Having failed to put up, Chavalit should shut up

Columnists, analysts, commentators and the occasional financier have all had their say about the current economic crisis in Thailand. Now it's the turn of politicians such as former Thai prime minister Chavalit Yongchaiyudh. The trouble with some former prime ministers is that they won't go away. They prefer to stick around and bedevil their successors. And that's exactly what Mr. Chavalit has been doing lately.

Mr. Chavalit claims that the current Thai government no longer commands the confidence of the electorate and that the voters want it to quit now. He opened a no-confidence debate in the Thai parliament yesterday by blaming (Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai's) government for the economic meltdown.

We can be sure that Mr. Chavalit's tirade was greeted with a sharp intake of breath by many in Thailand, especially those who remember that Mr. Chavalit, head of the New Aspiration Party, resigned as premier Nov. 7 under pressure from the public, businessmen and his coalition partners who blamed him for the country's economic problems.

Earlier this month, International Monetary Fund (IMF) managing director Michel Camdessus said the agency's directors strongly commended the current Thai authorities for resolutely implementing the IMF's economic program in very difficult circumstances.

This is not the first time in his political career that Mr. Chuan has been forced to endure insults heaped upon him by his opponents. Nor is it the first time that bemused observers in Thailand have been reminded of the old saying about the pot calling the kettle black.

-- The Hong Kong Standard