Comments on: Man City’s Thai Owner Brings Thailand’s NT to England

By: bluemeanies

bluemeanies — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 15:50:12 +0000

Thailand politics has been about finding a balance between king, army and elected leaders. Thaksin and his Thai Rak Thai was immensely popular in the rural areas but not with the urban elite. He had corporate conflict of interests but not, from what I’ve heard, anything that you wouldn’t see in Italian politics. The students and urban elite sided with the army to throw him out and to keep peace in the cities the king sided with them. Last month there was the 1st free election since the coup. The party that was basically Thai Rak Thai run by Thaksin’s deputy won hugely, especially in rural areas, and there is talk of scrapping the corruption charges and maybe even allowing him to run for office again.

By: Vincent

Vincent — Sun, 06 Jan 2008 13:12:01 +0000

Just look at some of the thugs pointing the finger at the Doc.Though not squeaky clean he did attempt some reforms hence his ousting.As for his “gesture” I hope it’s a success and bring some pleasure for his homeland.

By: Ian

Ian — Sun, 06 Jan 2008 06:34:01 +0000

Oh, I’m not saying he’s not a monster. For all I know, he eats babies … I’ll admit my knowledge of his reign is limited to a very few articles, none of which paint a pretty picture. I just think there’s worse ways to use your billions, regardless of how you accrued them.

But, you’re right, his history makes it fair to question his motives.

By: Jan

Jan — Sun, 06 Jan 2008 03:02:50 +0000

“Nice to see he still wants the best for his national team despite being basically banished from that very nation.”

More realistically this sentence should read as follows:
It’s not surprising to see him using the popularity of football and the EPL in Thailand as a route back into Thai politics.

It might also be worth mentioning that he’s on Amnesty International’s and Human Right Watch’s list of very bad people.

By: Ian

Ian — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 20:20:58 +0000

As long as he doesn’t pull a Romanov, and load the team with Thai players, I have no problem with this. Nice to see he still wants the best for his national team despite being basically banished from that very nation.