February 24, 2020 (Tony Cartalucci - ATN) - Future Forward's disbanding came as no surprise. The party functioned openly as a proxy of billionaire fugitive Thaksin Shinawatra - with its founder and leader nepotist billionaire Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit all but admitting as much.
The party engaged openly in criminal activity including a blatant donation made by Thanathorn to the party in direct violation of Thai election laws. Thanathorn would even admit on several occasions that the donation he referred to as a "loan" would likely never be paid back by the party.
Despite this blatant law-breaking - Thanathorn, his party, and many in the media are attempting to depict the inevitable disbanding of Future Forward as "anti-democratic" and "unjust."
Figleaf of Democracy
Future Forward's party headquarters was located literally next door to Thaksin's Pheu Thai Party on Phetchaburi Road, with Future Forward and Pheu Thai holding joint press conferences following the 2019 general election.
Their policies centered solely around ousting the military-linked Palang Pracharath Party and returning Thaksin's political allies to political power. Thanathorn himself would vow to return exiled Thaksin to Thailand.
Despite denying Thanathorn and his Future Forward political party were nominees of Thaksin Shinawatra and his Pheu Thai Party prior to the elections - Pheu Thai would literally nominate Thanathorn as their prime minister candidate following the 2019 general election. This is despite Future Forward coming in distant third in terms of popular vote - 1.6 million votes behind Pheu Thai and 2.1 million fewer votes than Palang Pracharath.
It is difficult to understand how nominating Thanathorn for PM - whose party came in distant third - is "democratic" or representative of the majority when clearly Thai voters were interested in neither Thanathorn nor his Future Forward Party.
Future Forward's poor performance at the polls despite its billionaire founder's deep pockets, foreign-backing, media ties, and his likewise influential relationship with the much larger and more established Pheu Thai Party - speaks volumes to what Thai voters really want and how disingenuous claims are made by Future Forward and Pheu Thai are that they in any way represent democracy rather than simply use democracy as a figleaf to hide behind.
Thailand is Tired of Thaksin-Thanathorn & Company
Indeed - Future Forward and their Pheu Thai allies are merely an extension of a nearly two decade-long political battle between Thailand's establishment and the Western-backed political forces of Thaksin Shinawatra. It is a battle Thaksin and his political allies have clearly lost - with Pheu Thai itself struggling in the last election and ultimately losing to Palang Pracharath who formed the largest and most powerful political coalition - something Pheu Thai had been able to previously do consistently since 2001.
While critics claim the 2019 election was "stolen" - it is clear to honest analysts examining actual facts that Pheu Thai's popularity has been in deep decline particularly following 2009 and 2010 street violence organized by Pheu Thai and its political allies.
Future Forward was meant as a rebrand of Pheu Thai and its ultra-violent notorious street front - the United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD) or "red shirts."
Despite well-funded efforts to accomplish this rebranding - Future Forward-led rallies still feature mostly red shirts utterly incapable of disguising the knuckle-dragging politics they represent - and the Thai public can see it. While it is true that many honest Thai voters were lured in by Future Forward campaign rhetoric - few still fail to see what Future Forward now clearly represents - an extension of Thaksin Shinawatra, his Pheu Thai Party and red shirt street mobs - and their agenda of dividing and destroying Thailand in pursuit of self-serving political power and wealth.
While there is nothing perfect about the current ruling government of Thailand - it has accomplished one essential goal sought after by the vast majority of Thai voters - political and economic stability.
Gone is the street violence and economic plundering that plagued Thailand during the rise and fall of Thaksin Shinawatra. With Thaksin and his allies whittled down to loud but mostly contained extremists - the prospects of violence and disruptions seen in 2009 and 2010 are remote - which is exactly why millions more voted for Palang Pracharath instead of Pheu Thai and Future Forward.
While Thanathorn and Future Forward vowed to fight for Thailand through other means after the party's dissolution - they have instead merely continued complaining about and targeting the current ruling government.
