| Thaksin Shinawatra |
Articles about Thaksin Shinawatra |
Website Links For Shinawatra |
Information AboutThaksin Shinawatra |
|
Thaksin Shinawatra ( hilltribe). EARLY CAREER Thaksin was born in ) was a Hakka Chinese immigrant from Meizhou , Guangdong who arrived in Siam in the 1860s. In 1908 he settled in Chiang Mai. He married a Thai woman called Sangdi. His eldest son, Chiang Sae Khu, was born in Chanthaburi in 1890, and also married a Thai woman, called Saeng Somna. Chiang's eldest son, Sak, adopted the Thai surname Shinawatra ("does good routinely") in 1938 during the Phibun regime's anti-Chinese campaigns, and the rest of the family also adopted it, including Loet, Thaksin's father, born in Chiang Mai in 1919. Loet married Yindi Ramingwong. Thaksin is thus one-eighth Chinese by descent. Thaksin's grandfather Seng Sae Khu made his fortune through Tax Farming — a common (though unpopular) occupation in those days. Later the Khu/Shinawatra clan added to their fortunes via the silk trade (Shinawatra Silks), catering to the tastes and interests of the Thai bureaucratic elite, and then by moving into the spheres of finance, construction and property development. Thaksin's father, Lert Shinawatra, expanded beyond the family's traditional silk business and opened a coffee shop, grew oranges and winter flowers in Chiang Mai's San Kamphaeng district, and acquired two movie theatres, a gas station, and a car and motorcycle dealership. As a young boy, Thaksin helped his father brew and serve coffee and also wash glasses. In 1968, Lert Shinawatra entered politics and became an MP for Chiang Mai and deputy leader of the now-defunct Liberal party. Lert Shinawatra quit politics in 1975 Riding the silk Road to power , 2 November 2003, ''Asian Tribune''. By the time Thaksin was born, the Shinawatra family was one of the richest, most influential and powerful families in Chiang Mai, enjoying close relations to the royal family, the army and the bureaucratic elite, as well as other wealthy families in the region. Thaksin attended Montfort College , a high school in Chiang Mai. He went on to the Thai Police Cadet Academy and upon graduation, he joined the Royal Thai Police Department in 1973. He later went on to obtain a master's degree in criminal justice from the Eastern Kentucky University in the United States , in 1975. In 1978 he received a doctorate in criminal justice at Sam Houston State University in Texas . He reached the position of Deputy Superintendent of the Policy and Planning Sub-division, General Staff Division, Metropolitan Police Bureau. Thaksin quit the police force in 1980. Thaksin and his wife, Potjaman , ventured into various business, from selling Thai silk products and movies to property development and renting computers to government agencies. Some of these ventures failed, and the couple was heavily in debt. From 1982-1984, Thaksin became the first to introduce cable TV, paging devices and mobile phones to Thai consumers. The Shinawatra Computer And Communications Group was founded in 1987 and listed in the Securities Exchange Of Thailand in 1990. One of the group's members, Shinawatra Paging , is now Thailand's largest mobile phone operator AIS . In 1990, Thaksin made a daring but successful bid for a 20-billion baht, 20-year concession to operate the Thaicom Satellite. ENTRY INTO POLITICS Political Debut as Foreign Minister in the First Chuan Government Thaksin entered politics in late 1994 under the invitation of Chamlong Srimuang , who had just reclaimed the position of Palang Dharma Party (PDP) leader from Boonchu Rojanastien[http://groups.google.com/group/soc.culture.thai/browse_thread/thread/3fd60fac56c87d95/11716c8d74c30af3?lnk=st&q=chamlong+pdp+thaksin&rnum=4#11716c8d74c30af3 Mr. Clean runs for Bangkok governor], soc.culture.thai Newsgroup Thread. In a subsequent purge of PDP Cabinet ministers, Thaksin was appointed Foreign Minister in December 1994 as a non-MP minister[http://groups.google.com/group/bit.listserv.seasia-l/browse_thread/thread/9849e74c17fea9d9/65f64828eb5231cf?lnk=st&q=Chamlong+resign+PDP&rnum=6#65f64828eb5231cf]. Soon after joining the Cabinet, the Parliament approved amendments to the Constitution (specifically, Article 114) that prohibited ministers from receiving | ||
| Chamlong, Strongly Criticized For Mishandling Internal PDP Politics In The Last Days Of The Chuan-government, Retired From Politics And Hand-picked Thaksin As New PDP Leader[http://wwwpathfindercom/Asiaweek/96/0614/nat8html][http://groupsgooglecom/group/socculturethai/browse Thread/thread/3fd60fac56c87d95/11716c8d74c30af3lnk | st&q=chamlong+pdp+thaksin&rnum=4#11716c8d74c30af3] Thaksin ran for election for the first time in July 1995, winning a parliamentary seat from Bangkok[http://groupsgooglecom/group/bitlistservseasia-l/browse_thread/thread/dd1d5f5b96619dd4/a93be81718f1f68blnk=st&q=chamlong+pdp+thaksin&rnum=8#a93be81718f1f68b] However, the weakened and internally divided PDP won only 23 seats, compared to 46 in the 1992 elections Post, 13 Mar 1994, Power Struggle in PDP Thaksin joined the government of Banharn Silpa-acha and was appointed Deputy Prime Minister in charge of Bangkok traffic |
|
| The Transaction Made The Prime Minister The Target Of Accusations That He Was Selling An Asset Of National Importance To A Foreign Entity, And Hence Selling Out His Nation The Democrat Party Spokesman Called Thaksin Worse Than Saddam For Not Protecting The Thai Economy From Foreigners: "Dictator Saddam, Though A Brutal Tyrant, Still Fought The Superpower For The Iraqi Motherland"[http://sanpawornvissaventurecom/log/261/worse-than-saddam]Thaksin[http://wwwmatichoncoth/matichon/matichon Detailphps Tag | 01p0102300149&day=2006%2F01%2F30] Supporters, however, counter that Thailand's mobile phone industry is highly competitive, and that little criticism was raised when the Norwegian firm Telenor acquired Total Access Communications, the country's second largest operator Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva had criticized Thaksin earlier for not sufficiently opening up the Thai telecom sector to foreigners[http://sanpawornvissaventurecom/log/237/abhisit-vejjajiva-economic-nationalist][http://wwwmatichoncoth/matichon/matichon_detailphps_tag=01soc05191248&day=2005%2F12%2F19] Supporters further counter that the complete sale of Shin Corporation by the Shinawatra-Damapong families had been a long-standing demand of some public groups[http://wwwipsnewsorg/internaaspidnews=24328], as it would allow Thaksin to undertake his duties as Prime Minister without accusation of conflicts of interest |
|
| On | "http://wwwinformationdelightinfo/encyclopedia/entry/23_April" class="copylinks">23 April 2006, Thaksin cancelled his attendance in the 2006 annual meeting of the Thai Rak Thai Party and left Thailand to go on an unofficial tour of 5 countries On the interary were meetings with Tony Blair in London, Jacques Chirac in Paris, Vladimir Putin in Moscow, and leaders in Japan and China Trips to the Philippines and Malaysia were also plannedhttp://bangkokpostnet/breaking_news/breakingnewsphpid=92424 "Thaksin leaving on foreign tour" Bangkok Post, 23 April 2006] |
|
|