It’s been a while since I got up on a political soapbox, but this time I just can’t help it. After meeting a really nice friend of a friend, we were discussing about how incompetent the current Thai government is in comparison to the Thaksin’s government (or regime, depending on your stance). I am not a big fan of Thaksin, and I know how corrupted he and his bunch were but things were done properly.

Remember that time when we Thais were so united during Thaksin’s first term. That was the time where I once thought that hey, may be we could turn into a developed country before 2025. There were so many tangible improvement that I can see in people’s everyday life especially for those of us who don’t live in Bangkok, the city that always get everything first.

What reminds me of Thaksin this time was his tweet that mentions what our government should do to assist Japan. That was to allow Japanese to enter Thailand without the need for visa for 6 months. Funny enough, many hardheaded narrow-minded Thais say this ain’t the time to try to commercialize humanitarian efforts. I’d say it’s a win-win. They can come here and feel slightly safer, and we will de facto get more tourists. It’s voluntary, it’s not like we’re forcing them to come here! It’s like offering a temporary shelter to those who needed it, rather than giving them something they probably wouldn’t want like our über-skilled dog squad or money, which is something they can print themselves. (I am an economist and I know that’s what they are going to do anyway).

Thaksin will still be the lesser of the many evils we have here in this country. Who else do we have now if not Thaksin? The Dems, the party which is proven to be incompetent on all facets? Newin and the gang? The brainless and radical group led by Sondhi? I’d rather be under a dictator than the current anarchic nation where everyone can bend the laws and the government just remains on the neutral gear.