In Thailand, Power Comes With Help From Skype

BANGKOK — Millions of people across the globe have cut the tethers to their offices, working remotely from home, airport lounges or just about anywhere they can get an Internet connection. But the political party governing Thailand has taken 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 been in self-imposed exile since 2008 to escape corruption charges.

The country’s most famous fugitive, Thaksin Shinawatra, circles the globe in his private jet, chatting with ministers over his dozen cellphones, texting over various social media platforms and reading government documents e-mailed to him from civil servants, party officials say.

It might be described as rule by Skype. Or governance by instant messenger, a way for Mr. Thaksin to help run the country without having to face the warrant for his arrest in a case that many believe is politically motivated.

His (remote control) return to power, even if somewhat limited by distance, is a remarkable turnaround for the brash telecommunications billionaire who was deposed in a military coup in 2006, the catalyst for several years of brinkmanship between critics and supporters that led to four changes of government and violent street protests that left nearly 100 people dead.

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

“We can contact him at all hours,” said Charupong Ruangsuwan, the interior minister and secretary general of Mr. Thaksin’s Pheu Thai Party. “The world has changed. It’s a boundless world. It’s not like a hundred years ago when you had to use a telegraph.”

To illustrate the point during an interview, Mr. Charupong took out his iPhone and scrolled through a list of phone numbers for Mr. Thaksin. (Mr. Thaksin gives different numbers to different people, often depending on seniority, party officials say.)

“If we’ve got any problem, we give him a call,” Mr. Charupong said.

Mr. Thaksin himself declined to talk by phone, or Skype, for this article.

The day-to-day governance of the country is carried out by Ms. Yingluck, who is genial, photogenic and 18 years younger than Mr. Thaksin. She cuts the ribbons and makes the speeches.

Ms. Yingluck, 45, has on occasion sought to play down her brother’s role. Soon after taking office, when Mr. Thaksin joined a weekly cabinet meeting via Skype, reporters asked who was really the head of the government. Ms. Yingluck insisted that she was in charge and said Mr. Thaksin had joined the discussion to offer “moral support.” She has since consistently said she is in charge.

But if there is one thing that allies and enemies of Mr. 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 Mr. Thaksin’s party who also serves as his personal lawyer. “Almost all the policies put forward during the last election came from him.”

Sondhi Limthongkul, a leader of the “yellow shirt” movement that has taken to the streets many times to demonstrate against Mr. Thaksin, agreed, saying, “He’s running the whole show.”

“If you want a huge project in Thailand worth billions of baht, you have to talk to Thaksin,” Mr. Sondhi, who seemed resigned to the turn of events, said in an interview.

Besides Skype, Mr. Thaksin uses various social media applications, including WhatsApp and Line, to keep in touch with the leaders of the party, senior party members say.

Many of the Skype sessions are reported in the Thai news media. This month, Mr. Thaksin had a video chat to discuss coming elections for governor in Bangkok. The one-hour video chat made news because party officials reported that Mr. Thaksin had told his colleagues that it did not matter whom they nominated because even a utility pole would defeat the opposition.

Mr. Thaksin remains a divisive figure. He retains a large and passionate following, especially among people in the Thai hinterland whom he championed as prime minister. His critics among the urban elite are equally adamant. They are still fearful that he and his party will upset the status quo that benefits them, but also angered by what they call his penchant for mixing the affairs of state with the expansion of his business empire and by his domineering personality.

But with Thailand’s economy doing well despite the global slump and its vaunted tourism industry doing even better than before the unrest, critics have been less able to drag anyone to the streets — even as they acknowledge that the man they long tried to drive from power is ruling from afar.

Mr. Thaksin’s political revival also fits in some ways with politics in Thailand, which can be difficult to explain to outsiders because it sometimes sounds too implausible to be true. The general who led the 2006 coup that deposed Mr. Thaksin is now a member of Parliament and chairman of the reconciliation committee. And the country’s former “sauna king,” who made a fortune operating illegal massage parlors is now an anticorruption crusader who regularly exposes illegal gambling dens.

The paradox for Thailand today is that despite its current odd governing arrangement, the country is enjoying what Thitinan Pongsudhirak, a professor of political science at Chulalongkorn University and one of the country’s leading political thinkers, calls “a kind of uneasy accommodation.”

“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,” Mr. Thitinan said in an interview. “But I’m beginning to take a slightly different view. This may be the best way to run Thailand.”

Many Thais believe that it might be better both for Mr. Thaksin and the country if he stayed abroad so that passions are not rekindled.

Mr. Charupong, the interior minister, says Mr. Thaksin’s distance gives him useful perspective and likened him to the coach of a soccer team (in this case, the cabinet).

Elaborating on the upsides of having the brother-sister team in charge, he said: “It’s like we have a prime minister in the country and another prime minister overseas. And we work together. This is our strength.”

For some decisions, Mr. Thaksin insists on meeting in person. He regularly summons politicians to meetings at his Dubai home and at hotels in Hong Kong, which he visits frequently, and it is a given in Thai politics today that anyone who wants an important job in government must fly to see Mr. Thaksin.

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

「泰」厲害！ 流亡前總理塔信Skype治國

紐約時報報導，過去一年半，泰國最重大的決策，都是由流亡海外的前總理塔信在國外做成的。他身體力行網路時代的遠距工作，以Skype或簡訊治國。

塔信所屬的執政黨為泰黨官員承認，塔信搭乘他的私人飛機在全球各地跑，透過十幾隻手機和社群網站的簡訊與部會首長密切聯繫，公務員還把公文用電郵傳送給他。

除了Skype，塔信也用社群網站的應用程式WhatsApp和Line與黨的高層聯繫。

塔信的妹妹盈拉於2011年擔任總理後，自2008起流亡海外的塔信就以遙控方式重返權力核心，不必回國面對司法審判，身在國外也能遠距離治國。

63歲的塔信在倫敦和杜拜都有家，在南非擁有金礦，他也經常造訪泰國的東南亞鄰國。他利用網路和行動科技創造最特別的治國方式。

內政部長兼為泰黨秘書長乍魯蓬說：「我們隨時可與他聯繫。世界已改變，這是一個沒有國界的世界，不像一百年前，必須拍電報。」

他說：「這好比我們有兩個總理，一個在國內，一個在國外。我們團結合作力量大。」

乍魯蓬接受紐約時報訪問時，拿出他的iPhone，展示一長串塔信的電話號碼。塔信把不同的電話號碼給不同的人，看對方官階而定。

乍魯蓬說：「我們若出了問題，就打電話給他。」

塔信在做某些決定時，堅持要當面談，就把政治人物召到他杜拜的家或香港的飯店內。因此，泰國政界有個說法，若想當官，就飛到國外去見塔信。

日常政務則交給甜美的盈拉。她上任不久時，塔信透過Skype參加內閣會議。盈拉被問及此事時，堅稱由她掌控大局，塔信只是提供「道德支援」。

但盟友和政敵都同意，塔信才是做重大決策的人。為泰黨高層諾帕敦說：「黨的政策由塔信制定。」反塔信的「黃衫軍」領袖林明達說：「塔信掌控全局，在泰國若要包幾十億泰銖的工程，就去找他。」

原文參照：
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/30/world/asia/thaksin-shinawatra-of-thailand-wields-influence-from-afar.html

2013-01-31．聯合報．A18．國際．編譯田思怡