By Marwaan Macan-Markar
BANGKOK, Aug 3 2005 (IPS)

The headlines that greeted Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra’s first cabinet reshuffle in his second term of office amounted to a collective jeer from the press gallery.

They ranged from ”Big Revamp Offers Little Hope” to ”Same old faces after reshuffle won’t save the Nation.” One newspaper even screamed about the new appointee to the interior ministry being the latest of the ”Prime Minister’s list of Yes-men.”

Most of the criticism in the Thai press was targeted at Thaksin’s decision to retain the scandal-tainted Suriya Jungrungreangkit in the cabinet. He was moved from being the transport minister to become a deputy prime minister and the minister of industries.

”What is then the point of reshuffling the cabinet when even the most questionable member, Transport Minister Suriya Jungrungreangkit, is retained in the cabinet and rewarded with dual responsibility as the industry minister and deputy prime minister?” the ‘Bangkok Post’ queried in an editorial Wednesday.

Suriya’s name has figured prominently in a questionable deal to supply Bangkok’s new international airport with 26 explosive detectors. This scandal, involving millions of U.S. dollars, dominated the headlines from April through June. It even resulted in the government’s popularity slipping to all-time lows in the opinion polls conducted at the time.

Suriya’s new appointment, which took effect Wednesday, was among the 17 changes that Thaksin made to the 35-member cabinet. Other switches that reflected the premier’s intention to keep within government the old guard was seen in the ministries of finance and interior.

Somkid Jatusripitak was moved from his finance portfolio to become the minister of commerce, while Chidchai Vanasthidya was transferred from being the minster of the interior to the minister of justice.

Among the newcomers to the cabinet is Air Chief Marshall Kongsak Vantana, the former head of Thailand’s air force. His appointment to lead the powerful ministry of the interior is being viewed here more for his close relationship with Thaksin.

”(Kongsak’s) opportunities seemed to soar after he stepped out of widowhood to marry his second wife, Salillawan, last year. The courtship and marriage took place with Pojaman’s blessings, as Salillawan is her confidante and private secretary,” reported ‘The Nation’ on Wednesday referring to Thaksin’s wife Pojaman Shinawatra.

As a result, scepticism has already been expressed whether Thaksin would give his new interior minister a free hand to bring under control the escalating violence in the country’s southern provinces.

Over 800 people have been killed since suspected militants from the country’s Malay-Muslim minority stormed a military camp in predominantly Buddhist Thailand’s south in January 2004. The numerous strategies Thaksin has unveiled over the past 19 months to quell the unrest û including draconian emergency laws that were introduced last month û have failed to make a dent.

And some editors are asking if the Thai premier is serious about tackling the major issues that have rocked the government. ”The corruption issue is obviously not high on Thaksin’s agenda, judging from the names in the new line-up,” writes Tulsathit Taptim, editor of ‘The Nation’ in a commentary Wednesday.

”As for security matters, another apparent case of nepotism is in the cards, practically mocking the magnitude of the deep-South crisis,” he added.

What is more obvious to Thaksin’s critics, though, is that this week’s cabinet reshuffle ensured that the prime minister would still retain his position as the most dominant player in his government’s second term.

”The prime minister is only appointing people who will not go against his policies,” Somkiat Onwimon, a member of Thailand’s Senate, told the ‘Thai Day’ newspaper. ”He always appoints yes-men. It’s not going to drastically change anything, it’s still a one-man show.”

Such a decision, however, comes at a time when Thaksin does not have to fear being defeated in a parliamentary vote. His ruling Thai Rak Thai (Thais Love Thai – TRT) party enjoys an unprecedented majority in the parliament after the general election in February this year. The TRT secured 376 seats in a 500-member legislature.

That triumph came on top of the TRT’s impressive victory at the 2001 general election. It secured 248 seats and then added 94 more seats from two other parties to form a very powerful coalition that confirmed Thaksin as premier would not be unseated.

Despite such political security, Thaksin changed his cabinet 11 times during his first four-year term, often to fend off criticism against his ministers.

No wonder Tulsathit, the editor of ‘The Nation,’ is warning the new cabinet appointees and those reshuffled in the pack against getting too comfortable in their job. ”Pack light and don’t have too many name cards printed up,” he advises.

The reason is part of the political pattern that has unfolded since the TRT came to office in 2001, he says. ”Thaksin has been employing this strategy of moving political targets around so opponents don’t know where to aim.”

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