The United Nations is not my father. I am not worried about any UN visit to Thailand on this issue."

After the 2006 coup, the military junta appointed a committee to investigate the anti-drug campaign. Former attorney general Kanit Na Nakorn led the committee. Concerning the committee's results The Economist reported in January 2008: "Over half of those killed in 2003 had no links to the drugs trade. The panel blamed the violence on a government 'shoot-to-kill' policy based on flawed blacklists. But far from leading to the prosecutions of those involved, its findings have been buried. The outgoing interim prime minister, Surayud Chulanont, took office vowing to right Mr Thaksin's wrongs. Yet this week he said there was insufficient evidence to take legal action over the killings. It is easy to see why the tide has turned. Sunai Phasuk, a researcher for Human Rights Watch, a lobbying group, says that the panel's original report named the politicians who egged on the gunmen. But after the PPP won last month's elections, those names were omitted."

While he was opposition leader, Abhisit Vejjajiva accused Thaksin of crimes against humanity for his alleged role in the campaign. After being appointed prime minister, Abhisit opened an investigation into the killings, claiming that a successful probe could lead to prosecution by the International Criminal Court. Former attorney-general Kampee Kaewcharoen led the investigation and the investigation committee was approved by Abhisit's Cabinet. Abhisit denied that the probe was politically motivated. Witnesses and victims were urged to report to the Department of Special Investigation, which operated directly under Abhisit's control.

Energy policies

In energy policy, the Thaksin government continued the Chuan Leekpai government's privatisation agenda, but with important changes. Whereas the Chuan government's post-Asian financial crisis policies sought economic efficiency through industry fragmentation and wholesale power pool competition, Thaksin's policies aimed to create national champions that could reliably support stronger economic growth and become important players in regional energy markets. Thaksin also initiated a policy to encourage renewable energy and energy conservation. Many Thaksin-era energy policies were reversed following the 2006 coup.

South Thailand insurgency

A resurgence in violence began in 2001 in the three southernmost provinces of Thailand with their Muslim, ethnic Malay majority. There is much controversy about the causes of this escalation. Attacks after 2001 concentrated on police, the military, and schools, but civilians (including Buddhist monks) are also regular targets. Thaksin was widely criticised for his management of the situation.

Of three key controversial incidents, the first was the Army's storming of the Krue Se Mosque, where protesters had holed up and were killed.

The second, in October 2004, was the killing of 84 Muslim demonstrators at Tak Bai, when the Army broke up a peaceful protest. Hundreds of detainees were forced at gunpoint to lie shackled and prone in Army trucks, stacked like cordwood. The trucks were delayed from moving to the detainment area for hours. The 84 victims were reported to have been asphyxiated, crushed or died of overheating. The precise nature and cause of death have been subject to controversy and doubt because of lack of transparency and absence of depth in investigations made. There are other reports of many more deaths but these have not been substantiated.

In a third incident, Muslim lawyer Somchai Neelapaijit disappeared, allegedly abducted and killed by police for his role in defending alleged insurgents who claimed to have been tortured. Despite witness testimony and forensic evidence during the court of police investigations and court trials, all allegations against police said to be involved were dropped and the enforced disappearance case closed.

Thaksin announced an escalation of military and police activity in the region. In July 2005, Thaksin enacted an Emergency Decree to manage the three troubled provinces. Several human rights organisations expressed their concerns that the decree might be used to violate civil liberties.

In March 2005, Thaksin established the National Reconciliation Commission, chaired by former prime minister Anand Panyarachun to oversee efforts to bring peace to the troubled South. In its final report in June 2006, the commission proposed introducing elements of Islamic law and making Pattani-Malay (Yawi) an official language in the region along with Thai. The Thaksin administration assigned a government committee to study the report, but nothing came of it.

Thaksin blamed Malaysia's jungle that has occasionally been used to train Islamic militants to cause violence in the south and Indonesia for being an inspiration to the militants.

Administrative reform

One of the most visible of Thaksin's administrative reforms was the restructuring of government department and ministries, labelled the "big bang." It was hailed as a "historic breakthrough" and "the first major reorganization of ministries since King Chulalongkorn set up Thailand's modern system of departmental government in 1897." Plans had been studied for years to loosen perceived rigidities and inertia of the old system but were not implemented until the Thaksin government. MCOT : TNA English News :

The restructuring was designed to streamline the bureaucracy and focus it on performance and results. New ministries were carved out in Social and Human Security Development, Tourism and Sports, Natural Resources and Environment, Information and Communication Technology, and Culture.

Thaksin transformed the role of provincial governors to that of active policy managers. Historically, central government ministries operated in the provinces through field offices headed by senior officials who reported back to Bangkok, while the Interior Ministry appointed provincial governors whose role was largely ceremonial.

