Thai rak thai party

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Poster of the Thai-Rak-Thai party during the 2005 election campaign with a picture of the party leader Thaksin Shinawatra

The Thai-Rak-Thai Party ( พรรค ไทยรักไทย , Phak Thai Rak Thai , abbreviated: TRT , translated: "Thais love Thais" or "Thais love Thailand") was a political party in Thailand . It was founded in 1998 by Thaksin Shinawatra , one of the richest men in Thailand. With a strongly populist program, she won the 2001 elections. In 2005 she was re-elected with a two-thirds majority. It provided the government until the military coup in September 2006 . In 2007 it was dissolved by the constitutional tribunal for violating the right to vote.

history

founding

The Thai-Rak-Thai Party was founded on July 14, 1998 by telecommunications entrepreneur Thaksin Shinawatra and 22 other members. Like Thaksin, five of them were former Palang Dharma Party politicians . Two were prominent building contractors, the rest were mostly academics, business people, and civil servants. It was founded at the height of the Asian financial and economic crisis , which hit Thailand hard. A year earlier, a new constitution had come into force, which, due to its predominantly liberal characteristics and the intensive public participation in its drafting, was called the “People's Constitution”. The most important goal of the new party was to overcome the crisis, to get the economy going again and to secure Thailand's competitiveness in times of globalization and international capital .

Its name was probably inspired by the motto Thai chuai Thai ("Thais help Thais"), which was the name of a self-help campaign founded during the crisis and a radio station that was popular at the time. It had a distinctly nationalist connotation. The government at the time, which was led by the Democratic Party and Chuan Leekpai , uncompromisingly implemented the requirements of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which many saw as a task of national sovereignty. Thaksin and his TRT, on the other hand, promised a national approach in order to find independent solutions for the country. Thaksin surrounded himself with a large staff of advisors and, with reference to his experience as a successful entrepreneur, promised new, professional concepts and solutions. The party's motto was: “Think new, act new, for all Thais.” It combined the promise of change with an inclusive form of nationalism.

Both the political program and the electoral strategy of the party were significantly influenced by Somkid Jatusripitak , a marketing professor (who studied as a student of Philip Kotler in the USA and wrote The Marketing of Nations together with him ) and supporter of " nation branding ". He argued that Thailand should not bow to the dictates of the Anglo-Saxon business community and that an unregulated market was not good for Thailand's global competitiveness. Somkid is considered one of the main architects of the TRT's electoral success. He developed the party's economic policy program, later known as Thaksinomics . The focus was on rebuilding the Thai economy by promoting small and medium-sized enterprises , especially in rural areas.

Somkid had dealt with political marketing and used market research methods to investigate what needs rural voters had and what topics they particularly addressed. As a result of these interviews, the party took the program to provide universal access to health care with a deductible of 30 baht (less than US $ 1) per visit to the doctor, a debt moratorium for farmers, and the village development funds that give each of the 70,000 muban (villages) one One million baht (about $ 25,000) in microcredit was included in their election platform. Never before had a party set up such a comprehensive, concrete and easily understandable program to appeal to the wishes and needs of the rural population.

Victory in 2001

In the general election in January 2001, the TRT won 248 out of 500 seats in parliament. This was a landslide victory in view of the previously fragmented Thai party system, in which no one party alone had won a clear majority. The party started with the promise to fight rural poverty, drug trafficking and corruption, and to improve health and education systems. Thaksin, who campaigned, among other things, saying that he was rich enough not to be corrupt, became prime minister. Immediately after the election, the small Seritham party joined the TRT. This made it the first party since 1957 to have an absolute majority in parliament. A short time later, the more important parties New Hope and Chart Pattana ("National Development") joined. TRT became the dominant force in Thai politics. The Thaksin government thus had a much greater capacity to act than its predecessors, which often consisted of unstable multi-party coalitions. The opposition - above all the Democratic Party - was weakened for a long time and did not know how to counter the popularity of the TRT with attractive alternatives. Thailand thus developed into a system with a dominant party, comparable to Malaysia or Singapore. This was also Thaksin's self-declared role model.

First term

The Thaksin government quickly began delivering on its specific core promises. The 30 baht health care program, village funds, small and medium-sized business loans, and debt moratorium were all launched in the first year of Thaksin's tenure. This was unusual as party programs had not been taken seriously until then. The government of the Thai-Rak-Thai Party, on the other hand, used its government responsibility to implement its program point by point and to demonstrate measurable success.

In the fight against drugs, paramilitaries killed several hundred people who were involved in drugs in the broadest sense, at the behest of or at least without countermeasures by the government. The police were instructed not to investigate the murders.

Right at the beginning of the reign, Thaksin barely survived a lawsuit for corruption.

