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The Economist’s Obituary for Samak Sundaravej
6 Dec2009
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The Economist is known for regularly publishing an obituary of a recently deceased person, and Thailand’s former PM Samak Sundaravej, who passed away on November 24th, is the subject of the latest one. Samak’s admirers will be reasonably pleased that he received a strangely kind treatment from the magazine. The obituary only barely touches upon his deplorable role in the 6 October massacre, whereas his relatively recent image as a ‘celebrity chef’ gets a lot more attention.
Of course, it might just be a convention that an obituary should refrain from bashing the dead. Nonetheless the piece also provides an insight into a broad range of other issues including Samak’s stint as Bangkok’s governor, his ardent conservatism, and his long-lasting populist appeal. It is well worth a read. Click here to read it in full.
StanG’s blog also has a post on the reasons behind Samak’s popularity.
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- In: Politics
- Tags: Samak Sundaravej, Thailand
3 Responses to The Economist’s Obituary for Samak Sundaravej
David Brown
December 6th, 2009 at 12:35 pm
“The obituary only barely touches upon his deplorable role in the 6 October massacre”
the actual article is quite strong on Samaks history in 76 and such past… I think you perhaps were after some emotion stirring words rather than the rational, dispassionate tone of the, to my mind, even handed and not too kind but balanced summary
do you want people to know the facts or to be converted?
StanG
December 8th, 2009 at 1:56 am
Nah, they even got the facts wrong:
“When pro-democracy demonstrations broke out after a coup in 1976, Mr Samak, in full spate on an army radio station, called the protesters communists and whipped up mobs to besiege Thammasat University, the centre of unrest.”
The coup happened AFTER the Thammasat massacre, not before.
Chunkton
January 2nd, 2010 at 12:23 pm
For some reason we all applaud the achievements of the dead regardless of how many they maim and kill. Hitler danceg a wicked fox trot, he will be surely missed. Stalin a brilliant bridge player, meetings will never be the same. Pol Pot, renowned for his flower arrangements, members are now lost.
You can murder, steal, loot, rape and plunder but your obituary will sing your praises as a great humanitarian and a loss to society. If you are planning this career path just don’t get caught while you are still alive.