Conversations with Thaksin
by Tom Plate
Marshall Cavendish
Former Thailand prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, loved and loathed across his homeland, makes for a fascinating target of Los Angeles Times columnist Tom Plate's professional - and always gracious, although sometimes fawning - curiosity. Unsurprisingly, Conversations With Thaksin: From Exile to Deliverance - Thailand's Populist Tycoon Tells His Story is unavailable in the kingdom, though not yet subject to an official ban.
Thaksin was ousted in a military coup in 2006, terminating his populist-style leadership of five years. Before his political career, he was an entrepreneur. He made his first billion in telecommunications, before he founded the Thai Rak Thai ('Thais Love Thais') party in 1998.
After his election victory in 2001, he became Thailand's first prime minister to serve a full term, and swiftly introduced popular and far-reaching policies. But the perception of him as a shrewd, corrupt businessman lingered, and then grew - fuelled by a few high-profile scandals - during his second term.
Duly, the tanks rolled back in to central Bangkok to show Thaksin who really was boss in a country that had endured more than 20 military coups in its modern history.
Plate's overview of the man is based on extensive interviews that took place between them at the former leader's residence-in-exile in Dubai. It's an accessible read on a complicated individual, and Plate ensures that enough background information is provided for those with little exposure to Thailand's enigmatic ways of governance.
