Chapter Ninety-Seven: The Storm in Bangkok III Conclave
Labor Day on May 1 is an official holiday, and it is a very good opportunity for the Thai government to breathe a sigh of relief. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ļ½ļ½ļ½Uļ½Eć Of course, this is an opportunity not for the baht emergency, but for the Thai cabinet and Prime Minister Chawalit, who are increasingly blocking the door of protesters and news media.
Chawalit Yongchaiyu is a talent, but only in the military. Chawalit graduated from the Royal Thai Military Academy in 1953, studied at the Army Staff College and the Communications College in 1963, and studied at the U.S. Army Communications College and the General Staff College in 1964.
He is undoubtedly a talent in military terms, but in the face of the current financial crisis in Thailand, he is at a loss. With the passage of time, the pressure of the depreciation of the Thai baht has increased, and in the face of the doubts and inquiries of the Thai king, and more and more political movements, even he, a military politician who controls the three armed forces, is powerless.
Tragically, on 16 November 1996, the New Hope Party won a parliamentary majority and was appointed as the 22nd Prime Minister by the King on 25 November 1996 with the support of the National Development Party, the Social Action Party, the Thai Civic Party, Seridhamma and Masscitizen. However, at the very beginning of his tenure as prime minister, he was doomed to tragedy.
"Ladies and gentlemen, you are all elite talents that I have personally selected, and I want you to come up with an equation for the current situation, rather than sitting in an office and wasting taxpayers' money by doing nothing." At 8 p.m. Bangkok time, in a luxury villa in the suburbs of Chawalit, the cabinet members came to the prime minister's private villa to discuss countermeasures to the current serious situation in Thai baht.
On May 1, Labor Day, Chawalit gave himself a holiday to escape the growing opposition. And the reason why the night is chosen is because the night can avoid the eyes and eyeballs of the news media, you must know that the current political figures in this room may have been the choice of the people of the whole country a few months ago, but now they are street rats.
"Mr. Prime Minister, there is no need for our Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperation to come!"
Chawari glanced at the Minister of Agriculture and Cooperation, scolded fiercely in his heart, and ignored him unhappily, the military and civilians have always been in dire straits in the Thai government. The current situation really only needs the Minister of Finance Hayashi Rili, the Governor of the Central Bank of China Talisaa, and the Minister of Commerce Na Longcai, or some of the doctors and professors invited by themselves, to solve their doubts.
"Minister Lin, as the Minister of Finance, tell me what you think!" Chawalit was unhappy with the response of the Ministry of Finance and the central bank in the past few months, but he really had no one to use.
"Prime Minister, as long as there is enough foreign exchange funds, I am confident that I can stabilize the exchange rate of the Thai baht and let European and American investors return home." Lin Rili is a scholar, but when he is in a high position, his words are bloody.
"Well, I believe that if you can work together, we will definitely defeat European and American capital and become heroes in the eyes of the people of the whole country." Chawari said excitedly, smiling, waving his hands to encourage the cabinet members present.
"Hehe......"
Many of the people present sneered, they are all highly educated talents, but they are not reckless people like Chawari. If you can borrow enough dollars, even a fool can keep the baht. The question is, can you borrow foreign currency?
Chavali saw that his words of encouragement had a mediocre response, and his heart was very angry. Without saying a word, he walked over to the military group and said coldly, "We were elected by the people, and I hope that you will come up with a detailed plan today, otherwise no one will come up with this gate!" ā
In Thailand, the military clique and the civilian clique have always been two very opposing forces, and because of the struggle between the civilian clique and the military politician clique, this sniper war against the Thai baht by European and American capital will be won so easily.
Thailand has long been obsessed with military politics, and the rift between the military and civilian groups is widening, largely as a result of the mass killings of protesting students and civilians during Thailand's military-run period before the '70s.
Before the 70s, the king was absent from Thai political life, and was even completely expelled from the political center of Thailand for a time. It is also because of this that the Thai royal family after the 70s was keen on and controlled the army in an absolute way.
Although the king has control over the army, no one will have too much power, so he resigned from the military in March 1990 to become the deputy prime minister and defense minister, and in October of the same year, he founded the New Hope Party and served as its chairman.
The army belongs to the royal family, so in Thailand, the government is family, because Thailand emphasizes democracy, and who can play democracy and play family groups?
Most of the cabinet members sitting in the luxury villas of Chawalit are from the civilian group, about 20 or so. They got together in twos and threes, but they were not talking about any major national affairs, nor about stabilizing the exchange rate of the Thai baht, nor about Thailand's economic development.
They talk about where there is good food, which family has made a fortune, which family has married......
"Minister Lin, is it okay for the little son of the Chen family to come in?"
"Everything is on the mind of Minister Lao Wu, and my young master is fine."
