BANGKOK – After two months of sustained and disruptive anti-government protests, hating protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban has become more popular than hating Thaksin Shinawatra among expatriates in Thailand who don’t know anything about Thailand, according to new research data.
Surveys of Thaivisa.com forums, politically-minded Facebook pages, and the comment sites of Thailand’s two English language newspapers show that the People’s Democratic Reform Committee leader has finally taken the top spot as the Thai person most hated by foreigners who lack facts or research, ending a 9-year run by the former PM.
“Suthep has finally achieved what Sondhi couldn’t, which is to provide an easier and more irresistible target for generally uninformed foreigners who just like to bitch about things constantly,” said Sureeya Wittuskya, a lead researcher at Gartner Thailand which conducted the study. “Even when Sondhi shut down the airports in 2008, he only achieved a 39% hatred rating among the low-IQ expat demographic. What Suthep has achieved is remarkable.”
According to Sureeya, the combination of the disruptive nature of the protests and the sheer hate-ability of Suthep’s smiling face proved to be a winning formula for seizing the imagination of white men who don’t read history books. Additionally, the blowing of whistles by protesters provided an x-factor by disturbing many expat alcoholics who were trying to sleep off hangovers.
Thaksin-hating fatigue might have also played a role, as the fugitive PM has made fewer appearances in media since the election of his sister as PM, causing him to fade from the consciousness of foreigners who are largely unable to remember last week.
Nevertheless, the displacement of Thaksin Shinawatra, whose square head and punchline-friendly name (“Toxin”) was long regarded as the perfect target for displaced bitterness from downwardly mobile non-intellectuals from Europe and North America.
“One of the most amazing data sets we found was that Suthep was now being compared to Hitler 15% more than Thaksin on Thaivisa forums,” she said. “We never thought Thaksin would lose the Hitler crown among these grammar-challenged opinionates, but the data are clear. We have a new champion villain for lazy, angry people.”
Asked whether Suthep could challenge Thaksin’s 9-year reign, Sureeya was doubtful.
“Suthep’s just a pawn, Thaksin is actually a player.” She explained. “Then again, the people we’re studying don’t know the difference.”
