Vote banks and cash top-ups: Thai political loyalty up for grabs
NAKHON RATCHASIMA, Thailand: In his fi nal days as a “Red Shirt” rabble-rouser Suporn “Rambo Isaan” Attawong urged farmers to take up martial arts in defence of Thai democracy as a coup loomed.
Now he is contesting national elections for a party aligned to the junta which seized power weeks later – a political volte- face in a nation where pragmatism often trumps ideology and cash coaxes voter loyalty.
“Politics is a competition,” he says of his political reversal.
“We used to be part of previous government and now we are on the other side.”
Turbulent Thailand is often cast as a country neatly split between political camps representing the pro-democracy movement and the army-aligned establishment.
But after two coups in 13 years – featuring rounds of paralysing protests and the demolition of several parties by the courts – the political landscape is more roughly hewn.
It is tacked together by influential local politicians with large vote banks and a knack for backing the winning side.
Suporn was dubbed “Rambo Isaan” by the media for his tough guy persona and heritage in Isaan -- the poor, rice farming northeast which carries the most votes in parliament.
But his fortunes were imperilled by the coup that took out the civilian government of Yingluck Shinawatra.
At the time a lawmaker for her Pheu Thai ruling party, Suporn was detained by the military.
He emerged contrite, renouncing his previous affiliations on national television.
His about-turn will be complete if he wins his district seat in Nakon Ratchasima province on March 24 for the junta- aligned Phalang Pracharat party.
Rambo says his political resurrection came after he accepted he was “part of the conflict” tearing apart the country. His new side “will bring reconciliation”, he added.
Early voting begins on Sunday, with more than 2.5 million reportedly set to cast their ballots.
Phalang Pracharat has poached more than 40 other veteran MPs from Pheu Thai in the hope of lassoing in northeastern voters who mostly back Shinawatraaligned parties.
Junta chief Prayut Chan- O- Cha is the party’s candidate for prime minister after the election, which experts say will at best return a straitjacketed democracy with the military still prominent.
Thai power is sharply hierarchical, with patronage networks fanning out from Bangkok, through provincial government and down to village headmen.
The Shinawatra political clan perfected the art of pulling in provincial votes.
Universal healthcare, farm subsidies and village funds boosted incomes and aspirations in long-neglected rural areas of the country, bolstering the popularity of local politicians.
Many of the MPs to recently jump ship from Pheu Thai grew powerful under the Shinawatras but flipped as the political tea leaves augured a long stay in power for the generals and their allies. — AFP