Cue thespotlight

Cue thespotlight

Abhisit sings 'country' as he seeks to become a 'man of the people' - Former Thaksin minister Somkid is looking more likely to take over the handling of the economy - Speculation is rife that Gen Paiboon has triggered early reshuffle jockeying

With political activities banned since the imposition of martial law in May, politicians have had to adjust and find other ways to maintain contact with their voters without drawing too much unwanted attention from the coup-makers or violating martial law restrictions.

They fully understand that as soon as the new constitution is promulgated and the 11 organic laws are put into place, preparations will begin in earnest for the next general election. And they want to be ready.

Abhisit: Cool country crooner

That is why Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva and his colleagues recently launched a series of concerts to raise money to support the education of needy children in Bangkok and rural areas. The activities will help raise the party's profile as some observers believe the sooner political parties emerge from their "hiatus" caused by the coup, the better it will be for their chances of expanding their influence over voters ahead of the next poll. 

The first of the series of concerts was held yesterday in Ubon Ratchathani.

People were given a treat as they had a chance to watch and listen to the Oxford-educated Democrat leader who appeared on stage wearing a brightly-coloured and flower-patterned shirt and crooned luk thung songs for the first time in his life.

The upcoming concerts will be organised to entertain audiences at Siam Paragon and Lumpini Park in Bangkok as well.

A party source said training Mr Abhisit to sing luk thung is part of the strategy to stay in touch with the people during the ban on political activities.

This is also an effort to improve his personality, and groom him as a salt-of-the earth type in the hope he will attract the grassroots vote in the provinces, particularly in the North and the Northeast where the party's popularity is still low, the source said.

The party has to adjust to the changing circumstances to reach out to rural people, the source said.

Mr Abhisit also has to shake off the image of a foreign-educated man in an ivory tower and learn to get to know more about the grassroots.

Mr Abhisit is hard at work learning how to sing and move like a singer on stage, with two well-known singers Sirintha Niyakorn and Ekkapoj Wongnak helping to guide him. He has to look, and sing, the part. 

Among the numbers he is learning are Phi Aow Rak Ma Fahk (I have my love as a gift to you) and Noom Na Khao Sao Na Kluea (a man in a rice field and a woman on a salt farm).

With Noom Na Khao Sao Na Kluea, Mr Abhisit sang a duet with Rangsima Rodrassamee, the former party MP from Samut Sakhon, at the Ubon Ratchathani concert. Samut Sakhon is a major salt-farming province.

Singing on stage as a luk thung singer cannot be complete without the traditional colourful, patterned costumes accompanied by flashy accessories.

The image of a man like Mr Abhisit in such a costume should help break the ice with rural people.

The Democrats are also planning other activities, although they need to be sure the aim is only to "return happiness to the people", and at the same time boost and maintain the party's popularity until the next election is called. 

Stirrings in the cabinet

No matter how hard leading figures in the Prayut government try to play down rifts among the members of its economic teams, people at Government House believe some ministers are not having a good time in cabinet.

Somkid: Ambitious rubber plans

A signal moment for them is the recent appointment of Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon, who is in charge of security affairs, as head of a committee to push the National Council for Peace and Order's strategies for national development.

Second in command in the Prawit committee is Somkid Jatusripitak who has been working behind the scenes as an adviser to the NCPO and was recently named head of the prime minister's advisory panel.

Whispers are being heard at Government House that NCPO chief and Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha is not impressed with the performance of Deputy Prime Minister MR Pridiyathorn Devakula who is counted on to turn the economy around and tackle falling crop prices, rubber in particular.

According to Government House insiders, changes are in the wind and speculation is rife that the prime minister may strip MR Pridiyathorn of his authority over the economy and hand it to Gen Prawit.

If this is the case, Mr Somkid will no doubt end up running the show.

Mr Somkid, a former finance minister in the Thaksin Shinawatra government, cannot be appointed to the cabinet to oversee the country's economy. The interim charter forbids Mr Somkid from holding any political position due to his previous political ban.

