Thaksin

In the early 1990s, Thaksin Shinawatra came from nowhere to become a multi-billionaire in just four years. In 2001, he was elected prime minister on a single-minded promise to accelerate Thailand to first-world status through unrestrained capitalist growth. In 2009, over video link from exile in Dubai, he urged thousands of red-shirted supporters to revolution, provoking days of street fighting and the biggest-ever domestic operation by the Thai army. From 2001 to 2009, Thaksin's tenure gave new meaning to the role of prime minister and transformed Thai politics. It is an extraordinary story involving four landslide elections, a military coup, a demonstration lasting half a year, the popular mobilization of people in color-coded street armies, the occupation of Bangkok's international airports, assassination plots, and the flight of Asian leaders from a regional meeting by helicopter. The first edition of this book was published in 2004, and the original chapters remain unchanged. They trace Thaksin's family background, his meteoric success as a telecommunications entrepreneur, his bid for the premiership, and the key polices and achievements of his years in power. In the expanded second edition, four new chapters and a conclusion trace in detail the protracted story of Thaksin's downfall.