Despite possessing immense financial and political resources - Thanathorn has avoided any sort of pragmatic committment to Thailand and problems facing ordinary people - and is instead attempting to recruit ordinary people to fight on behalf of his own pursuit of political power.
Thanathorn has fully revealed himself as little more than another "Thaksin" - or worse still - merely an extension of Thaksin and his political ambitions poorly disguised through public relations campaigns and well-funded marketing as a slick, "new," and "progressive" political movement.
With literal red shirts lurking in Future Forward's mobs the shoddy mask of "new" and "progressive" is already slipping off.
Thanathorn - a billionaire with direct connections both to Thaksin Shinawatra himself and his foreign sponsors - surely possesses the capacity to disrupt Thai political and economic stability - but as Thaksin and Pheu Thai itself learned the hard way - this is not the path toward victory - but rather a means of accelerating Thanathorn and Future Forward's permanent decline and political irrelevance.
Future Forward has already tasted that decline and irrelevance during polling following the 2019 general election in which previously won seats ended up in the hands of its rivals. Future Forward supporters have been quickly disillusioned by the party's single-minded and obsessive desire for power at the expense of pursuing or investing in any actual policy beneficial to the people who voted for the party.
Platitudes like "democracy" and "freedom" mean little to voters who face genuine problems ranging from work and education to health and infrastructure - something Palang Pracharath has addressed. While the current ruling government's performance and policies are open to debate - what is not up to debate is how Future Forward and its larger partner - Pheu Thai - have sidelined serious interest in any of these real issues in pursuit of undermining the government and placing themselves into power.
Street protests will only serve to complicate the lives of ordinary Thais who have already seen Future Forward and Pheu Thai's lack of interest regarding voters' concerns. This lack of interest is unlikely to change should Future Forward and Pheu Thai manage to oust the current government and the public knows it.
Future Forward's goals are in and of themselves unsustainable and unachievable. They are also highly unpopular with the public who see past the party's disingenuous platitudes and recognize the party's true agenda as an extension of Thaksin Shinawatra's disruptive brand of politics - a brand of politics increasingly rejected by Thai voters which led to Palang Pracharath's victory in 2019 in the first place.
The party engaged openly in criminal activity including a blatant donation made by Thanathorn to the party in direct violation of Thai election laws. Thanathorn would even admit on several occasions that the donation he referred to as a "loan" would likely never be paid back by the party.
Despite this blatant law-breaking - Thanathorn, his party, and many in the media are attempting to depict the inevitable disbanding of Future Forward as "anti-democratic" and "unjust."
Figleaf of Democracy
Future Forward's party headquarters was located literally next door to Thaksin's Pheu Thai Party on Phetchaburi Road, with Future Forward and Pheu Thai holding joint press conferences following the 2019 general election.
Their policies centered solely around ousting the military-linked Palang Pracharath Party and returning Thaksin's political allies to political power. Thanathorn himself would vow to return exiled Thaksin to Thailand.
Despite denying Thanathorn and his Future Forward political party were nominees of Thaksin Shinawatra and his Pheu Thai Party prior to the elections - Pheu Thai would literally nominate Thanathorn as their prime minister candidate following the 2019 general election. This is despite Future Forward coming in distant third in terms of popular vote - 1.6 million votes behind Pheu Thai and 2.1 million fewer votes than Palang Pracharath.
It is difficult to understand how nominating Thanathorn for PM - whose party came in distant third - is "democratic" or representative of the majority when clearly Thai voters were interested in neither Thanathorn nor his Future Forward Party.
Future Forward's poor performance at the polls despite its billionaire founder's deep pockets, foreign-backing, media ties, and his likewise influential relationship with the much larger and more established Pheu Thai Party - speaks volumes to what Thai voters really want and how disingenuous claims are made by Future Forward and Pheu Thai are that they in any way represent democracy rather than simply use democracy as a figleaf to hide behind.
