Bold Thai Leader Faces Growing Criticism
His rough style and financial deals anger some. 

BANGKOK — In a country where people pride themselves on tranquillity
and deference, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra of Thailand shows little
of either trait. 

Mr. Thaksin, a former policeman who got rich in the telecommunications 
business, is out front and boastful, asserting that Thailand can serve as
the leader of a newly vibrant Southeast Asia. He is the region's modern 
man, he says. 

But complaints about an increasingly authoritarian style and perceptions
that his government's decisions benefit his family's financial interests 
have taken the sheen off the region's rising star. 

His most immediate political problems center on unrest in the Muslim-
dominated south and anger over his government's failure to warn about 
the outbreak of Asian bird flu even though officials knew the disease was
at hand. 

In the capital, intellectuals refer to Mr. Thaksin as the Berlusconi of Asia, 
a reference to Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi of Italy, a business tycoon 
who has faced continuing accusations of conflict of interest.

Mr. Thaksin ran his corporation as a one-man show, and he runs the country
the same way, his critics assert. He has tightened his grip on television, 
radio and the newspapers — leaving few news outlets free of political influence. 

"He doesn't have a democratic instinct," said Ammar Siamalla, one of the
country's leading economists.

Asked by Thai reporters about the growing criticism, Mr. Thaksin responded,
"Decisiveness isn't dictatorship." Anyway, he said, his wife, Pojamarn, a 
general's daughter and businesswoman, always keeps him in check. 
"The Thais have my wife as a warning machine," he said. 

The United States added to the criticism recently, saying in its annual human
rights report that the Thaksin government had killed many civilians during its
crackdown on drug trafficking last year. 

In response, Mr. Thaksin called the United States a "useless friend," perhaps
implying that Washington should be more grateful for Thailand's contribution
of nearly 500 troops in Iraq. 

In many respects, Mr. Thaksin, 54, who has a degree in criminal justice from
Sam Houston State University in Texas and recently wore a watermelon pink
shirt to a cabinet meeting, has delivered on his promises. 

Thailand's economy was one of the standouts in Asia last year, growing by 
more than 6 percent. With steady demand from China for electronic parts, 
petrochemicals and rubber, Thailand can expect even higher growth this year,
said Supavud Saicheun, chief of research at Phatra Securities. 

In a major face-lift for the country, Mr. Thaksin is pushing ahead on plans for
Heaven City, a satellite city intended as a smog-free alternative to the traffic-
choked capital. He says he will replace the worn-out international airport, and
he wants to upgrade the railways. He has challenged the Thai auto industry to
become the Detroit of the region, and he has urged Thailand's little-known 
fashion designers to elevate Bangkok to become the Paris of the East. 

Along with the increased public spending, he has encouraged easy credit for 
corporations and consumers. He has provided the nation's 70,000 villages
with a system of microcredits and introduced almost free health care at hospitals. 

These programs have increased his popularity: he is regarded as the first 
Thai prime minister to act on behalf of the poor. But the programs have not 
worked smoothly. 

Villagers in Mr. Thaksin's home area around the northern city of Chiang Mai 
say many poor people have run up large debts because they have little 
understanding of the obligations of borrowing. 

Tong Taan Wong, 66, a shopkeeper, said he resigned from his village's 
loan committee because he did not want to be involved in the unpopular cause
of debt collection. Tang-on Ong-sun Torn, 28, said her husband bought 18 
bicycles for a rental business but found few customers. He gave up the 
business and still had a big loan to pay back, she said.

In the capital, nepotism is a major concern. The prime minister's cousin, 
Gen. Chaiyasit Shinawatra, is now commander in chief of the army. One
of Mr. Thaksin's sisters, Yaowapha Wongsawat, heads a faction within 
the governing Thai Rak Thai Party. Another sister, Yaovares Shinawatra, 
is the leader of the National Council of Women. 

Somkiat Tangkitvanich, an economist and a research director at the Thailand
Development Research Institute, recently completed a study of how political
connections affected Thai businesses. 

His analysis showed that companies on the Bangkok stock exchange in which
the Shin Corporation, the Thaksin family's company, owned significant holdings,
did spectacularly better in 2003 than other listed companies, including those
whose major shareholders included families of cabinet members. 

Further, Mr. Somkiat said, a government decree effectively barred the 
liberalization of the Thai telecommunications industry, which is dominated
by the Thaksin family company. The decree added an excise tax on new
telecommunication companies. 

In another decision, Mr. Somkiat said, a government board provided a 
corporate income tax exemption for eight years on revenue generated
overseas from new communications satellites. The Shin Corporation is
about to launch its fourth satellite, he said. 

Since Mr. Thaksin took office, the press has come under intense pressure
from the government. The editor of an influential English-language daily, 
The Bangkok Post, Veera Pratheepchaikul, was removed last month after
the newspaper ran articles critical of Mr. Thaksin. Other journalists and 
editors have been dismissed. The family of a cabinet member has 
become a major stockholder of a second English-language daily, 
The Nation. 

Asked about the assertion that the government policies favored the prime 
minister's family interests, Mr. Thaksin's spokesman, Jakrapob Penkair, 
said: "The prime minister wants the economy to be better off because 
then everyone benefits. He compares the economy to a container. 
When it rains, a big container collects more water, a small container less." 

Giving a rendition of trickle-down economics, Mr. Jakrapob said those 
who had a big container in the economy — the wealthy — received 
"more reward" but those with a small container also benefited. 

Mr. Somkiat, who studied the administration, said, "I'd say Thaksin has 
the only container." 

-New York Times 2004-03-14