What’s Driving Chamlong?

You hear the man and know the man - but you don’t really hear him and you know him even less. What’s driving Chamlong Srimuang? Where does he come from? How can this man practically single-handedly keep a government in check? Remember Black May?

“Early that afternoon (…) military police, firing continuously in the air, moved in on the crowd surrounding Chamlong, forcing thousands to the ground. In full view of television cameras beaming the scene around the world, they handcuffed Chamlong and dragged him away. But the crowds did not disperse.”

More on this further down. Chamlong’s has remaind a fearless radical in his very own way; a - yes - guardian of what’s sacrosanct to countless many. It was furthermore Chamlong who was the main force behind driving Thailand’s biggest initial public offering (IPO) to Singapore. As a most devoted Buddhist he considered it an unforgivable sin that the kingdom would make if not billions with Thai Beverage.

And Thai Bev, the country’s largest alcohol beverages producer, went to Singapore for its IPO - where it enjoys a market capitalization in excess of four billion U.S. dollars. Chamlong couldn’t have cared less. You may think that’s an absurd attitude. But this man of utmost principles can hardly be judged by common you and me.

Or how would you explain his ability to mobilize tens of thousands of people right now, at a point and place in time nobody really gave him a chance?

Time to understand the roots and the thinking of Chamlong. Benchmark reading remains the biography penned on the occasion of Chamlong’s 1992 Ramon Magsaysay Award for Government Service.

You may disagree with Chamlong’s current ways and means. But next time you shall meet the man be sure you’re aware of whom you’re meeting.

Toughened and humiliated by decades of degrading Thai politics, Chamlong Srimuang knows them all, the players, and has become one of Thailand’s most influential persons - a spiritual force, a moral leader who’s never looking for the limelight.

When you see him in the limelight, rest assured and take it for granted that Chamlong thinks something is terribly wrong.

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