Banharn Silpa-archa

Banharn Silpa-archa (2010)

Banharn Silpa-archa ( Thai : บรรหาร ศิลป อาชา , RTGS : Banhan Sinlapa-acha, pronunciation: [ banhǎːn sǐnlápàʔaːʨʰaː ]; * August 19, 1932 in Suphan Buri ; † April 23, 2016 in Bangkok ) was a Thai politician and building contractor. He was chairman of the Chart Thai Party from 1994 to 2008 and Prime Minister of Thailand from 1995 to 1996 .

The billionaire Banharn headed various ministries between 1980 and 1992 and was the official opposition leader from 1994 to 1995. He ensured an excellent expansion of the infrastructure in his home province of Suphan Buri . His short-lived government was considered economically inept, suffered from serious allegations of corruption and disputes between the coalition parties. In 2008 he was banned from politics for five years by the Thai Constitutional Court for election manipulation. However , he continued to participate in Thai politics through the Chartthaipattana party , of which he was the de facto leader.

Family and business career

Banharn was the son of Chinese immigrants who sold cloth in the Suphan Buri market. Its original Chinese name was Tek Siang se Bae . After graduating from school, he went to Bangkok and initially worked as a messenger in offices. It was not until much later, when he was already a politician, that he studied law at Ramkhamhaeng University , an open-access university.

He made his own and got through the favor of high charge at the Office of Public Works lucrative government contracts. For example, he was commissioned to deliver the chlorine for the water supply. He then started a construction company that continued to work primarily for the Public Works Office. During the rapid economic growth of the 1960s, the government commissioned numerous large-scale projects, particularly military installations. He also traded in grain and building materials. His various ventures, spanning all kinds of industries, made him a billionaire.

Political career

In 1974 he went into politics and became a member of the Suphan Buri city ​​council for the right-wing, military - affiliated Chart Thai party . Already in 1976 he was elected deputy general secretary of the party, senator and later for the province of Suphan Buri in the house of representatives. He acted as an important investor for the Chart Thai party. In it he built a network of local business people. In doing so, he repeatedly had to counter the accusation that he had bought political support and loyalty with money. From the Thai press he got the nickname Mr. Mobile ATM ("changeable ATM"). Although he was not a member of the Choonhavan family and their "Rajakru clan," which originally founded the Chart Thai Party, he gained considerable influence in the party.

In Suphan Buri he regularly received more than 100,000 votes, making him one of the most elected politicians in the country. In his home province, he donated money for schools, bridges and other infrastructure projects, which in return were named after him. This in turn led to the popular saying that the province was Banharn's "property" or should be called "Banharn-buri". He was considered the "godfather of Suphan Buri". Banharn also maintained good contacts with high-ranking military officials and politicians from other parties who relied above all on his wealth and his willingness to compromise. In 1981 he became general secretary of his party.

Banharn has held various offices in governments with the participation of his Chart Thai Party. From 1980 to 1983 he was Minister of Agriculture, from 1986 to 1988 Minister of Transport and Communication under Prem Tinsulanonda . In 1988 his party leader Chatichai Choonhavan became prime minister and made him first industry minister, then interior minister in January 1990 and finance minister in December of the same year. Banharn used his government participation to give constituency gifts to his home province of Suphan Buri. This got an excellent road system and an enviable telephone network compared to other provinces outside the capital region.

In 1991 the government was overthrown by a military coup on the pretext that the prime minister and several ministers had become "unusually rich". In April 1992, however, the Chart Thai party was already involved in the government again, under the coup leader General Suchinda Kraprayoon of all people . Banharn was again Minister of Transport. A short time later, the government was overthrown by mass protests and the Chart Thai party found itself in the opposition. In 1994 Banharn took over the party leadership from Pramarn Adireksarn and became parliamentary opposition leader. Banharn is considered to be one of the main people responsible for the system of voting in Thailand.

Term of office as Prime Minister

On May 19, 1995, the King named Banharn Prime Minister after the Chart Thai Party won an election. Banharn's multi-party coalition had a bad reputation due to rampant corruption. It was nicknamed the “ 7-Eleven ” coalition because it consisted of seven parties and 11 inner-party wings, and its politicians understood government to be publicly perceived as a self-service shop of the widespread retail chain. She was perceived as incapable of being too preoccupied with internal conflict to pay attention to the major economic problems leading up to the Asian crisis . Banharn had taken over the Treasury himself, although he had no experience in this field of politics.

