Thaksin and bak kut teh: What's the stir about?

The Straits Times, January 19, 2007
By Tan Seng Chye, for The Straits Times


A FRIEND suggested having bak kut teh, the popular Chinese pork rib soup, for lunch a couple of days ago. I asked: 'Where?'

'The coffee shop in Rangoon Road Thaksin went to.'

'Thaksin?'

'Didn't you know that Thaksin was in Singapore and had the famous Rangoon Road Bak Kut Teh?'

'No.'

I have been on vacation the past week and have not kept up with the news. My friend shoved into my hands the copy of The Straits Times he was carrying. The front-page article read: 'Thailand cancels invite to S'pore over Thaksin visit.'

The Thai government had suspended the nine-year-old Singapore-Thailand Civil Service Exchange Programme (CSEP), cancelled the CSEP Coordinating Committee Meeting scheduled to be held later this month in Bangkok, and retracted an invitation to Foreign Minister George Yeo to visit Bangkok for this meeting.

Our Ambassador in Bangkok, Mr Peter Chan, had also been summoned to the Thai Foreign Ministry to receive a demarche, a formal protest note.

I found it bizarre and puzzling. At the same time, I was concerned. Concerned and puzzled because these are two regional partners which have enjoyed very close relations for decades irrespective of who the PM or foreign minister was in the other country. It has been a relationship based on solid foundations of mutual respect and cooperation and not on personalities.

Why did the relationship suddenly take a dip over a private visit by a former prime minister?

In the end, my friend and I did not go to Rangoon Road. I dashed home to plough through back copies of The Straits Times for news on Mr Thaksin's sojourn in Singapore.

There was a story about Mr Thaksin's visit to the bak kut teh shop and how his entourage occupied three tables. Nothing much else about his stay in Singapore.

I went online. What a contrast! The Thai newspapers were in a frenzy, carrying numerous reports about Mr Thaksin's visit in Singapore. Some even asserted that he was given VIP treatment by the Singapore Government. The reports speculated wildly about the purpose of the visit, quoting as usual 'unnamed sources'.

Some online chatter went so far as to suggest that Mr Thaksin had visited Singapore to prepare to buy back Shin Corp shares from Temasek, and to convey to Singapore that he would return to power in future.

Why all this excitement?

As I delved further into the Thai newspapers, I found to my surprise that much was made of Mr Thaksin's private meeting with Deputy Prime Minister S. Jayakumar. I recalled Thai Foreign Minister Nitya Pibulsonggram saying that Mr Thaksin would be meeting DPM Jayakumar in Singapore and the meeting was understood to be 'unofficial'. The same article also quoted a Singapore Foreign Ministry spokesman saying that Mr Thaksin had asked to meet Prof Jayakumar, who is an old friend. The meeting is purely social and private, the spokesman added.

So what was the big fuss over a private and social meeting between two old buddies? Having served as a diplomat in Bangkok, I was well aware that DPM Jayakumar and Mr Thaksin are old friends. They had known each other even before Mr Thaksin became PM. They have always found time to catch up whenever they visited each other's country. Thai diplomats would be well aware of this. From the media reports, it was clear that Singapore had informed the Thai government about the meeting.

So why such strong reactions to a private visit by a former leader?

I am sure that many Singaporeans, like myself, view the developments as unnecessary and puzzling. It is not unusual for a former head of government to visit Singapore privately. This is not the first time, and for sure it will not be the last. Singapore is an open society and welcomes foreign visitors. We treat every tourist the same way. How could Singapore turn away Mr Thaksin, who essentially came to Singapore as a tourist? His status as the former head of government does not change this fact. That Mr Thaksin is now in exile should also not be a factor to turn him away.

This is not the first time that a foreign politician visited Singapore when no longer in office.

Some may remember former Thai prime minister Thanom Kittikachorn. After the 1973 coup, he left Thailand and spent two years in Singapore. While here, he received relatives and friends. Mr Thanom went back to Thailand in 1976 and became a monk.

In 1985, former Thai military general and former Speaker of the Senate Manoonkrit Roopkachorn launched a coup attempt, which failed. He too stayed in Singapore for a few weeks, before going to then West Germany to live in exile.

From elsewhere, former Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos' eldest daughter, Maria Imelda Josefa Romualdez Marcos (commonly known as Imee Marcos), lived in Singapore in the early 1990s after spending some years in Europe.

She came to Singapore to seek peace and solitude. She and her children stayed in Singapore until she returned to the Philippines in 1998, when she was subsequently elected to Congress.

Apart from these personalities, there have been many other foreign politicians and their family members coming by Singapore for all sorts of reasons.

Singapore is an open and cosmopolitan country. This is something unique Singapore offers to people from all over the world. People from many different cultures and backgrounds can come here, live here, be comfortable here and enjoy, integrate into our society.

Singapore strives to be impartial, independent and neutral, with a clear set of laws and policies. Singapore does not discriminate against any foreign visitor. So long as foreigners who want to come to Singapore are not on the run from any criminal charge in their countries, respect our laws, and do not use Singapore as a base to engage in politics in their countries, there is no reason for us to turn them away.

It is important for us to have such an open environment, and to be a safe haven for law-abiding visitors from all over the world, like Switzerland.

I have a great fondness for Thailand where I served for many years. It is a great country filled with great people. There are many more potential areas of cooperation between our two countries and with our other Asean friends.

My hope is that good sense will prevail and bilateral relations will soon return to an even keel.

Tan Seng Chye is a senior fellow at the Rajaratnam School of International Studies, formerly known as the Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies. He was Singapore's ambassador to Thailand from 1988 to 1990.



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NO DISCRIMINATION AGAINST VISITORS

Singapore strives to be impartial, independent and neutral, with a clear set of laws and policies. Singapore does not discriminate against any foreign visitor. So long as foreigners who want to come to Singapore are not on the run from any criminal charge in their countries, respect our laws, and do not use Singapore as a base to engage in politics in their countries, there is no reason for us to turn them away.