Thaksin's pawns continue to fall

Thaksin's pawns continue to fall

Mr Yongyuth's predicament was the result of his own blind loyalty to serve Thaksin at all costs even at his own risk.
Mr Yongyuth's predicament was the result of his own blind loyalty to serve Thaksin at all costs even at his own risk.

My belated sympathies go out to Yongyuth Wichaidit, former deputy prime minister and former interior minister in the Yingluck Shinawatra government and former Pheu Thai Party leader.

But all the high political posts and honours that were heaped upon him while faithfully and blindly serving the vested interests of the Shinawatra family did not shield him from the verdict of the Court of Appeal last week, which upheld the two-year imprisonment imposed upon him by the Central Criminal Court for abuse of power in connection with the selling of monastic land to the Alpine golf course.

Veera Prateepchaikul is a former editor, Bangkok Post.

Not a single colleague from Pheu Thai was by his side to lend him moral support when the Court of Appeal delivered its verdict last Thursday.

They might have been too busy campaigning for the upcoming March 24 general election to waste their precious time showing up to give Mr Yongyuth their moral support. Well, as the old saying goes: "When you laugh, the world laughs with you. But when you cry, you cry alone."

However, the Court of Appeal showed Mr Yongyuth mercy by granting him bail so he would not have to spend time behind bars at the age of 77. He can appeal the sentence to the Supreme Court in 30 days.

Mr Yongyuth's predicament was the result of his blind loyalty to ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra even at his own risk.

While serving as the acting interior permanent secretary during the Thaksin administration, Mr Yongyuth overruled an order of the Land Department chief which revoked the sale of monastic land to private firms, Alpine Real Estate Co and Alpine Golf & Sports Club Co in 2002. As a result, the purchase of the land in Pathum Thani province involving Thaksin and ex-interior minister Sanoh Thienthong went ahead.

After providing this "legal service" for the benefit of Thaksin, Mr Yongyuth was promoted to interior permanent secretary until his retirement. He later entered politics and was appointed deputy prime minister, interior minister and Pheu Thai Party leader during the government of Yingluck, Thaksin's younger sister. So in a way, he was more than adequately rewarded for the services rendered in the Alpine land controversy.

It might have been a fair give-and-take deal for Mr Yongyuth and, hence, Thaksin should not be blamed for a lack of sympathy towards the former for his predicament -- consequences of the law of karma, so to speak.

The same law of karma was also present in the case of Benja Louischaroen, a former deputy finance minister during Yingluck's premiership. In October 2017, the Court of Appeal upheld a three-year jail term imposed upon her for malfeasance in office for helping Thaksin's children, Panthongtae and Pinthongta, evade capital gains tax worth several billion baht from the trading of millions of shares in the Shinawatra-owned Shin Corp held by Ample Rich, an offshore holding company controlled by the Shinawatra family based in the British Virgin Islands, to Singapore's Temasek Corp in 2006.

Ms Benja was later promoted to director-general of the Revenue and Customs departments and eventually deputy finance minister in the Yingluck government.

She is currently on bail and her case is still pending with the Supreme Court. It remains to be seen whether she will be found not guilty or end up in jail like former commerce minister Boonsong Teriyapirom who was sentenced to 42 years over a fake government-to-government rice deal with a Chinese state enterprise.

Or former information and communications technology minister Surapong Suebwonglee who was given a one-year prison sentence by the Supreme Court's Criminal Division for Political Office Holders for amending a concession deal in favour of Shin Satellite, a Shinawatra-owned company.

All these loyal men and women were merely expendable pawns for the fugitive former prime minister Thaksin and are now facing the consequences of their abuses of power to serve their boss's vested interests.

But all these sad-ending tales of fallen men and women do not seem to discourage the many others who are willing to follow in their footsteps to please and to serve the "Man in Dubai" who remains as defiant as ever in never giving up his resolve to stage a political comeback -- at all costs.

All eyes are now watching the fate of the Thai Raksa Chart Party, an offshoot of Pheu Thai linked to Thaksin, with the Constitutional Court scheduled to rule this Thursday whether to dissolve the party over its nomination of Princess Ubolratana as its sole prime ministerial candidate.

Veera Prateepchaikul

Former Editor

Former Bangkok Post Editor, political commentator and a regular columnist at Post Publishing.

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