Asia Times: Governor Samak, at your service


	July 25, 2000	atimes.com

Southeast Asia

Governor Samak, at your service
By Tony Allison

Veteran political campaigner Samak Sundaravej, who was sworn in as Bangkok's new governor on Monday one day after his landslide election victory, campaigned on a platform of "if you want to use me, elect me".

A record 1,016,096 Bangkok voters felt they had a need for the 65-year-old Prachakorn Thai Party (Thai Citizen Party) leader, leaving second-placed Sudarat Keyuraphan of Thai Rak Thai (Thai Unity Party) trailing on 521,184 votes. What is not as clearcut is what use Samak has for the job. The 4.8 million baht (US$120,000) he will earn over his four-year term is small compensation for the estimated 20 million baht he spent on campaigning against the other 22 candidates.

Although he will be governor of a city of more than 10 million people, with an appropriate level of prestige, the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) he will head is in effect a municipality responsible for such mundane issues as traffic, garbage, flood control, parks and pavements. Further, the BMA is traditionally short of funds, it is fraught with bickering between departments, and it falls under the responsibility of the powerful Interior Ministry, which is currently headed by a minister from the ruling Democrat Party - the party which Samak most loves to hate.

In order to contest the governorship, Samak resigned from parliament, ending a political career spanning 32 years, during which he was re-elected 10 times and held a range of portfolios in various governments, including those of Interior, Communications, Agriculture and Cooperation, and Deputy Prime Minister.

Although Samak entered the governor's race later than most other candidates, he made an immediate impact, and polls soon placed him ahead of Sudarat. This was despite, or because of, the inevitable charges and counter charges of dirty tricks and smear campaigns, including a bomb explosion at one of Samak's rallies, charges that he was anti-Chinese, and accusations of involvement in the bloody suppression of pro-democracy student demonstrations in the early and mid-1970s.

The margin of his victory was nevertheless a surprise, as was the 58 percent voter turnout, the highest since the first such elections in 1985.

Commentators have drawn differing interpretations from the result. Some see it as a direct snub for Thai Rak Thai and its leader, telecoms tycoon Thaksin Shinawatra, whose intentions of becoming prime minster are well documented. They argue that the large pro-Samak vote was in fact a no vote for Thaksin, and a warning that he would not be popular come the general elections - due within 90 days of the scheduled November 17 dissolution of parliament.

Similarly, analysts say that the vote was also a rejection of the Democrat Party, who backed third-placed Thavatchai Sajakulse. The indication is that come the general election, the small parties, such as Samak's Prachakorn Thai Party and the Chart Pattana, could hold sway in Bangkok.

At the other end of the spectrum, other analysts believe that the result was a victory for the tried and tested Samak, and that voters simply wanted to give him one last chance to perform in the spotlight in the twilight of his career.

As one commentator summed it up: "Superficially, Bangkok residents have simply voted for a governor, and many undoubtedly thought exactly that. But politically, their votes sent complicated messages that will weigh heavily on many minds, particularly Thaksin's. Despite his brave face, the tycoon must be scared by the 'fear' theory. He will hate the speculation that many voters opted to resurrect a dying veteran just to serve him a warning."

All of which begs the question, what is Samak up to? He made few specific policy statements during the campaign - he refused to enter a public debate with Sudarat - preferring instead to talk in broad terms of making Bangkok a less crowded city by establishing small satellite communities on its outskirts. Subsequent to his victory he announced that he will push for the development of a new 100,000 seat convention center to attract business to Thailand, and that he will lift the current ban on hawkers setting up shop on pavements on Wednesdays.

The former proposal drew the sharp response from a critic that Samak is "keen to build a monument for himself by means of initiating large-scale projects". With his long-established network of contacts within the bureaucracy and government, and intimate knowledge of how the system works, Samak is well placed to serve as a link between contractors and the state agencies involved in implementing schemes, as no previous governor has been.

Perhaps his ambition is as simple as that - that he is, as he promised his voters, the man they can use.

(Special to Asia Times Online)

back to the top

©1999 Asia Times Online Co., Ltd.