A key component of Thaksin's administrative reform policy, the "CEO-governors" epitomised what was called his "transformation of the operating style of the traditional bureaucracy into a more results-oriented instrument that would be responsive." Piloted in 2001 and introduced in all provinces in October 2003, CEO-governors were put in charge of planning and co-ordinating provincial development and became accountable for overall provincial affairs. The "CEO governors" were assisted by "provincial CFOs" from the Ministry of Finance who reported directly to each governor. Governors were authorised to raise funds by issuing bonds and were given an intensive training course.

The CEO-governors of all 75 provinces at that time came from the appointment of the Minister of Interior Affairs and had greater authority in managing people and money. There was even a special budget allocated, called the "CEO-governor budget," which amounted to tens of million baht. In reality, it was found that this budget was managed and shared among the local members of parliament and aimed at achieving political goals, leading to criticism that it was a budget used to gain support for Thaksin government. It was even accused by academics of being a "hired vision writer" for the government.

After the coup, Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont, drafted the royal decree on the management and preparation of budget plans for the development of provincial and district groups starting in 2008. The "CEO-governor budget" was eliminated and thereby preventing the local members of the parliament from spending the budget to gain votes.

The Thaksin era also saw the opening of a number of government one-stop service centres to reduce red tape for anything from investment to utilities and ID-card processing.

Foreign policies

Thaksin initiated negotiations for several free trade agreements with China, Australia, Bahrain, India, and the US. The latter especially was criticised, with claims that high-cost Thai industries could be wiped out.

Thailand joined the US-led invasion of Iraq, sending a 423-strong humanitarian contingent. It withdrew its troops on 10 September 2004. Two Thai soldiers died in Iraq in an insurgent attack.

Thaksin announced that Thailand would forsake foreign aid, and work with donor countries to assist in the development of neighbours in the Greater Mekong Sub-region.

Thaksin was repeatedly attacked for acting undiplomatically with foreign leaders and the international community. Besides his famous swipe at the UN (see The 'war on drugs' above), there were also allegations of gaffes at international meetings.

Thaksin was keen to position Thailand as a regional leader, initiating various development projects in poorer neighbouring countries like Laos. More controversially, he established close, friendly ties with the Burmese dictatorship, including extending the impoverished country a 4 billion baht credit line so it could conclude a satellite telecom deal with his family business.

Thaksin energetically supported his former foreign minister Surakiart Sathirathai's somewhat improbable campaign to become Secretary-General of the United Nations.

Suvarnabhumi Airport

Despite debate and long abandonment of the plan due to the stability of the ground for the location of the airport, the Thaksin government pushed to complete the construction of the new Suvarnabhumi International Airport. The airport was opened a week after Thaksin's government was overthrown.

Members of Thaksin's government were accused of corruption in the Suvarnabhumi Airport project. These allegations were used by the military junta to justify the 2006 coup. The junta initiated several investigations into the airport. Nevertheless, investigative panels found that damage to the airport was "minute" and "common." The cost of repairing the damage was estimated at less than one percent of the total airport cost. The junta was accused by its opponents of delaying airport repairs and intensifying the airport's problems to pin further blame on the Thaksin government.

Criticism

Corruption

Thaksin was accused of "policy corruption", such as infrastructure and liberalisation policies that, while legal "...abuse the public's interest,..." Supannee Chai-amporn and Sirinthip Arun-rue of the National Institute of Development Administration (NIDA) claimed that policy corruption caused the state to spend 5 to 30 percent more than it otherwise should have spent, costing the state an additional 400 billion baht. Thaksin critics point to more examples of corruption: the Thailand Board of Investment's (BOI) granting tax breaks worth a total of 16.4 billion baht to Shin Satellite for its iPSTAR project in 2003, and the Transport Ministry's decision the same year to abolish the minimum air fare of 3.8 baht per kilometre when Shin Corporation was about to consummate a joint venture with low-cost carrier AirAsia.

After the 2006 coup, the military junta-appointed Assets Examination Committee froze Thaksin's assets based on charges of policy corruption.

Thaksin denied the allegations. "They just made up a beautiful term to use against me. There's no s

Achievements

• Member of the House of Representatives of Thailand (2001–2005)
• Member of the House of Representatives of Thailand (2005–2006)
• Grand Commander of the Order of Chula Chom Klao — 2002
• Grand Cordon of the Order of the White Elephant — 1996
• Commanders Grand Cross of the Order of the Polar Star — 2003
• Grand Cross of the Order of Orange-Nassau — 2004
• Educated at Armed Forces Academies Preparatory School and Eastern Kentucky University