The Daily Dose: Thaksin Steals the Spotlight Once Again?
 Time magazine's latest issue ran a news headline saying ''Thailand's Thaksin Steals the Spotlight Once Again.'' The article remarked the deposed prime minister had perfomed as if he continued to be a hero in the Thai political scenes.
Noppadon Pattama, legal adviser to Thaksin, said the deposed premier would begin to keep a low profile and no longer make a sensational headline as before. However, it remains to be seen if the media could ever fare without following his boss at all. That headline in Time magazine notwithstanding, a more likely one would rather say: ''Thai Media Cast the Former PM In the Spotlight Again.'' With such remarks could critics of Thaksin paint up a scene in which the Yingluck government would merely perform as his nominee at the cost of their own credibility. For instance, Thaksin was always accused of involvement one way or the other with respect to such hot issues as the Thai-Cambodian overlapping maritime areas in which oil and natural gas could possibly be explored and produced on joint venture, mutual interest basis, the renewed bids for constitution amendment and controversial transfers of high-ranking government personnel. In the eye of the foreign media such as The Economist, Thaksin would continue to play a pivotal role in the steering of the post-election government under premiership of his own sister, Yingluck Shinawatra. But in the Thai media's perspectives, he would not be seen as a ''hero'' but as a ''villain.'' One may doubt the former leader would ever fade away from the news, foreign and domestic alike, given his reported effort to try to keep a low profile, nevertheless. by ML Nattakorn Devakula Produced by VoiceTV |