"Minister Lin, I don't know if you can set up a matchmaker for the little girl and introduce the young master of the Chen family."
"Everything is easy to say, easy to say."
ā¦ā¦
"Minister Huang, a new store has recently opened at the south gate, which is very good and worth a visit!
"Oh, really!"
ā¦ā¦
In addition to talking about this group of literati and ink writers, he did not forget to complain that Chavali, a reckless man, actually used Indian tea to entertain you, didn't this guy know that the tea was still the soup on the mainland, which was clear in color, moisturized and sweet, mellow in smell, and long-lasting in aroma.
As for Chawalit's words, the literati group has always acted as the wind in their ears. If it weren't for the face problem, even in public I wanted to show Chavali a face. Chavali seems to be powerful, but he is just a puppet pushed by the royal family, a guy from a civilian background has no big power behind him, and the family plays him to death every minute.
After about an hour, some of the children of the family began to leave. And Chavali could only watch them leave, and he knew that if it weren't for the people who gave face, maybe there would be no one left in the room in half an hour or 10 minutes.
"Minister Lin, Minister Lin, please stay!" Chawari can let the others go, but Finance Minister Lin Illi, Central Bank Governor Talisaa, and Commerce Minister Na Longcai must do everything they can to keep them, otherwise if the current situation continues, they will not be far from stepping down.
Chawalit cherishes the position of prime minister, and no Thai government has served more than five years in the past, and he hopes that he can serve two terms, up to eight years, and even wants to form his own family.
In the army, it is the power of the royal family, and it is impossible for a guy in a high position to hold it for a long time, and the royal family has a strong grip on it. And the royal family wanted to invade the government, knowing that such a Chawalit resigned early from the post of supreme commander of the three armed forces and commander of the army in Thailand to enter politics, hoping to use the power of the royal family to form his own family in the government career.
Chawalit didn't want to leave the prime minister's throne, so he chose to keep Hayashi Hitachi. Lin Rili was recruited by the Chen family, and before that, Lin Rili was the eldest son of a poor family, and among all the cabinet members, Chawalit was sure to keep him, because only he still had sympathy for the poor people in his heart.
"If the Thai currency collapses, it will destroy the country's economic foundation, and then millions of innocent people will be forced into starvation and cold, which will be a catastrophe, and I believe that I, you, and everyone else do not want to see it. Minister Lim, I hope you will help me to stabilize the current urgent situation! Chava Lixiao tried to persuade Lin Rili with emotion and reason, and this passage was told to him by one of his staff members who had studied economics.
"Prime Minister, I know what you said. The only thing I can do at the moment is to use the central bank's internal foreign exchange reserves to operate in the foreign exchange spot and futures markets in order to stabilize the current precarious situation of the Thai baht. If the Prime Minister needs to really stabilize the baht, then I think we need to turn to some countries in Southeast Asia, Japan, and the International Monetary Fund. Lin Rili thought about it, and finally sympathized and told Chavali the best way he could think of.
Although Chawari doesn't have much ability, he has an absolutely smart head, otherwise how could he be appreciated by the royal family from a poor family to the seat of commander-in-chief of the three armed forces.
"Minister Lin, what are the chances that this method will succeed?"
"To tell you the truth, I don't know." Lin Rili looked out the window at his driver and made a vague gesture, he knew that he couldn't stay any longer, "Prime Minister, we have to resign ourselves to fate." ā
It is true that you can only resign yourself to fate, the current trend of the situation is no longer up to Lin Rili, Chawalit and others can decide, behind this financial crisis is political transactions and negotiations, just wait for the results of the political confrontation behind it, the future of the Thai baht can be predicted.
The political confrontation between the Thai royal family and the family, and the political confrontation between Europe and the United States and Thailand. According to history, the political confrontation between the Thai royal family and the family has come to an end, and the political confrontation between Europe and the United States and Thailand has only begun.
At present, it is not impossible to save the Thai baht, one is to take back the executive order of financial freedom in the early 90s, and the other is to require most of the assets of Thailand's major families and royal families to fight.
Unfortunately, neither approach works. In the '97 financial crisis, the mainland was able to escape because of the rigor of the mainland in the financial market, but Thailand has opened up the financial market, and if you want to take back the executive order again, then things are no longer simple. First, changing the order at a moment's notice will damage the government's credibility, and second, the European and American governments will certainly not allow the European and American governments to allow the financial freedom administrative order on the hundreds of billions of dollars of European and American capital. You know, since Black Monday, the European and American governments have been in a recession, and the country needs to borrow funds!
The second way to save the baht is even more impossible. The royal family and the family have always been opposed, it is impossible to cooperate, and the price to pay to deal with European and American capital is too great, and the two sides will not think about it at all.
Historically, the struggle between the family and the royal family ended with Chawalit's resignation on November 6, 1997, and the Chuan Ritsu faction taking over.