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| Bangkokians Give Pheu Thai Party Thumbs Down |
| UPDATE : 8 June 2010 |
The result of polls for city councilor in 14 districts last Sunday said it all – more Bangkokians disapprove of the Pheu Thai Party. Out of 105 seats up for grabs in 14 districts of Bangkok, the Democrat Party won by a landslide with 79. Democrat candidates secured sweeping wins in 10 districts, except for only one district that they shares with candidates from the Pheu Thai Party. On the other hand, the Pheu Thai
Party won 26 seats and swept all seats in only three districts.
Democrat candidates won, overwhelmingly, nine districts of Bangkok -Bangkapi, Wang Thong Lang, Bueng Khum, Lad Prao, Lak Si, Saphan Soong, Sai Mai, Klong Sam Wa and Jatuchak. Pheu Thai candidates won in Don Muang, Lard Krabang, and Kanna Yao. Candidates from both parties, however, share Minburi where the Democrats won four seats and Pheu Thai won three.
Compare the result of this year’s poll to that of the previous one in September 2006 and you'll see a stark decline in popularity of the Pheu Thai Party among city voters. Back then, candidates from Thai Rak Thai (which was disbanded and later repackaged as Pheu Thai Party) enjoyed huge successes by sweeping all seats in 11 districts, while the Democrat Party secured clean sweeps in only two districts. Both parties shared Don Muang, where each won four seats.
This year, however, the Democrat Party took over eight districts which were formerly identified as domains of the Phue Thai Party while the Pheu Thai Party managed to gain a monopoly of Don Muang district, which both used to share.
It is hard not to think that the landslide victory reflected how Bangkok residents view the Pheu Thai Party and their alleged work in sync with the DAAD movement…a movement that involved unidentified armed forces and an arson spree with former PM Thaksin Shinawatra allegedly at the helm. He also was at the helm of the Thai Rak Thai Party and has been closely associated with the Pheu Thai Party.
Judging from Sunday’s poll results, it seems that even people who used to be supporters of Pheu Thai Party have been turned away by the party's involvement in the whole fiasco. They strongly disapprove of how the party seems to serve Thaksin instead of the people and has become part of a movement that demanded change at the expense of Thailand, regardless of how costly it may be.
Economic loss left in the wake of the red-shirt movement is a historic one, but it was not the first attempt of 'the movement for Thaksin' to stage chaos in Thailand.
Vicharn Meenchainun, Pheu Thai MP, attributed their loss at this year’s poll to political turmoil resulting from the conflict between the red-shirts and the government.
The link between the Pheu Thai Party and the red-shirt movement is undeniable, given Pheu Thai MP Jatuporn Phromphan was actively involved in the street protest himself and is credited as one of the three core leaders. He is now a terrorism suspect. Not to mention, several MPs from the party and the party's chairman Chavalit Yongchaiyudh acted rabble-rousers on the DAAD stage on different occasions, turning the red-shirts against the government.
Sunday’s voting is a local poll and by nature, it is unlikely to change unless there is enough reason. The loss of the Pheu Thai Party shows that the party went down in the books of Bangkok residents because they disapproved of the party's involvement in the movement that left Bangkok ablaze. If the party doesn't reconsider its stance, the
backlash from Bangkokians may become greater at the next general election.
'Pha Praden Ron' by Politics news team, Opinion page 2, Naew Na newspaper, June 8, 2010
Translated and Rewritten by Pornchai Sereemongkonpol
Please note that the views expressed in our "Analysis" segment are
translated from local newspaper articles and do not reflect the views
of the Thai-ASEAN News Network.
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