1 - Introduction: Reinventing Thailand

Summary

I decided that the primary mission of my premiership is to bring changes for a better Thailand and for the benefit of the Thai people. These changes include both domestic and foreign dimensions. My mission is to see the Thai people prosperous and Thailand peaceful and secure. The realisation of that mission depends on a result of successful domestic policy as much as a consequence of appropriate and properly implemented foreign policy…. As long as I am in charge, nothing will deter me from making changes if those changes are for the benefit of the Thai people and this country.

Thaksin Shinawatra

Fortunately or unfortunately, Thaksin Shinawatra, Thailand's prime minister from 2001 to 2006, is no longer in charge of his country's domestic and foreign affairs. What he has left behind is a big question, whether the changes he made in foreign affairs during his five years in office were for the benefit of Thailand and its people as he had claimed in his speech. Thaksin Shinawatra rose to the premiership in 2001 after winning a landslide election. He claimed to represent a breath of fresh air in Thai politics, someone who, in his own words, dared to “think out of the box”. His party, Thai Rak Thai (TRT), meaning “Thais love Thais”, formed a solid government that effectively dominated political power and challenged certain traditional institutions. Thaksin was also the first Thai prime minister to have served a full four-year term as head of a Thai government. While consolidating his power, Thaksin's inclination toward authoritarianism and his confrontation with the old establishment propelled him from the most popular elected prime minister to a wanted fugitive after being sentenced to two years imprisonment for a conflict of interest.

Thaksin might have gone, at least for now, but his foreign policy legacy can still be seen. His ambition was reflected in his myriad of grandiose foreign policy initiatives.