Thailand’s Luck-y charm

By PHILIP GOLINGAI

Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva may have been the poster boy of ‘political freshness’ in the 2007 polls but this time around, it is Yingluck Shinawatra, youngest sister of his fugitive predecessor Thaksin who is stealing the thunder with her natural charm.

IN the streets of Bangkok, on her campaign posters, Yingluck Shinawatra is dressed in a white shirt and black jacket.

The collar of the shirt worn by Thaksin’s youngest sister and the opposition Pheu Thai No. 1 party-list candidate is – in the words of Chris Baker, a Thai politics expert, – “plain and the lapel of the jacket is unnotched”.

“The outfit is more that of a lawyer than a businesswoman. The makeup is unobtrusive. She has no insignia and virtually no jewellery. There is a trace of an earring on her left ear but it is scarcely visible,’ wrote Baker in New Mandala, an online site devoted to the politics and societies of Thailand and Burma.

“The message of the costuming is simplicity and seriousness.”

Baker, who has authored several books on Thailand including Thaksin: The Business of Politics in Thailand, opined that Yingluck’s image has been “sex-down rather than the opposite.”

Yingluck’s poster, according to Baker, was a reminder that Thaksin “has always understood the importance of communication and especially of visual communication.”

In all major opinion polls, Yingluck’s Pheu Thai is leading against the ruling party Democrat led by Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, the poster boy of “political freshness” in the 2007 polls.

This year, the fresh face of Thai politics is 44-year-old Yingluck. The businesswoman has never run for political office. But since she was revealed as Pheu Thai’s prime minister candidate last month, she has replaced 47-year-old Abhisit as the national darling.

To get an understanding on how a political rookie like Yingluck could rise to rock star status in a short period, I spoke to Suranand Vejjajiva, who served in the Thaksin cabinet. I was also curious to know whether her success was due to political marketing.

“The two factors that you have to consider with Yingluck are the candidate herself and the political machinery behind her,” explained Suranand, who is now a political analyst and the first cousin of Abhisit.

“There is no question about (the effectiveness) of the Pheu Thai machinery. It is the same machinery which Thaksin built 10 years ago – we were there building it. It is a machinery which has won the past three elections – two under Thai Rak Thai (TRT) and one under People Power Party (PPP),” he said.

(After the 2006 coup which ousted Thaksin, TRT was dissolved and 111 party leaders including Thaksin and Suranand were banned from politics for five years by the constitutional court. TRT was re-incarnated as PPP, which was dissolved in 2009 by the constitutional court. The Thaksinites politicians regrouped under Pheu Thai party.)

Suranand points out that the effectiveness of the Pheu Thai political machinery was evident in the party’s campaign posters.

“If you walk on the street and you don’t have any biasness, you will see that the Pheu Thai posters stand out,” he explained.

The message of TRT/PPP/Pheu Thai, according to the political analyst, has always been about hope and opportunity.

“Thaksin has always been keen to convey the message that if you vote for his party, you will have economic opportunity,” he said.

The party’s machinery was also effective in mobilising the masses to its rallies. Pheu Thai’s rallies have more people than other parties, observed the political analyst.

But having a well-oiled political machinery backing Yingluck would not have been enough if she was not a natural campaigner.

“She has got her brother’s charm. She is a natural. She can blend with the common people,” he explained.

This is evident from the photographs of Yingluck in her campaign trail. Take the example of a Reuters photograph of her in Yala, Thailand’s restive deep south. Wearing a red scarf (of course red as Pheu Thai and the Red shirts are the same) she looks so gorgeous and natural as her head leans on a tudung-clad Muslim woman who was taking their picture on her mobile phone.

“She can do whatever a politician can do and . . . she looks better,” said Suranand.

“Being good looking helps but it does not mean you are a natural campaigner. There are many movie stars who ran unsuccessfully for public office in Thailand.”

“You have to give credit to Yingluck as she is able to reach out and touch the voters. The two combinations – Pheu Thai’s machinery and Yingluck’s charm – seem to work and that is why her polls are skyrocketing,” he said.

Suranand shook his head when asked how the political newbie became a natural campaigner.

“I don’t think Yingluck is trained to be that way. She is one of those people who are like Bill Clinton. Clinton can meet anyone and make him feel comfortable. Yingluck has that same quality,” he explained.

