The Thaksinization of Thailand.

• Author: Pongsudhirak, Thitinan
• Position: Book Review

The Thaksinization of Thailand. By Duncan McCargo and Ukrist Pathmanand. Copenhagen: Nordic Institute of Asian Studies, 2005. Softcover: 277pp.

Never has a Thai leader generated so much academic interest in so short a time. Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's rise to power in January 2001 and his prolonged rule since have been so phenomenal and unrivalled in Thai political annals that they have spawned a burgeoning sub-field in the study of Thai politics that can be dubbed "Thaksinology", underpinned by all kinds of books and articles focusing on Thaksin and all facets of his personal and professional life. The volume under review is the latest English-language investigation of the telecommunications billionaire in the seat of power. It is a team effort between the most prolific Western analyst of Thai politics and an indigenous researcher who is fast coming into his own. Coming out within a year of Pasuk Phongpaichit and Chris Baker's incisive and insightful Thaksin: The Business of Politics in Thailand, McCargo and Ukrist had a tough act to follow. Yet The Thaksinization of Thailand does not disappoint, notwithstanding a handful of empirical kinks and analytical shortcomings.

For critics of Thaksin's virtual authoritarian rule and pandering populist policies, this book offers intellectual therapy and sheer indulgence. Unlike Pasuk and Baker, McCargo and Ukrist make no pretence of non-partisanship. They pull no punches from the outset, opening with a salvo in the first chapter that "... Thaksin is an opportunistic politician, for whom ideas are simply a means to an end. He is not animated by the pursuit of ideas, but by the pursuit of wealth and power. Thaksin's greatest achievement is the creation of a formidable political and economic power network, the mother of all phuak" (original italics), in reference to the Thai leader's nexus of factions (p. 20). In the last paragraph of the book, the authors depart with all guns blazing. The penultimate conclusion leaves little doubt: "Thaksin Shinawatra is not an ideas man. He is a brilliantly successful opportunist" (p. 252). In between, the crux of the book takes Thaksin to task on his conflict of interest in the telecoms sector, shrewd concoction of the ruling Thai Rak Thai (TRT) party, re-politicization of the military, manipulative political discourse, and personal networks that have reshaped Thailand's political economy.

The book is primarily divided along the two authors' complementary...