In 2002, 45.3 million people had health insurance through the 30 baht program. There had been government health insurance programs before, but these had only reached 34 million Thais. Now 92.5 percent of the population had access to health care. Economists, city doctors and established media had initially criticized the program as populist; it is not financed sustainably and will overload the health system. However, the program was not as costly as its critics feared. Although the 30 baht per treatment deductible was more symbolic - it only covered 2 percent of the cost - public health spending only rose from 66.25 billion (2000/01) to 72.78 billion baht (2001/02). In its first year, the reform cost the equivalent of no more than $ 175 million. So successful was the program that it retained the military junta that overthrew Thaksin in 2006, and even eliminated the 30 baht deductible as an unnecessary administrative burden. The Democratic Party, which returned to power in 2008, kept it, and even The Nation newspaper, known to be critical of Thaksin , recognized its worth.

In the conflict in southern Thailand , where Islamist rebels tried to force the connection to Malaysia, the TRT government declared a state of emergency and dispatched soldiers. Several human rights violations were documented.

By December 2004 the village funds had disbursed microloans to 13 million Thai people. Their total was 224 billion baht. In most cases they had a short duration (a maximum of one year) and were used on the farm. In some cases, however, they were also used to purchase expensive consumer goods. Sometimes the borrowers were unable to repay the amount on time and had to borrow the money at an inflated interest rate from “ loan sharks ” in order to meet the repayment requirement of the state.

Second term

In February 2005, the TRT party won 60.7%, an even larger majority than in 2001. It was able to control nearly four fifths of the parliamentary seats. After the massive protests against Thaksin (and the TRT) in the larger cities of Thailand in the spring of 2006 and the subsequent elections, the TRT was able to win 100% of the seats as all major opposition parties boycotted the election. However, more than 50% of the electorate still voted for the TRT party, which is particularly popular in the poorer rural regions of northern Thailand. The election was eventually voided in court due to gross deficiencies and new elections were scheduled for October 2006. However this did not happen because the military and police (especially the upper middle class and the upper class) in a bloodless coup ousted on 19 September 2006 with the blessing of the Thai king and the support of the set against Thaksin population, the Thaksin government and the Constitution implemented by 1997 expire.

The founder and chairman of the party Thaksin Shinawatra announced on October 2, 2006 that he was resigning as party chairman.

Dissolution and succession

On May 30, 2007, the Thai constitutional tribunal ordered the dissolution of the party and the expulsion of party founder Thaksin and 111 other party members from political life for a period of five years.

The successor party was the People's Power Party (Phak Phalang Prachachon), which at the beginning of December 2008 was also banned by the Constitutional Court because of electoral fraud. Its successor, in turn, is the Pheu-Thai Party , which ruled again from 2011 until the military coup in May 2014 with Thaksin's sister Yingluck Shinawatra as Prime Minister.

Corruption allegations

The following section is not adequately provided with supporting documents ( e.g. individual evidence ). Information without sufficient evidence could be removed soon. Please help Wikipedia by researching the information and including good evidence.

Critics and non-governmental organizations accused Thaksin and his TRT party of taking advantage.

Candidate shopping

Several times (as is not uncommon in Thailand) candidates from other parties were brought into their own party for a gift of money. In the (canceled) elections in April 2006, candidates from other parties (many of whom boycotted the election in protest) were bought so that they could stand up against the TRT, which was the only party running in many regions, in order to overcome the hurdle that with individual candidates at least 20% of the voters have to vote yes to undo.

Shopping by protesters and voters

Rumors of purchased demonstrators and voters were frequent during demonstrations and elections. It has been proven, for example, that many pro-Thaksin demonstrators were brought to Bangkok from the northern regions in spring 2006 with buses chartered by the TRT, including food and pocket money equivalent to around 10–20 euros, in order to prevent the Thaksin opponents from demonstrating something to oppose. The same allegations were made against Thaksin's opponents.

Abolition of the separation of powers

Thaksin occupied courts and several public, officially independent commissions, in particular the election commission and the anti-corruption commission, with persons close to him. The electoral commission was even asked by the highest court in Thailand to resign after it organized the 2006 elections unconstitutionally (among other things, the voting booths were open to the public).

Abuse of state television

Before the elections in particular, the TRT party used state television to publicize the improvements in Thailand in "government statements".

Suppression of the press

Shortly before the 2005 elections, Thaksin bought the ITV (Independent TV), which had been known for its critical reports and documentaries, and fired some critical employees. These were able to successfully sue back, but since then only lakhon (soap operas) and politically colored messages have been broadcast on ITV . In 2005 the TRT government banned several radio stations from Bangkok because they allegedly disrupted airport traffic. Critics claimed that the TRT wanted to muzzle the often critical local radio stations. Thaksin tried to take action against political opponents in the media, especially in the Bangkok Post , first with charges of libel and then with a failed takeover attempt . The TRT also frequently made charges of libel against opponents.