Numerous high-profile events took place during his reign: in addition to the funeral ceremonies in honor of the late Queen Mother and the golden jubilee (the 50th anniversary) of the accession of King Bhumibol Adulyadej (Rama IX) , the ASEAN summit (1995) and the 18th Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games) held in Chiang Mai . Banharn received fierce ridicule when he greeted the British Queen Elizabeth II as "Queen Elizabeth Taylor".

In September 1996 key coalition partners left the government and Banharn was forced to resign.

After the reign

Banharn on an election poster for the 2007 general election

Banharn remained chairman of the Chart Thai party, which lost more than half of its seats in the new elections in November 1996 and went into opposition. A year later, however, she was again a junior partner in the government of Chuan Leekpai , albeit without Banharn taking a cabinet post. Even when Thaksin Shinawatra became prime minister in 2001, Banharn's party remained part of the government. However, she left them in 2005 in an argument. In 2006, Banharn agreed with the leaders of the other two major opposition parties to boycott the elections to protest against the policies of the Thaksin government and the perceived handicap of the opposition. A year later, however, he left the opposition to Thaksin again and led his party into a coalition with the Party of People's Power . This confirmed its image as a "smooth eel".

In 2008, the Constitutional Court banned the three ruling parties, including the Chart Thai Party, for violating electoral law and issued a five-year political ban against their top politicians, including Banharn. The members of the party not affected by this immediately founded the Chartthaipattana party, which acts as the de facto continuation of Chart Thai and was chaired by Banharn's brother Chumpol Silpa-archa . Banharn's son Warawut and his daughter Kanchana also went into politics and were vice ministers in Abhisit Vejjajiva's cabinet . After Chumpol's death, Banharn continued to be the de facto party leader. Behind the scenes, he controlled not only the party and its MPs, but also the ministries led by party members, both in the Abhisit government and in the successor cabinet to Yingluck Shinawatra . During the flood in Thailand after the 2011 rainy season, Banharn controlled the locks to ensure that its home province of Suphan Buri was largely spared, while the neighboring provinces were badly affected.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Former PM Banharn dies at 83
2. ↑ ^{a b c d} Surin Maisrikrod: Thailand's Two General Elections in 1992. Democracy Sustained. Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore 1992, p. 13.
3. ↑ Chris Baker , Pasuk Phongpaichit: A History of Thailand. 2nd Edition. Cambridge University Press, 2009, ISBN 978-0-521-76768-2 , p. 294.
4. ↑ Gunnar Heesch: Bad for business. In: Focus , July 10, 1995.
5. ↑ Bomb in the cave . In: Der Spiegel . No. 39 , 1996, pp. 183 ( online ).
6. ^ Yoshinori Nishizaki: Political Authority and Provincial Identity in Thailand. The Making of Banharn-buri. Cornell Southeast Asia Program, Ithaca NY 2011.
7. ↑ Leslie Ann Jeffrey: Sex and Borders. Gender, National Identity, and Prostitution Policy in Thailand. Silkworm Books, Chiang Mai 2002, p. 114.
8. ↑ Sakkarin Niyomsilpa: The Political Economy of Telecommunications Reforms in Thailand. Pinter, 2000, p. 57.
9. ↑ Joshua Eliot, Jane Bickersteth: Thailand Handbook. Footprint, 1999, p. 181.
10. ^ ^{A b} Peter A. Poole: Politics and Society in Southeast Asia. McFarland, 2009, p. 23.
11. ↑ Chris Baker, Pasuk Phongpaichit: Thailand's Boom and Bust. Silkworm Books, Chiang Mai 1998, p. 260.
12. ↑ Shalendra D. Sharma: The Asian financial crisis. Crisis, reform and recovery. Manchester University Press, 2003, p. 100.
13. ^ The 10 silliest things ever said by politicians. RT.com, August 27, 2009.
14. ^ Duncan McCargo : Thailand. In: Southeast Asian Affairs 2008. Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore 2008, p. 343
15. ↑ Surasak Tumcharoen: Keeping it in the family.  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.   In: Bangkok Post , January 4, 2009. Retrieved March 13, 2013.
16. ↑ Banharn talks of one last hurray . In: Bangkok Post , March 2, 2013.
17. ^ The suffering continues as politicians play game: Thailand . Asia One, October 6, 2011.

Note on Thai names : This article addresses people by their first name.