PHUKET: People on both sides of Thailand's politics will heave a sigh of relief today over the killing of the Amnesty Bill. The genie, though, is out of the bottle.
Calls for the resignation of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra are likely in the wake of her lame handling of the issue and her failure to admit defeat until the country was on the brink of a serious confrontation.
She has sent thousands of one-time supporters over to the non-government side, probably as permanent defectors who will now want her gone.
The cancellation of the legislation leaves PM Yingluck looking foolish for pursuing her miscast version of ''harmony'' until the weight of public opinion tipped the scales overwhelmingly.
Just about everybody could see what was coming, but not the Prime Minister. Now, having pushed too long for forgiveness for the criminally corrupt, it is she who must seek forgiveness.
PM Yingluck's fiasco leaves those who publicly supported the bill with egg on their faces.
And for former PM Thaksin Shinawatra, the present PM's brother in exile, it means one more potential route home has slammed shut.
What Yingluck should do now to restore her standing is to stage an all-out war on the corrupt and corruption.
With business people, doctors, academics and even judges announcing their opposition to the bill, it's plain that the hatred of corruption runs deep in Thailand - even among those who are forced to pay bribes, and some who benefit.
PM Yingluck will need a dramatic performance - akin to her brother's 2003 ''war on drugs'' - to emerge from this mess still in the top job.
Tackling Thailand's corruption head-on is clearly a vote-winner, and possibly the only way back for the misstepping PM.
It would certainly be timely, given the air of panic that is now becoming more evident at the thought of competition with Singapore and other clean-skin nations with the Asean Economic Community less that two years away.
Nobody underestimates Thaksin Shinawatra's ability to turn a defeat in one battle into a massive strategic victory.
But he will now need to pull off something grand akin to a ''war on corruption'' to save the Shinawatra brand from a serious tarnishing.
Calls for the resignation of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra are likely in the wake of her lame handling of the issue and her failure to admit defeat until the country was on the brink of a serious confrontation.
She has sent thousands of one-time supporters over to the non-government side, probably as permanent defectors who will now want her gone.
The cancellation of the legislation leaves PM Yingluck looking foolish for pursuing her miscast version of ''harmony'' until the weight of public opinion tipped the scales overwhelmingly.
Just about everybody could see what was coming, but not the Prime Minister. Now, having pushed too long for forgiveness for the criminally corrupt, it is she who must seek forgiveness.
PM Yingluck's fiasco leaves those who publicly supported the bill with egg on their faces.
And for former PM Thaksin Shinawatra, the present PM's brother in exile, it means one more potential route home has slammed shut.
What Yingluck should do now to restore her standing is to stage an all-out war on the corrupt and corruption.
With business people, doctors, academics and even judges announcing their opposition to the bill, it's plain that the hatred of corruption runs deep in Thailand - even among those who are forced to pay bribes, and some who benefit.
PM Yingluck will need a dramatic performance - akin to her brother's 2003 ''war on drugs'' - to emerge from this mess still in the top job.
Tackling Thailand's corruption head-on is clearly a vote-winner, and possibly the only way back for the misstepping PM.
It would certainly be timely, given the air of panic that is now becoming more evident at the thought of competition with Singapore and other clean-skin nations with the Asean Economic Community less that two years away.
Nobody underestimates Thaksin Shinawatra's ability to turn a defeat in one battle into a massive strategic victory.
But he will now need to pull off something grand akin to a ''war on corruption'' to save the Shinawatra brand from a serious tarnishing.
Chutima, a very well written, even powerful story. Well done. Perhaps you should be the editor...
Posted by Laurie Howells on November 7, 2013 16:57