It is believed Mr Somkid has an ambitious plan to lift rubber prices to 80 baht/kg, something MR Pridiyathorn says is impossible. The deputy PM thinks rubber prices cannot go higher than 60 baht/kg.

It should be no surprise to see Mr Somkid by Gen Prawit's side more often these coming days. And it should not come as a surprise should some of the government's fresh measures to boost the economy share similarities to the populist schemes championed by the Pheu Thai Party and the Yingluck Shinawatra administration.

State-run banks such as the Government Savings Bank (GSB) and the Bank of Agricultural and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC) are reported to have been told to set aside funds to inject capital into the economic system via loan projects.

With Mr Somkid as part of the Prawit committee, tackling the rubber price problem may be easy, said observers. 

Mr Somkid is known to have established direct contact with Suthep Thaugsuban, the secretary-general of the People's Democratic Reform Committee, who is now ordained and goes by his monk alias of Phra Suthep. 

According to a source, Mr Somkid has sought the advice of Phra Suthep on how to deal with disgruntled rubber farmers, most of whom are in the southern region. When he served as a deputy prime minister in charge of security affairs in the Abhisit administration, Phra Suthep was also in charge of handling the rubber price problem.

All eyes are now fixed on whether Mr Somkid can bolster confidence and create coherent economic management policy.

MR Pridiyathorn, on the other hand, has so far been able to keep his cool. 

But according to insiders, the deputy prime minister may have the last laugh when things play out in the long run. It is widely known that Mr Somkid might not have a great many achievements to speak of from his time in the Thaksin administration.

A military manoeuvre

A major military reshuffle is almost always preceded by outlines of this and that scenario and endless speculation about who is being groomed for promotion and who will miss out. 

Walit: Top job awaits

Even though the military is in full control of the government, the annual round of guess and gossip is under way again about vacancies in the top echelon.

One vacancy that is looking increasingly likely is the position of Justice Minister Paiboon Koomchaya, who may decide to relinquish his concurrent seat of deputy supreme commander. 

If Gen Paiboon moves aside, his replacement will be a watched issue as whoever takes his place will most likely be in line to become supreme commander in the next annual reshuffle in September.

The contenders for supreme commander — currently Gen Worapong Sanganet — boil down to Lt Gen Walit Rojanapakdi, who is chief of joint staff and former 4th Army Region Commander, and Gen Sommai Kaodeera, chief of joint staff. 

A military source said Gen Paiboon may be being "encouraged" to quit as deputy supreme commander to pave the way for Lt Gen Walit. Should Lt Gen Walit move in, his rank would be elevated to general, which would prepare him for promotion to supreme commander come September. 

But it may not be all plain sailing. Gen Sommai is also favoured for the seat.

Both Lt Gen Walit and Gen Sommai are due to retire at the end of September next year. If either misses out on becoming supreme commander in September, the chance will slip through their fingers for good. 

Gen Paiboon has insisted he will stay put and has shown every intention of holding on to the two jobs, saying he is perfectly capable of juggling his time. 

Some critics dismiss the talk of Gen Paiboon quitting as deputy supreme commander. They feel it would be undignified to get involved in manoeuvring to allow Lt Gen Walit to take up the post of deputy supreme commander for such a short stint. 

Lt Gen Walit has been close to Gen Prayut, having been brothers in arms back in their early years as young soldiers. Lt Gen Walit suffered critical injuries when his unit was ambushed by armed men during an operation to contain red-shirt protesters at Kok Wua intersection in April of 2010. 

His injuries won sympathies from Gen Prayut and their bond grew even closer, according to the source.

After that, Lt Gen Walit was named commander of the 4th Army Region despite reservations from some quarters that his army career had been mediocre. After less than a year as the region commander, he was posted to the Royal Thai Armed Forces headquarters.

Even if Lt Gen Walit fails to land the supreme commander post, his career path is not closed. Military insiders think he could be promoted to either chief of the joint staff or deputy supreme commander until his retirement.

If he is made chief of the joint staff, Gen Sommai could well be on his way to clinching the supreme commander job. 

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