Thaksin’s strategists return to form Paetongtarn’s advisory powerhouse

Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra has appointed a team of policy advisers comprising five strategists loyal to her father, former premier Thaksin Shinawatra.

Analysts believe these five senior strategists – aged between 67 and 81 – are expected to offset the 38-year-old political debutante's weaknesses, especially her lack of experience in public administration and government policymaking.

According to the PM's September 16 order, the panel will be led by Pansak Vinyaratn. Pansak was economy policy adviser to Thaksin during the latter's tenure as prime minister from 2001 to 2006.

File photo: Pansak Vinyaratn

Deputy chief of the strategy panel is Surapong Suebwonglee, a former finance minister and one of Thaksin’s trusted aides.

File photo: Surapong Suebwonglee

The other three members are National Economic and Social Development Council (NESDC) chairman Supavud Saicheua, former Prime Minister’s Office permanent secretary Tongthong Chandransu, and former justice minister Pongthep Thepkanjana.

File photo: Supavud Saicheua

File photo: Tongthong Chandransu

File photo: Pongthep Thepkanjana

Most of Paetongtarn’s five policy advisers served closely under her father while he was premier, and all are part of his inner circle.

Thaksin is considered the patriarch and de-facto leader of the ruling Pheu Thai Party, though Paetongtarn is its official leader.

Observers say that the political novice could not have become Pheu Thai leader, let alone prime minister, without her father’s influence and connections.

‘A strong team but …’

Olarn Thinbangtieo, a lecturer at Burapha University's Faculty of Political Science and Law, said the team of experienced advisers would help improve the young leader’s image and compensate for her lack of experience in government.

“A strong team of advisers can boost the confidence of businesspeople, entrepreneurs, and investors. Their appointment reflects an attempt to make up for any weaknesses the young prime minister may have. The advisers are necessary, as she lacks political experience and has never run the country before,” Olarn said.

These seasoned analysts, he added, could also replace Thaksin in the role of building public confidence in Paetongtarn, deflecting accusations that he controls the prime minister.

There is no doubt that the five policy advisers are qualified for their task, given the long list of their credentials and accomplishments.

Some have been praised for "thinking outside the box" -- a crucial component of successful policymaking. However, Olarn doubts the success they achieved two decades ago will be relevant in today’s political and economic context, which has changed radically over the years.

“They may create confidence among some groups of people, but they are unlikely to receive the trust of younger generations. The question is, how well do young people know them, if at all,” Olarn said.

“There’s also the challenge that the Pheu Thai-led government and prime minister faced in finding qualified young people to become her advisers.”

The analyst reckons Thaksin had few choices when it came to finding suitable advisers for his daughter, so turned to his trusted men despite their image among young people as “outdated".

He believes Thaksin could likely find no suitable young candidates to serve as advisers. Also, younger advisers would be less likely to share Thaksin’s opinion on government policies than the five senior aides.

Olarn expects Pheu Thai to appoint more advisory teams covering different areas of expertise to support the premier.

As for concerns that Paetongtarn may bow to the five senior advisers due to her young age and lack of experience, the analyst said she needed to be “diplomatic” to avoid such problems.

“She should consult with these experienced advisers, but take responsibility for the final decision,” the academic said.

The chief adviser

Pansak, the PM’s chief adviser on government policy, is the oldest among the five men, at 81. He is an expert in economic matters and international relations.

He earned a bachelor’s in international law from the University of London, before starting his career at Krungthai Bank.

He later shifted to media, working first as a reporter for the English-language newspaper Bangkok World, then founding the monthly magazine “Jaturat” (Square) in 1970, which turned into a weekly newspaper five years later.

His left-leaning weekly was closed down after the October 1976 military coup and Pansak, as editor, was flung behind bars for “being a threat to society”. He was later freed, reportedly after an appeal by the US government.

After being released, Pansak left the country to live in the US for over two years before returning to Thailand.

In 1988, when the Chatichai Choonhavan government took office, Pansak accepted an offer to lead the PM’s team of advisers, which included young technocrats and scholars of several disciplines.

Legendary team of advisers

The team was dubbed the “Phitsanulok House advisers” in reference to the location of their office in the prime minister’s official residence.

They were credited with initiating the Chatchai government’s celebrated policy of “turning battlefields into marketplaces” to aid reconstruction of Thailand’s neighbours after years of civil war.

Other members of the team – most in their 30s at the time – included Sukhumbhand Paribatra, Narongchai Akrasanee, Borwornsak Uwanno, and Surakiart Sathirathai.

Chatichai’s son, Kraisak Choonhavan, served as the team’s head researcher, and joined other team members in going on to take a greater role in Thai politics and subsequent governments.

Kraisak, who later became a senator and Democrat MP, once confided that his father had told him to gather a team of advisers because he did not trust the bureaucrats and ministers from coalition partners.

Kraisak called the Phitsanulok House advisers “independent thinkers who do not go with the flow” and said they had previously lacked the opportunity to use their wisdom in formulating government policies.

He said the team often clashed with ministers from coalition parties, especially if their policy proposals threatened these politicians' benefits.

The legendary team of advisers disbanded when Chatichai’s government was ousted in a military coup in February 1991.

The coup-makers’ National Peace Keeping Council accused the team of colluding with the prime minister to rule the country via a “parliamentary dictatorship”.

Observers believe that Paetongtarn’s five-man advisory panel has been modelled after the powerful Phitsanulok House team.

Except this time the team members are not young technocrats and scholars trusted by the PM’s son, but rather senior strategists close to the PM’s father.

Thaksin’s loyalists

As PM Thaksin's economic policy adviser from 2001-2006, Pansak was credited with the “dual-track” economic development policy known as Thaksinomics.

Some former members of the Phitsanulok House team also became Thaksin’s advisers.

Pansak also took an advisory role in the governments of Samak Sundaravej and Yingluck Shinawatra – both described as Thaksin’s proxies.

Under the Pheu Thai-led government of Paetongtarn's predecessor, Srettha Thavisin, Pansak served as an adviser in the national soft-power strategy committee, of which Paetongtarn was deputy chair.

Pansak’s deputy in the panel is 67-year-old Surapong. He served as information and communication technology (ICT) minister in Thaksin’s government and as deputy PM and finance minister in Samak’s administration. He was also a member of Srettha’s soft-power panel.

Dr Surapong earned a bachelor’s in medicine at Mahidol University and a masters’ in business administration at Chulalongkorn University.

Before entering politics, he was a lecturer of medicine and deputy dean at Mahidol’s Faculty of Medicine.

In August 2016, the Supreme Court’s Criminal Division for Holders of Political Positions sentenced Surapong to a year in prison for malfeasance for approving revisions in a concession agreement awarded to Shin Satellite Plc.

He was serving as ICT minister at the time, and Shin Satellite was owned by the Shinawatra family.

Supavud, 67, is an expert in economics and finance. He was executive managing director and head of research at Phatra Securities Plc. He is currently the NESDC chairman.

Tongthong, 69, served as permanent secretary of the Prime Minister’s Office under Thaksin’s younger sister, Yingluck Shinawatra.

An authority in Thailand’s cultural, religious and court history, Tongthong is a former dean of Chulalongkorn University’s Faculty of Law.

He served as legal adviser to then-PM Somchai Wongsawat, Thaksin’s brother-in-law, and also as an adviser to Paetongtarn’s predecessor, Srettha.

Former judge Pongthep, 68, served as justice minister under Thaksin and as deputy prime minister and education minister under Yingluck.

He was appointed Thaksin’s personal spokesman when the deposed premier was fighting corruption cases after his ouster.