PROFILE: Thailand's Oxford-educated premier gets passing grade

By Peter Janssen Jun 28, 2011, 3:03 GMT

Bangkok - Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has faced his fair share of challenges during his two-and-a-half years in office, which come to an end on Sunday with a general election.

On April 13, 2009, anti-government demonstrators surrounded his Mercedes Benz at the Interior Ministry, threatening his life shortly after he declared emergency law in response to their disruption of a regional Asian summit in nearby Pattaya.

Luckily the car's locks worked, as did the shatter-proof window panes.

During much of April and May last year, Abhisit was forced to move his office to the compound of Infantry Regiment 11, on the outskirts of Bangkok, as red-shirted protesters took over portions of the capital demanding he dissolve parliament and call for a snap election.

Throughout the turmoil, that left 92 dead and more than 2,000 injured, Abhisit kept his cool, some have said too much so.

The 46-year-old Oxford-educated Abhisit, a 20-year-veteran of Thai politics, is obviously more at home in the halls of parliament than the rice fields of rural Thailand, where elections are won or lost.

'I am not good at showing my emotions,' Abhisit admitted at a rally on June 23 in front of thousands of supporters of the Democrat Party, which he leads.

In a bid to revive flagging enthusiasm for the Democrats in Bangkok, usually a stronghold for the 65-year-old party, Abhisit recalled the trauma of April 10, last year, when protesters and authorities engaged in a bloody street battle on Ratchadamnoen Road, leaving 25 dead, including five soldiers.

'I cried for a long time on April 10,' Abhisit said. 'I knew that no matter what I decided, people would hate me.'

Plenty of people do.

'Ninety-two people died last year and he has never accepted responsibility,' said Kwanchai Salakham, one of the leaders of last year's red shirt protest movement. 'Abhisit is like Srithanonchai. He never admits the truth,' Kwanchai added, referring to the notorious prankster-deceiver character of ancient Thai literature.

Paradoxically perhaps, it is Abhisit's reputation for honesty that wins him the most accolades among his admirers.

He has won praise, for instance, for keeping his promise to go ahead with a general election on July 3, months before his term was up in December, despite a high likelihood that the Democrats will not win at the polls.

'You know, I like this prime minister,' said Nipon Poapongsakorn, President of the Thailand Development Research Institute. 'He is not corrupt. He is an honest person and he did what he said he would.'

Nipon also praised Abhisit for pushing through policies during his tempestuous term in office that have benefited the poor, such as a price guarantee scheme for farmers, and increased old age pensions for the poor.

'I'd give him a grade A on social issue, but only a C on economic issues. On the economy I don't think he had much vision,' Nipon said.

Even without the vision thing, Abhsit managed to steer the Thai economy through one of the world's severest global recessions to witness 7.8 per cent growth in 2010.

Such achievements have not, however, translated in to popularity at the ballot box, at least according to opinion polls.

The Democrats, like Abhisit, are not good self-promoters.

'I think we are too careful, and being careful you become colourless,' said Democrat executive member Kraisak Choonhavan.

Like many Democrats, Kraisak worries about the what lies in store for Abhisit should his political opponents triumph at the polls.

'Abhisit was probably one of the best prime ministers we've had, and the establishment used him and now they're going to throw him away,' Kraisak said.

Abhisit came to power in December 2008 through a reshuffle in parliment which some claim was orchestrated by the military.

'There are many long-tusked politicians waiting for him in the wings,' Kraisak said.