Truck and Barter: What are They Thinking

May 23, 2004

What are They Thinking

By Bob

I remember seeing this earlier in the week, but forgot about it until perusing the Bangkok Post. Here is some info:

BANGKOK, Thailand -- The Liverpool soccer club agreed in principle Tuesday to sell a 30 percent stake to Thailand.

"In principle, they agreed to give it to us and now we are working on details," Thailand Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said. "It has moved forward in a good way ... we still have to work out the details.

"By June, things will probably be concluded officially."

This is probably the most asinine thing I have ever seen a politician do. Thailand is not a rich country; if, say, Singapore were to announce a bid for Manchester Untied, it would be funny. Who knows, maybe they'll get a nice return on the investment and in the end put more resources into education and such, but I doubt it. It's not as if this is a local team, so you can't really compare it to the Green Bay Packer deal. The economics of this are dubious, Thaksin has done O.K. for Thailand, but come on.

Mark Matthews, if you are intrested in SouthEast Asian, mainly Thai, Equities, his is the only place to go, offers a different take:

People who think this is a bad move miss the point.

Emperor Augustus recognized the way to get the people "on side" was to give them "bread and circuses".

That’s why municipal and state governments build expensive football and baseball stadiums. It’s fun to go to the ballgame. That’s why the Olympics happen. And that's what Thaksin's doing with Liverpool. The only strange thing is the circus is in so far away. But I hear part of the deal is to bring them here for part of the year and use them as a base to further sports in Thailand.

Of course, further in the posts, he shows he's probably right:

“ABAC Poll, a survey conducted by Assumption University, shows positive result from its research on Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra’s plan to buy a 30 percent stake in Liverpool soccer club, that hopes to take Thai football players to the international level. “Our research shows that 83.2 percent of voters have agreed with the plan to buy a stake in Liverpool,” said Abac Poll chairman Srisak Jamornmarn.”
A summer election

It seems like it is a brilliant move politcally for Thaksin. But 83.2 percent of the voters like the idea? I could make some nasty comments here, but I'll refrain.

Of course it could be worse, he could be proposing a massive new entitlement. This money could be a much cheaper way of keeping the people happy than a nationalized healthcare system, presciption drug benefit, welfare programs, social security and education. Do we get these ideas because the people aren't well-educated or are the people not well-educated because of these ideas?

Posted at May 23, 2004 04:41 PM

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