Thailand is Tired of Thaksin-Thanathorn & Company
Indeed - Future Forward and their Pheu Thai allies are merely an extension of a nearly two decade-long political battle between Thailand's establishment and the Western-backed political forces of Thaksin Shinawatra. It is a battle Thaksin and his political allies have clearly lost - with Pheu Thai itself struggling in the last election and ultimately losing to Palang Pracharath who formed the largest and most powerful political coalition - something Pheu Thai had been able to previously do consistently since 2001.
While critics claim the 2019 election was "stolen" - it is clear to honest analysts examining actual facts that Pheu Thai's popularity has been in deep decline particularly following 2009 and 2010 street violence organized by Pheu Thai and its political allies.
Future Forward was meant as a rebrand of Pheu Thai and its ultra-violent notorious street front - the United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD) or "red shirts."
Despite well-funded efforts to accomplish this rebranding - Future Forward-led rallies still feature mostly red shirts utterly incapable of disguising the knuckle-dragging politics they represent - and the Thai public can see it. While it is true that many honest Thai voters were lured in by Future Forward campaign rhetoric - few still fail to see what Future Forward now clearly represents - an extension of Thaksin Shinawatra, his Pheu Thai Party and red shirt street mobs - and their agenda of dividing and destroying Thailand in pursuit of self-serving political power and wealth.
While there is nothing perfect about the current ruling government of Thailand - it has accomplished one essential goal sought after by the vast majority of Thai voters - political and economic stability.
Gone is the street violence and economic plundering that plagued Thailand during the rise and fall of Thaksin Shinawatra. With Thaksin and his allies whittled down to loud but mostly contained extremists - the prospects of violence and disruptions seen in 2009 and 2010 are remote - which is exactly why millions more voted for Palang Pracharath instead of Pheu Thai and Future Forward.
While Thanathorn and Future Forward vowed to fight for Thailand through other means after the party's dissolution - they have instead merely continued complaining about and targeting the current ruling government.
Despite possessing immense financial and political resources - Thanathorn has avoided any sort of pragmatic committment to Thailand and problems facing ordinary people - and is instead attempting to recruit ordinary people to fight on behalf of his own pursuit of political power.
Thanathorn has fully revealed himself as little more than another "Thaksin" - or worse still - merely an extension of Thaksin and his political ambitions poorly disguised through public relations campaigns and well-funded marketing as a slick, "new," and "progressive" political movement.
With literal red shirts lurking in Future Forward's mobs the shoddy mask of "new" and "progressive" is already slipping off.
Thanathorn - a billionaire with direct connections both to Thaksin Shinawatra himself and his foreign sponsors - surely possesses the capacity to disrupt Thai political and economic stability - but as Thaksin and Pheu Thai itself learned the hard way - this is not the path toward victory - but rather a means of accelerating Thanathorn and Future Forward's permanent decline and political irrelevance.
Future Forward has already tasted that decline and irrelevance during polling following the 2019 general election in which previously won seats ended up in the hands of its rivals. Future Forward supporters have been quickly disillusioned by the party's single-minded and obsessive desire for power at the expense of pursuing or investing in any actual policy beneficial to the people who voted for the party.
Platitudes like "democracy" and "freedom" mean little to voters who face genuine problems ranging from work and education to health and infrastructure - something Palang Pracharath has addressed. While the current ruling government's performance and policies are open to debate - what is not up to debate is how Future Forward and its larger partner - Pheu Thai - have sidelined serious interest in any of these real issues in pursuit of undermining the government and placing themselves into power.
Street protests will only serve to complicate the lives of ordinary Thais who have already seen Future Forward and Pheu Thai's lack of interest regarding voters' concerns. This lack of interest is unlikely to change should Future Forward and Pheu Thai manage to oust the current government and the public knows it.
Future Forward's goals are in and of themselves unsustainable and unachievable. They are also highly unpopular with the public who see past the party's disingenuous platitudes and recognize the party's true agenda as an extension of Thaksin Shinawatra's disruptive brand of politics - a brand of politics increasingly rejected by Thai voters which led to Palang Pracharath's victory in 2019 in the first place.
