What kind of leaders do celebrities make?

Pavin Chachavalpongpun, The Nation, Asia News Network, Bangkok

The Feb. 6 poll, like any previous general election, is being fiercely contested by the nation's political parties. What makes this election different is the impressive list of celebrities, particularly those from the world of show business, who have registered their candidacies. They have vowed to work hard to improve the lives of people in their constituencies in the same way that they entertained them on the television and movie screen.

The emergence of celebrity politics has brought glamour and pomp to this year's election. Political parties have entered into an anxious race to recruit more celebrities as party candidates and for the campaigns.

Some old and new celebrity faces a hoping for a chance to play a new role as politicians. They expect to transform their movie- star fame into a platform to spread their political ideas. Yuranan "Sam" Phamornmontree and Danuporn "Brook" Punnakan of the Thai Rak Thai Party, Natthaya Daengbu-nga of the Democrats and Paornrat Yodnen and Janista "Bam" Liewchalermwong of Chat Thai all possess strong fan bases which could be used to boost their political popularity.

This kind of celebrity politics reveals a new direction for Thailand's political culture. Celebrities have become an asset, adding color to the scene, which is a break with the traditional pattern of godfather- or businessman-dominated politics. Some of them are Western educated and speak fluent English. They claim to represent a connection with certain generations, mostly the younger ones. For the old political hands, being associated with a celebrity makes them look a little more hip. The celebrities, meanwhile, can attract the media in droves, and media coverage permits them to get a political message across.

The strategy of nominating celebrities as candidates seems to fit well in Thai society. Thais regard celebrities as somehow being more likeable and respectable, which elevates celebrities into a kind of privileged class. They can easily exploit their special place in society to manipulate fans into casting ballots for them or their parties.

The initial concern of celebrity candidates is how to use their image to appeal to the public, not so much the issues facing the country or their political commitments. Still, the older generation of celebrities-turned-politicians proved that fame alone cannot prolong one's political life. A strong political determination is fundamental to the career of a successful politician.

In the wake of celebrity politics, a name-dropping syndrome is likely to emerge among soap-star candidates who trade their acting talents for public votes. This is problematic because the voters can hardly know the real people behind the guise of celebrity and are therefore not familiar with their political ideologies. They only really understand the hoopla in the entertainment world.

More essentially, the politics of the globalization era demands a country have competent politicians who can communicate with the outside world, adapt to the latest international changes and keep up with new techniques in the international economic show ground.

For example, celebrity politicians are expected to fully comprehend the impacts that the free-trade agreements that Thailand has been signing up for will have on their constituents. Do they have a grasp of this?

This question is not raised to cast doubt on the intelligence of Thai celebrities, but to emphasize that stardom should not be mistaken for political ingenuity. In the real world, out-takes are not allowed.

So far, the public and media responses to the new political role of celebrities have not been particularly helpful. Fans stormed into the Thai-Japanese Stadium to give moral support and flowers to their favorite actors. Some only wanted to rub shoulders and have photos taken with them. None paid enough attention to their ideas.

In the United States, where political leaders with celebrity backgrounds have proven to be successful in politics, a recent survey among federal employees showed that 98 percent of Americans confirmed that the political views of celebrities do not influence their voting habits.

In Thailand, however, the lower average level of political consciousness leaves the door open to celebrities looking to fill the public mind with gloss and glitter. The process follows a similar pattern to the old-style politicians who won votes with money.

In the days leading up to the election, the public can expect more head-to-head campaigning. Celebrity candidates have partaken in the general political trend of announcing their political determination by projecting political maturity and a feet-firmly- on-the-ground attitude; this is amusingly contradictory to the conventional practices of stardom.

The most difficult hurdle for the celebrities in the question of how to transform innate physical beauty into a useful gizmo to promote democratization and economic equality, and, in the name of young political forces everywhere, to reveal the old image of Thai politics as being archaic and obsolete.