“I’ve worked with Thaksin before and he has that quality too. But for his other brothers and sisters, they don’t have that. They (Thaksin’s other siblings) have good personal relationships but not the charisma to draw the crowd.”

I asked Suranand about his personal impression of Yingluck.

“I might be a little biased as I know Thaksin very well. I’ve met Yingluck from time to time, even after the coup. She is always a nice lady – courteous, talks well, lively and very smart,” he said.

Is there a political script that Yingluck is following?

“They (her campaign managers) have analysed that the people are bored with the usual bickering in Thai politics. She is careful not to antagonise anyone or engage in mudslinging,” Suranand said.

“If she starts attacking the Democrats (who are good at counter-attack), it will make the frontpages and she will just be a normal politician. So they (her campaign managers) are trying to keep her away from all this bickering so that she can talk about the future (reconciliation in politically-divided Thailand) without being caught in a shouting match with the Democrats.”

The other advantage Yingluck has over Abhisit is freshness.

“I have a feeling that the people want change and they want to work with a new face rather than stay with a group of old politicians,” Suranand said.

“It is a short campaign (about six weeks) and if she was running in an American-style one-year presidential elections, it might be tough for her.”

Yingluck also benefits from good press relationship.

“Business reporters who covered her as a businesswoman liked her very much and that helps in terms of word of mouth,” said Suranand.

“When political reporters asked about her, the business reporters told them that she is a nice lady and she is down to earth.”

The cable TV and radio talk show host added: “I have not heard anything bad about her from the media covering the campaign trail. I am told she is always nice.”

Going back to the Pheu Thai campaign message, Suranand said the party wanted to reinforce the Thaksin brand.

“Thais – whether they hate or love Thaksin – acknowledge that he is a capable and competent manager and he has been very successful in managing the country. And they (Pheu Thai think tank) have done their surveys and found that Thaksin is still very popular. So they have come up with a campaign slogan – ‘Thaksin thinks, Pheu Thai implements’,” he said.

“And when Yingluck (was picked to be Pheu Thai’s No. 1 candidate), the message of the slogan become stronger as Yingluck is Thaksin definitely. If you picked another Pheu Thai leader (to be the party’s prime minister candidate), he would not have been the real thing.”

Comparing Abhisit and Yingluck to a mobile phone, Suranand said Abhisit was the first generation of BlackBerry phones whereas Yingluck was the new version of the smartphone.

Colour still defines

One Man's Meat
By PHILIP GOLINGAI

Yellow-hearted Bangkokians have turned red with opinion polls predicting Yingluck, Thaksin’s gorgeous younger sister, will beat the handsome Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva’s Democrat party.

ON Saturday morning, rushing for my meeting with contacts in Bangkok, I put on a red shirt. Then I had second thoughts.

In Thailand’s colour-coded and divided politics, it might be politically incorrect to wear red.

I took it off and put on a grey T-shirt instead.

It is election time in the country where Red means you are pro-Thaksin Shinawatra (former Thai prime minister), and yellow shows that you are anti-Thaksin.

If the opinion polls are to be trusted, Pheu Thai, the party led by the gorgeous Yingluck, Thaksin’s younger sister, will thump the handsome Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva’s Democrat party in the Thai capital on July 3.

It seems that most yellow-hearted Bangkokians (who in 2009 voted for a Democrat as governor of Bangkok) have turned red.

“Bangkok’s middle class who voted for Democrats have had a change of heart,” said Worapol Promigabutr, a sociologist at Bangkok’s Thammasat University.

“They thought the coup (which ousted Thaksin) in 2006 would make the country better. But now they realise the situation has not changed and in fact had become worse,” he said.

At a fast food joint in Tesco Lotus hypermart at the Bangkok suburb of Chaengwattana, I asked Worapol about a political killing on Khao San Road, Bangkok’s backpacker Mecca.

I had a personal interest in political violence in the city of Angels (in Thai, Krung Thep) as friends have asked me whether it was safe to visit Bangkok during the Thai polls.

I assured Malaysians that it was safe, Bangkok Dangerous (the title of a Nicholas Cage movie shot in Bangkok during the 2006 coup), notwithstanding.

The only thing they should worry about was getting conned into visiting a “tiger show” in Patpong.

On Thursday, Suban Jiraphanwanich, an influential politician from the province of Lop Buri (about 130km from Bangkok), was shot dead in – to quote the Bangkok police chief – “a well-planned attack by a hit team of possibly career assassins”.

