Thailand's exiled ex-PM rules his country by Skype

Deposed in a military coup and deported in 2008, Thaksin Shinawatra is still in full control

Millions of people across the globe have cut the tethers to their offices and enjoy working from wherever they want. But the political party governing Thailand has taken the idea of telecommuting into an altogether different realm.

For the past year and a half, by the party’s own admission, the most important political decisions in this country of 65 million people have been made from abroad, by a former prime minister who has not set foot in the country since 2008. Thaksin Shinawatra circles the globe in his private jet, chatting with ministers over his dozen cellphones, texting over various social media platforms and reading documents e-mailed to him from bureaucrats, party officials say. It might be described as rule by Skype. Or governance by instant messenger.

Thaksin was removed from power in a military coup six and a half years ago and remains in exile because of a conviction for abuse of power, a highly politicised case initiated by the coup makers. But that has not stopped him from helping run Thailand — by remote control.

Officially, his sister, Yingluck Shinawatra, is prime minister (he nominated her for the job in 2011). But from his homes in Dubai or London, from the gold mines he owns in Africa, and during regular visits to nearby Asian countries, Thaksin, 63, has harnessed the Internet and mobile technology to create one of the most unusual and innovative ways of governing a country.

“We can contact him at all hour’s,” said Charupong Ruangsuwan, the interior minister and secretary general of Thaksin’s Pheu Thai Party. “The world has changed. It’s a boundless world. It'’ not like a hundred years ago when you had to use a telegraph.” To illustrate the point during an interview, Charupong took out his iPhone and scrolled through the list of Thaksin’s phone numbers (Thaksin gives different numbers to different people, often depending on seniority).

“If we’ve got any problem, we give him a call,” Charupong said. The day-to-day governance of the country is carried out by Ms Yingluck, who is genial, photogenic and 18 years younger than Thaksin. She cuts the ribbons and makes the speeches. She has on occasion sought to play down her brother's role. Soon after taking office, when Thaksin joined the weekly cabinet meeting via Skype, reporters asked who was really the head of the government. Yingluck insisted she was in charge and said Thaksin had joined the discussion to offer ‘moral support.’

But if there is one thing that allies and enemies of Thaksin agree on, it is that he is the one making the big decisions. “He’s the one who formulates the Pheu Thai policies,” said Noppadon Pattama, a senior official in Thaksin’s party who also serves as his personal lawyer. “Almost all the policies put forward during the last election came from him.”

“He’s running the whole show,” said Sondhi Limthongkul, a leader of the ‘yellow shirt’ movement that has taken to the streets many times to demonstrate against Thaksin. “If you want a huge project in Thailand worth billions of bant, you have to talk to Thaksin,” Sondhi said in an interview.
Thaksin uses various social media applications, including Whatsapp, Skype and Line, to keep in touch with the leaders of the party. Many of the Skype sessions are reported in the Thai news media. This month, Thaksin had a video chat to discuss coming gubernatorial elections in Bangkok. The one-hour video chat made news because party officials reported that Thaksin had told his colleagues that it did not matter whom they nominated because even a utility pole would defeat the opposition.

Politics in Thailand can be difficult to explain to outsiders because it sometimes sounds too implausible to be true. The general who led the coup in 2006 that deposed Thaksin is now a member of Parliament and head of the reconciliation committee. The country’s former ‘sauna king,’ who made a fortune by operating illegal massage parlors — customers got more than just a back rub — is now an anti-corruption crusader who regularly exposes illegal gambling dens. The Supreme Court is in the process of demolishing its own building, which is a listed landmark.
Thaksin has his own quirks. In addition to Thai nationality, he has passports from Montenegro and Nicaragua, which he used in the years immediately after the 2006 coup when a military-backed government revoked his Thai diplomatic passport.

Fittingly, Thaksin made a fortune in telecommunications before he entered politics. He used part of the billions of dollars from his mobile phone and satellite companies to start a new political party and in 2001 became a can-do prime minister who garnered a huge following in the provinces and among the less affluent. But he alienated the Thai elite through his populist policies, domineering personality and penchant for mixing the affairs of state with the expansion of his business empire.

Paradox for Thailand

The paradox for Thailand today is that despite the odd governing arrangement, the past 18 months have been a time of rare stability, without any of the political violence that bloodied the streets of Bangkok in the recent past.

“There are two ways you can look at this - you can make it into a farce, a ridiculous situation and the butt of a lot of jokes: The brother is pressing the buttons, and the sister is a puppet,” said Thitlnan Pongsudhirak, a professor of political science at Chulalongkorn University and one of the country’s leading political thinkers. “But I'm beginning to take a slightly different view. This may be the best way to run Thailand.”

Thailand is bucking the global slump: The stock market is surging, tourists are pouring into the country in unprecedented numbers (more than 22 million visitors last year alone) and unemployment is virtually nonexistent. Many believe that it might be better both for Thaksin and the country if he stayed abroad.

Charupong, the interior minister, says Thaksin’s distance gives him useful perspective. For some decisions, Thaksin insists on meetings in person. He regularly summons politicians to meetings at his Dubai home and at hotels in Hong Kong, where he visits frequently. (He declined a request for a telephone or Skype interview for this article but asked the reporter instead to meet him in London.)
It is a given in Thai politics today that anyone who wants an important job in government must fly to see Thaksin. The manifests of outgoing flights have become a new gauge of Thai political dynamics because those who leave the country to meet with Thaksin often end up with high-profile jobs soon afterwards. This was the case with Kamronwit Thoopkrachang, a senior police officer, who traveled to Hong Kong last June to meet Thaksin and was promoted to chief of the Metropolitan Police soon after.

While Thaksin’s role in making appointments and setting policy is unusual by the standards of other democracies, voters knew what they were getting. The party’s widely publicised slogan during the 2011 election campaign was: ‘Thaksin thinks; Pheu Thai does.’