International comparison

In the specialist literature, the TRT is occasionally compared with the Italian party Forza Italia (FI) of Silvio Berlusconi . There are a number of parallels: Thaksin and Berlusconi were important entrepreneurs before their political careers (and remained so throughout); FI like TRT carried business principles such as marketing, sales and product orientation into party politics; Berlusconi and Thaksin understood politics as business, are described as "political entrepreneurs" or "politics salesmen"; Both parties can be understood as an expansion of the group of the respective founder to the "political market". Both party leaders held the position of “over- patron ” in a clientelist system. Both FI and TRT won a landslide victory in their first choice.

former members

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Jean Blondel: Parties and party systems in East and Southeast Asia. In: Ian Marsh: Democratisation, Governance and Regionalism in East and Southeast Asia. Routledge, Abingdon (Oxon) / New York 2006, pp. 49-86, at p. 70.
  2. ^ Allen Hicken: Politics of Economic Recovery in Thailand and the Philippines. In: Andrew MacIntyre et al. a .: Crisis as Catalyst. Asia's Dynamic Political Economy. Cornell University Press, Ithaca (NY) / London 2008, pp. 206-230, at p. 217.
  3. ↑ Pasuk Phongpaichit, Chris Baker : Thaksin. The Business of Politics in Thailand. NIAS Press, Copenhagen 2004, pp. 64-65.
  4. ^ McCargo, Ukrist: The Thaksinization of Thailand. 2005, p. 11.
  5. ↑ Pasuk, Baker: Thaksin. 2004, p. 74.
  6. ↑ Chris Baker: Pluto-populism. Thaksin and popular politics. In: Thailand Beyond the Crisis. Routledge Shorton, Abingdon / New York 2005, p. 131.
  7. ↑ a b Pasuk, Baker: Thaksin. 2004, p. 78.
  8. ^ McCargo, Ukrist: The Thaksinization of Thailand. 2005, pp. 5, 13-14.
  9. ^ McCargo, Ukrist: The Thaksinization of Thailand. 2005, p. 13.
  10. ^ McCargo, Ukrist: The Thaksinization of Thailand. 2005, p. 96.
  11. ^ A b McCargo, Ukrist: The Thaksinization of Thailand. 2005, p. 98.
  12. ^ McCargo, Ukrist: The Thaksinization of Thailand. 2005, p. 184.
  13. ↑ a b Eric Martínez Kuhonta: Democracy and inequality in Thailand. The rise of the Red Shirts. In: Democratization in China, Korea and Southeast Asia? Local and national perspectives. Routledge, Abingdon / New York 2014, p. 69
  14. ↑ a b James Ockey: Change and Continuity in the Thai Political Party System. In: Asian Survey , Volume 43, No. 4, 2003, p. 663.
  15. ↑ a b Erik Kuhonta: The Institutional Imperative. The Politics of Equitable Development in Southeast Asia. Stanford University Press, 2011, p. 173.
  16. ↑ Pavin Chachavalpongpun: Thai Political Parties in the Age of the Great Divide. In: Political Parties, Party Systems and Democratization in East Asia. World Scientific, Singapore 2011, pp. 167, 171.
  17. ^ McCargo, Ukrist: The Thaksinization of Thailand. 2005, p. 18.
  18. ↑ David Hughes, Songkramchai Leethongdee: Universal Coverage In The Land Of Smiles. Lessons From Thailand's 30 Baht Health Reforms. In: Health Affairs. Volume 26, No. 4, 2007, doi : 10.1377 / hlthaff.26.4.999 , p. 1000.
  19. ↑ Kuhonta: Democracy and inequality in Thailand. 2014, pp. 70–71.
  20. ↑ Kuhonta: Democracy and inequality in Thailand. 2014, pp. 69–70.
  21. ↑ Pratu Namo: Bye Bye Thai Rak Thai . In: Pratu Namo . May 31, 2007.
  22. ^ Michael Backman: The Asian Insider. Unconventional Wisdom for Asian Business. Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke (Hampshire) / New York 2004. Chapter 8 Thaksin Berlusconi and Silvio Shinawatra , pp. 50-57.
  23. ^ McCargo, Ukrist: The Thaksinization of Thailand. 2005, p. 187.
  24. ^ Jean Blondel, Jean-Louis Thiébault: Thailand. The personalization of the party leader - Thaksin, Party and Thailand. In: Political Leadership, Parties and Citizens. The personalization of leadership. Routledge, Abingdon (Oxon) / New York 2010, p. 238.
  25. ↑ Bidhya Bowornwathana: The Politics of Combating Corruption When Big Businessmen are at the helm. Lessons Learned from Thaksin and Berlusconi. In: The Many Faces of Public Management Reform in the Asia-Pacific Region. Emerald, Bingley 2009, pp. 73-96.