Suban’s wife and an aide were also injured during the incident in which five rounds were fired.

“Don’t worry,” assured Worapol, who had been detained by the police for seven days for alleged involvement with Red Shirt activities during last year’s bloody protest.

“Political killing is not extraordinary during a Thai election,” he said.

Worapol also gave me the lowdown on the Thai polls – it is Pheu Thai/Red Shirts vs the rest of Thailand.

After the sociologist explained to me why the oligarchy could not kill Thaksin politically, a man at the next table eating fried chicken with his daughter interrupted our discussion.

“Are you saying that Thaksin also helped the poor when he was prime minister?” asked Thanee, a 51-year-old civil engineer, in a typically polite Thai manner.

Surprise, surprise. I thought in English-deficient Thailand, someone was eavesdropping on our conversation in English.

“I voted for Thai Rak Thai (Thaksin’s party banned since 2006).

“I have read from both sides – mainstream media and alternative media.

“And now I don’t support Thaksin,” continued the civil engineer, adding that he saw what Thaksin said on the Internet.

“What did Thaksin say?” Worapol ventured.

“I can’t say. But I know what I read. I will go to jail if I say what Thaksin said,” said Thanee.

“Are you saying that Thaksin is not loyal to the King?” asked the academician, who is a royalist.

“Although it (a Time magazine issue which carried the interview with Thaksin) was banned in Thai-land, my daughter printed it from the Internet,” said the civil engineer.

The argument whether Thaksin allegedly committed lese majeste (a French phrase for “insulting the monarchy”) became too hot that I was a bit concerned it would turn physical.

In politically divided Thailand it is still not “safe” to wear your political belief on your sleeve in public.

Eve-n Adam needed it

ONE MAN'S MEAT
By PHILIP GOLINGAI

DO you know why God created a woman for Adam?” asked Obedient Wives Club international vice-president Dr Rohaya Mohamad.

“Eve was created because Adam had needs. Men have (sexual) needs which they can’t control. And if the needs are not fulfilled, men will find another woman. God created them like that.”

The 46-year-old bespectacled, tudung-clad mother of eight continued: “One of the reasons we started the club is because not all women are trained to be good in bed. We want to teach them how to perform better than a first-class prostitute.”

Dr Rohaya is not your typical Stone Age housewife. She’s a high-flying businesswoman with Global Ikhwan Sdn Bhd, a multi-million-ringgit company with businesses spanning Australia, South-East Asia, the Middle East and Europe.

She studied medicine at the University of Wales in Cardiff. She is the third wife of Mohamad Ikram Ashaari, the 45-year-old son of the late Al-Arqam founder Ashaari Mohamad.

“So, how does a woman become a sex goddess?” I asked Dr Rohaya at the Perangsang Templer Golf Club in Rawang, where the obedient wives were preparing for their club’s launch on June 4.

“We will teach them techniques,” said Dr Rohaya without blushing.

Blushing, I asked, “What sex tips?”

“You ask him first what he likes, then you ask yourself what you like. You can’t have two heads in the house,” she said.

Tudung-clad Fauziah Ariffin, Ikhwan Catering & Restaurant director, chipped in: “Our sifu (mentor) Ashaari told us that a wife’s (sexual performance) must be better than that of a first-class prostitute.”

“What is happening now (the Dominique Strauss-Kahn and Arnold Schwarzenegger sex scandals),” explained the 48-year-old businesswoman with an accountancy degree from New South Wales University in Sydney, “is the consequence of the wife not performing her obligation (sexually satisfying her husband).

“But why did Brad Pitt ditch Jennifer Aniston – who I assume is pretty good in bed – for Angelina Jolie?” I asked.

“Actually if Brad Pitt had a choice, he would have wanted to have both of them as his wives,” said Dr Rohaya, who is Ikhwan Polygamy Club deputy president. “Unfortunately, Western society can’t accept (polygamy).”

“What do you think of (Perkasa president Datuk) Ibrahim Ali’s statement that when a man has the need and his wife is cooking, she has to stop cooking?” I asked.

“I agree with him as God created Eve for the needs of a man,” ex­­plained Fauziah, who is a third wife and proud of it.

“What do you think of the Monica Lewinsky scandal?” I asked.

“(Former US president) Bill Clinton is being a man,” Dr Rohaya said.

Fauziah added: “As a world leader, you are stressed up and one way to release your stress is by having sex.”

