NPR's Michael Sullivan sat down with Thailand's new Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to hear his reflections on issues of the recent past in an exclusive interview.
Thailand elected a new prime minister Monday, amid hopes that the choice will help bring an end to the political uncertainty that has plagued the country for years — and led to the closure of Bangkok's two main airports for more than a week last month.
Abhisit Vejjajiva is exactly what Bangkok's elite has been looking for in a prime minister.
He's young, handsome, Oxford-educated — and one of them. He's also a darling of Western investors and governments. But he has never led his party to victory, having been thumped by deposed Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's party on several occasions. And that's because the majority of Thais — the rural majority — simply don't like and don't trust the democrats, which is why they would be in opposition still if not for the airport closures — and the abrupt dissolution of the Thaksin-friendly government earlier this month for voter fraud.
None of this is lost on the new prime minister.
"Obviously if I could choose a way to get into power, I'd love to win an election. ... I'm prepared to bring out best in this country; think if we perform well, people would want us to stay on," he said.
To do that, he'll have to convince Thaksin loyalists that he, too, understands the needs and aspirations of the rural Thai majority. No small task for a man once booed off the stage — and pelted with tomatoes — at a campaign appearance at a Thaksin stronghold in the north.
But Abhisit acknowledges that the man he pretty much considers almost pure evil did deliver for the rural poor.
"What made Thaksin popular wasn't that he clean or honest, but worked for the people in the eyes of the rural north and northeast supporters. So, we have to prove he doesn't have this monopoly on addressing people's concerns, but have to do in a way that's honest and transparent and doesn't ruin the system," he said.
In practical terms, that means adopting some of the same strategies that Thaksin employed to woo rural voters.
"Crop prices, microcredit, good health care scheme and more," he said, are examples. "That's one way of reassuring them we're working for them, too. Quite natural for people not my supporters question my intentions, but I'm sure time will prove that I am serious about what I say."
If that happens, it could help heal the deep political divisions in the country that led to the airport closures — what some here describe as a class struggle between the feudal elite in Bangkok and the rural poor, a group largely ignored until Thaksin's arrival.
Abhisit rejects the notion that he had anything to do with the latest government's fall. But he said that the Thaksin-friendly government was simply too corrupt to stay on.
"We respect the will of the majority," he said. "At the same time, elected government has to stick to principles of good governance. Accountability, transparency, has to respect power. Majority doesn't give license to abuse human rights, corruption, intimidate opponents."
Maybe so. But some here argue Abhisit wouldn't be prime minister either, if the Thai military hadn't leaned on some people to switch their votes to the democrats. Abhisit now has three years to prove he can bring the country together. Few analysts believe he can. Some predict large numbers of Thaksin supporters may take to the streets to demand justice. Others say Abhisit's coalition supporters — a fragile and fickle bunch at best — may soon bolt.
For the moment, though, this country's prolonged political crisis seems on hold. And the newly elected prime minister has a message for wary foreign tourists.
"I'm sure the majority of Thai people regret the events of the last month," he said. "And that we are doing everything we can to welcome you all back. We've learned our lesson."
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