Whois Somchai - Husband Of The Wife

If you ask Thais about Somchai Wongsawat, Thailand’s new prime minister, they may jokingly answer “krup, krup!” Implying Thailand got a yes yes man as premier. A “low expectation premier,” foresees the Asia Times.

The Bangkok Post calls Somchai a “blessing in disguise.” A dark horse for others. Nominee by blood. Bureaucrat, technocrat, leader against his will, as his career suggests.

The problem is his wife. She has a lot of influence: “She can not only influence her older brother Thaksin,” a former government adviser tells absolutely. “Now, with her husband at the top, she has a lot of influence over the government.”

Somchai’s Achilles’ heel is his marriage to Thaksin’s sister Yaowapa Wongsawat. She was a senior figure in Thaksin’s Thai Rak Thai party and one of 111 MPs banned from politics for five years in the wake of the coup.

Still, The Nation comments on one of the few Thai politicians not fighting a court case: “Don’t be taken aback if Somchai decides to go on a charm offensive against all his critics.”

A good person, it is said. Let’s not forget that he’s even accepted by the Democrats, evident by the fact that he was appointed permanent secretary of the justice ministry when Chuan Leekpai was prime minister.

He’s furthermore not entirely rich, he’s not one of those rich politicians buying the system.

But his wife. A demanding wife, we are assured.

The Nation has a timely backgrounder. Concluding: “Although Yaowapa said she would just take the role of a housewife, her role should not be underestimated.”

“Thaksin even admires Yaowapa’s talent. He once mentioned that had Yaowapa been his brother, she would have had taken a ministerial post. If Yaowapa was not banned from politics, it might have been her turn now to be Thailand’s first female prime minister.”

Making her husband Somchai the nominee of a nominee of a nominee?

Bespectacled and softly-spoken according to a wire report, Somchai has seldom had to endure the glare of the television cameras and appears nervous and unsure of himself. The complete reverse of his predecessor.

Tells us something how he talks to his wife.

Can he last? Never underestimate the power of unobtrusiveness in Thailand. If aggressiveness was his predecessor’s nature, arbitration and the soft approach are Somchai’s. He’s neither abrasive nor a mobilizer.

But all those shadows. Somchai’s wife Yaowapa Wongsawasdi, aka the sister of putsched former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, was an influential MP in her older brother’s Thai Rak Thai party before it was disbanded after the coup.

Estate debts.

Somchai’s not his own man. He won’t bring back fugitive Thaksin - but is conciliatory by nature. The beleaguering People’s Alliance for Democracy PAD is already struggling with an opponent who has one big weak spot, but remains a largely unknown quantity.

While many analysts express concerns Somchai’s appointment will revitalize and escalate the PAD’s protest - does he hold much sway inside the military? -, my take is that Somchai lets it all cool down. Not without the PAD declaring a final victory, somehow.

Maybe Somchai’s the premier Thailand needs. No outgoing person loving the limelight. His cabinet will tell. Behind-the-scenes horsetrading as the initiating litmus test.

The obstacles are much higher than the expectations. Only to mention the looming dissolution of his party rather sooner than later. Sacking a bearer of hope despite himself - a great white hope, unity PM, to reconcile this bitterly divided society.

And - did I mention? How can he withstand his wife.

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Comments

2 Responses to “Whois Somchai - Husband Of The Wife”

ThaiCrisis on September 18th, 2008 11.38 am

I share those views. The only problem is that a prime minister has … ministers around him.

Samak’s govt was “ugly” (according to his own words) … you can be sure that Somchai’s team is going to be super ugly.

After the negociations last week with factions and coalition’s members … many people have to be rewarded with positions …

So again, watch out for the ugly “patchwork” …

Somchai won’t be able to avoid that (Samak did it, he refused some names).

Furthermore, this govt will have a short lifespan … Therefore, the ministers are going to run to make some juicy deals …

Therefore, it’s impossible to foresee any improvement, any sane policy that would put Thailand back on track.

This govt will have 2 obsessions: Its own survival and how to run the slot machines as fast as possible.
aaron on September 18th, 2008 12.38 pm

Tells us something how he talks to his wife.

Smells like a classic case of reverse domestic abuse.

Women do get away with it easier than men.