insights, ironies and idiosyncrasies in communication and design

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Tuesday 16 December 2008

Another one bites the dust.



I try as I can to keep the focus of this blog and not get drawn into other spheres of debate, but when into the arena of lies and skullduggery that is politics blasts its truthful way a piece of communication most apt and cutting I can no longer refrain – even if I'm about two years late in taking note.

As yet another Thai prime minister is jilted, reminded I am of the poignant and powerful imagery of Thai Privy Councilor Prem Tinsulanonda. On the eve of the 2006 Coup d'état, Prem revealed piecemeal in an interview to the Far Eastern Economic Review the elements of an analogy that explains part of the paradigm that is the constitutional monarchy of the Kingdom of Thailand. (And one that shines a great amount of light on the response – or rather lack of – to the recent airport siege.) In this revealing interview, Prem likens the Thai prime minister to a jockey; the Thai government to a horse and in doing so shows a deep and true understanding of his brand, Thailand, an understanding that most brand managers in this part of the world can only dream of.

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