- Banjerd Singkaneti
Banjerd Singkaneti ( _th. บรรเจิด สิงคะเนติ) is Assistant Professor of Law at
Thammasat University and was a noted critic of Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. German-educated Banjerd compared Thaksin toAdolf Hitler and claimed that Hitler did more for Germany than Thaksin did for Thailand.Education and early career
Banjerd completed an LL.B. from Ramkhamhaeng University, an LL.M. in
public law fromThammasat University and a Magister Legum (LL.M.) Doktors der Rechte (Dr.jur.) fromRuhr-Universität Bochum inGermany . Banjerd returned to Thailand after completing his studies in Germany to teachadministrative law andconstitutional law atThammasat University . [ [http://law.tu.ac.th/Faculty_Teach/education_teach/education_teach1.htm Short biography from Thammasat University website] ]Criticism of Thaksin Shinawatra
Banjerd was a leader of the
People's Alliance for Democracy , a group active in 2006 in attempting to bring down the government of Thai Prime MinisterThaksin Shinawatra . [The Nation, [http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2006/04/08/headlines/headlines_30001288.php Fight not over yet: PAD] , 10 April 2006] He famously criticized Thaksin as being worse thanAdolf Hitler .The Embassy of Israel protested in a letter to the
Bangkok Post , the English-language newspaper which had published Banjerd's statement.After the coup
After the Thai military overthrew the government of Thaksin in a coup, the junta appointed Banjerd to the Asset Exemination Committee investigating corruption allegations against Thaksin and to the Constitution Drafting Committee drafting a new permanent constitution.
During the drafting process, he rejected western-style democracy in favor of traditional social customs. “I personally believe in social structure and administration through traditions and customs that we once had in small communities. It’s more real than western-style democracy because people rule by themselves. I firmly believe that we really need to look back into our village life,” he noted in an interview. [Bangkok Post, [http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&ct=res&cd=1&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bangkokpost.com%2FNews%2F26Feb2007_news13.php&ei=qzbjRb_CCaDqwQKuzfWmBg&usg=__pwM1VShZZ7cJYz_J0VZSGBR_sjc=&sig2=AjeQ-VQ3KTCs4iruVt3OxQ] , 26 February 2007]
References
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