Jag börjar tröttna på allt prat om att Thaksin någonsin skulle varit någon slags korruptionsbekämpare. Möjligtvis var han väldigt emot korruptionspengar som inte hamnade inte hans fickor. Nedan kommer ett utdrag från Pasuk Phongpaichit - Good governance, Money politics and Honest Mistakes. (finns att ladda ner)
Thaksin Shinawatra, made his initial fortune from four telecom concessions awarded by government at a time when military influence was strong. He had to lobby generals to get these concessions, and he had to reward them. In one famous instance, he gave a general a Daimler. At the launch of his satellite, he said “I could not have this day without Big Jod,” meaning General Sunthorn, the head of the 1991 coup junta.
In 1992, the army lost influence, and politicians now controlled the award of concessions. In 1994, Thaksin entered politics, choosing the party which controlled the communications ministry. He got another telecom contract and also extended into highway concessions.
But in 1995–6, Thaksin lost his influence over the ministry of transport and communications. One competitor got the phone contract. Another got a second mobile phone concession which undermined Thaksin’s monopoly. The military began making plans to put up a satellite to compete against Thaksin’s. The government signed the WTO agreement to liberalise telecommunications and other services by 2006.
The future success of Thaksin's business depended crucially on political decisions: who would get what concession; who would be in the right position to manage telecom market liberalisation in 2006. He needed political power for commercial survival.
When the financial crisis struck in 1997, Thaksin and his rivals in the telecom industry decided to stop competing with one another. Thaksin and his biggest rival, the Charoen Pokphand group (CP), agreed to merge their cable TV businesses, and cooperate in other ways. In 1998, Thaksin re-entered politics, started his new party, and launched his bid for the premiership. CP became one of his biggest boosters and backers. By the time Thaksin became prime minister, all four of the big Thai telecom companies were represented in the party and in the Cabinet.
