Tuesday, October 03, 2006
More on the Thai puzzle
A Thai farmer on why he supported ousted PM Thaksin Shinawatra:
Thaksin had promised to increase the price of raw milk from about 12 baht to 16 baht per unit. It was to be done by next month, but Thaksin has gone now. Thaksin gave us the chance to have so much. His "30 baht" healthcare scheme for all citizens gave villagers access to public health services at low cost. Before Thaksin's government, there were no healthcare policies for people at the grassroots. There was social security for salary men in factories and offices. Patrawat's family set up a milk business with money from credit schemes
So when we had to see the doctor, we had to pay a lot of money. Today, we only pay 30 baht ($0.80/£0.50). Because of Thaksin's credit schemes for people in agriculture, my father could borrow 30,000 baht to develop a cow milk business. From the funds that came to our village, our community managed to build a water supply for every household in the village. There are only 100 houses here. Their policies helped us so much.
More blogs about politics.