“Do you think Hilary Clinton should have stood by her man?” I asked.

“It would have been better if she allowed Monica to be Bill’s second wife,” said Fauziah.

Then both women laughed heartily as if they were sharing a personal joke.

“Most women’s group will say that your club is bringing women back to the Stone Age,” I prodded.

“We expect that as there is always two schools of thought. But what we want to say is: there’s an alternative. We believe one of the core reasons for what is happening in the world – prostitution, rape and whatnot – is because a man is not satisfied at home. So why don’t we give it a try,” Dr Rohaya said.

How about starting an Obedient Husbands Club?

“I will ask my husband if he wants to start one,” she said.

Talking to the obedient wives made me feel as if God had not banished man from the Garden of Eden.

What’s with NY maids?

ONE MAN'S MEAT
By PHILIP GOLINGAI

Sexual harassment of chambermaids does not only happen in RM9,000 a night penthouse suites in the Big Apple. It happens everywhere.

WHAT’S with maids in New York City’s luxury hotels? Last week, another hotel maid was sexually assaulted. This time by Mahmoud Abdel-Salam Omar, the former head of one of Egypt’s biggest banks.

The 72-year-old Egyptian allegedly assaulted a 44-year-old maid as she delivered tissues he had requested to his room in a posh Manhattan hotel.

The banker’s arrest came two weeks after International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn’s sex scandal. The 62-year-old Frenchman was accused of trying to rape a 32-year-old chambermaid in a luxurious Manhattan hotel.

Why were the maids sexually assaulted? Are maids downright irresistible? I don’t think so.

As I’m writing this article, I’m home alone with two part-time Indonesian maids cleaning my USJ Subang Jaya house. The two sweaty teenagers are on their knees, scrubbing the floor and I did not feel like doing a Strauss-Kahn on them.

Back to the question: What’s with maids in New York City’s luxury hotels?

Perhaps it is the chambermaids uniform (think French maid’s outfit)? Or perhaps hotel maids in New York City resemble Jennifer Lopez in the romantic comedy Maid in Manhattan.

According to twitterer@ATM2U, yeah they look like J Lo – only 100kg heavier.

Sexual harassment of chambermaids does not only happen in US$3,000 (RM9,000) a night penthouse suites in New York City. It happens everywhere.

A recent article by AP news service revealed the daily danger faced by hotel maids.

“Hotel housekeepers say they often feel a twinge of fear when they slide the keycard, turn the door handle and step into a room to clean it. What will they find?” AP reported.

At a luxury hotel in Toronto, housekeepers especially hated doing “turn-down” service (preparing beds for the night).

Some men would put money on the pillow, ask for sexual favours and tell the women they could take the money after they have left, according to the report.

“Others took a more circuitous route to the same end: they would inquire about a housekeeper’s home country and how many family members they were supporting,” it added.

“Then would come some sympathetic-sounding questions about how much the hotel paid them – followed by an offer of money for sex.”

Coincidentally, when I read about the Egyptian banker, I had just downloaded the May 30 issue of Time magazine on my iPad. The cover story was “Sex. Lies. Arrogance. What Makes Powerful Men Act Like Pigs”.

Now I know why I did not behave so badly with the two maids in my house. I’m not a powerful man.

It seems with power comes confidence. And with confidence comes a sense of sexual entitlement.

“If fame and power make sex more constantly available,” according to a study set to be published in Psychological Science, “it may weaken the mechanisms of self-restraint and erode the layers of socialisation that we impose on teenage boys and hope they eventually internalise.”

In the Time cover story, Nancy Gibbs wrote: “We know that powerful men can be powerfully reckless, particularly when, like DSK (Dominique Strauss-Kahn), they stand at the brink of their grandest achievement.

“They tend to be risk takers, or at least assess risk differently, as do narcissists who come to believe that ordinary rules don’t apply. They are often surrounded by enablers with a personal or political interest in protecting them to the point of covering up their follies, indiscretions and crimes.”

How do you stop powerful men from preying on hotel maids?

Female staff at the hotel where Strauss-Kahn allegedly sexually assaulted a chambermaid are now being allowed to wear trousers instead of skirts.

But that’s like faulting a woman for getting herself sexually assaulted. Plus Strauss-Kahn allegedly sexually attacked his second wife’s goddaughter even though she was wearing jeans.

The solution I favour is providing maids with portable emergency communication devices. If dirty old men try to be funny, just press the “panic button”.