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Thaksin still the man to beat By: Veera Prateepchaikul Published: 22/06/2009 at 12:10 PM The Puea Thai Party's landslide victory in Sakon Nakhon's by-election on Sunday is a clear indication of fugitive former prime minister Thakshin Shinawatra's continuing popularity in the province, and probably throughout the entire Northeast.
Even before the last ballots were counted at the five district offices in Sakon Nakhon’s constituency 3, a grim-faced Bhumjaithai party leader Chavarat Charnvirakul agreed it was time for the party to throw in the towel.
By the time he conceded defeat in front of the media, the Puea Thai candidate, Anurak Boonson, was leading Pitak Chanthasri of Bhumjaithai by an overwhelming margin.
The Puea Thai Party’s landslide victory came as a shock to the Bhumjaithai Party heavyweights, who earlier believed their candidate stood a good chance of winning -- and if not, then it would be a close call.
The extraordinary success also caught Puea Thai by a surprise.
Chalerm Yubamrung, the party’s chief election campaigner, earlier predicted that Mrs Anurak would defeat her Bhumjaithai rival by about 4,000 votes, and not by the tens of thousands of votes revealed by local poll officials on Monday.
The Sakon Nakhon triumph by Puea Thai is largely attributable to exiled former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was actively involved in the electoral campaign. Deputy Interior Minister Boonchong Wongtrairat of the Bhumjaithai party admitted Thaksin’s “phone-ins” were instrumental in Puea Thai’s success.
From his safe refuge, possibly in the United Arab Emirates, he personally called several tambon and village headmen in constituency 3 and pleaded with them to help Mrs Anurak. Also, he phoned in to address voters at rallies organised by the party. On top of that, former executives of the disbanded Thai Rak Thai party and members of the red shirt movement were mobilised to help in the campaign.
There is no mistaking that credit should be given to Thaksin, for without his active support it is doubtful that the Puea Thai would have been able to defeat Bhumjaithai, which appeared to have the advantage in that the party controls local officials who include the tambon and village headmen through its control of the Ministry of the Interior.
But as it turned out, Bhumjaithai is still a long way from winning the hearts and minds of both local officials and the local people.
Puea Thai’s victory can also be seen as a fitting vindication for Thaksin in his clash with his former right-hand man, Newin Chidchob, who is now his arch enemy. Mr Newin, one of the banned former Thai Rak Thai politicians, led the Bhumjaithai’s electoral campaign from behind-the-scenes.
Apparently upset by his poll defeat, Mr Newin did not attend the press conference held by the party on Sunday night to concede defeat, although he was spotted nearby.
The surprised landslide is indisputable proof that Thaksin, although living in exile abroad and being hotly pursued by the government to serve his two-year jail sentence, remains a popular figure in Sakon Nakhon, and possibly throughout the entire Northeast region.
Although Thaksin’s phone-ins were the clincher in Puea Thai's success according to Bhumjaithai, the other part of the truth may be that the man himself still commands widespread respect and affection among rural people in the Northeast.
As proven by the Sakon Nakhon by-election, the Puea Thai Party’s northeastern fortress is a hard nut to crack, even though it is not impregnable, so long as Thaksin is still alive and can manipulate domestic politics from overseas.
As for the Bhumjaithai Party and Mr Newin in particular, the constituency 3 defeat should serve as a valuable lesson, that they will have to work harder to sway the allegiance of the northeastern folks away from Thaksin.
This cannot be achieved overnight. It needs time - which means they will have to keep the government coalition alliance intact. Failing to do that would provide a golden opportunity for Puea Thai -- and Thaksin -- to stage a triumphant political comeback.
Veera Prateepchaikul is a former editor of the Bangkok Post