One of the many innovations of the Thaksin era is books. Books about Thaksin, that is. You can search in vain for any more than the odd felicitation volume or journalist’s quick knock-off about any previous Thai premier. But ever since Sorakon Adulyanon of Matichon produced the first serious account of Thaksin back in 1993, the books have kept coming, and now are reaching flood proportions. Many simply collect and edit the great leader’s own voluminous output of words. But others are more interesting. A few months ago, Surathian Chakthranont produced one of the most fascinating. Because he’s an insider.

He is one of the select group – including Surapong Suebwonglee, Prommin Lertsuriyadej, and Phumtham Wetchayachai – who walked out of the jungle camps of the Communist Party of Thailand and into the capitalist empire of the Shinawatra group (with a little wandering in-between). His conversion seems to have been absolute. On first meeting Thaksin, he was dazzled to be in the presence of someone who, in a mere handful of years, had generated a fortune which “would formerly have taken three generations”.

Most of the members of this political-spectrum-crossing cadre now work in the political department of the Shinawatra empire, namely, the party or the Cabinet. But Surathian’s role is to look after the crown jewels. He runs SC Asset, the company which manages many of the scores of office buildings and hundreds of land plots which the family has amassed over the years.

He is also no mean writer. In the 1970s student movement, Surathian’s great skill was as a pamphleteer. In his book, he shows he is still a dab hand with the pen.

Beginning with the dramatic title he gives his book: The Minute That Changed History. In fact, maybe it should be translated as “minutes” because there seem to be a few. The first of these is the minute that Thai Rak Thai’s election victory was confirmed. In analysing this moment, Surathian shows he has not forgotten his education in political economy. He sees it as more than simply an electoral victory, but a triumph of capitalism. “In the minute which changed history, Thai politics progressed to a major turning point. It was the first time that the big capitalist group, mostly from new industries which emerged in the past decade, directly seized the power of the state. Instead of playing politics by covertly providing support in the background for middlemen politicians as in the past, this new capitalist group seized the power to make state policy from the old bureaucrats and technocrats who had held this power for a long time.”

Indeed, Surathian even spoofs the title of the leftist bible of the 1970s, Jit Phumisak’s Real Face of Thai Feudalism. He calls Thaksin and Thai Rak Thai “the New Face of Thai Capitalism”. And he predicts that this triumphant capitalism will move rapidly to the highest stage of capitalism, namely imperialism: “This new face of Thai capitalism is also a step towards leadership of politics and trade in the Asian region, in place of the old regional leaders who have faded away. A Thai empire of commerce should return again within a few years.” Remember, this is an insider account.

The second Minute That Changed History is the moment that the judges of the Constitutional Court pronounced Thaksin innocent in the asset declaration case. Surathian had been closely involved in preparing Thaksin’s defence. In a brilliant passage of atmospheric writing, he paints the case as a contest between the future and the past. He describes the offices of the National Counter Corruption Commission as cramped, old-fashioned, and dreary. He sketches the apparently aimless confusion which is the standard of bureaucratic culture. He uses a word for the NCCC officials (khun nang) which makes them leftovers from the feudal order. He contrasts all this with the soaring towers and vaulting ambitions of the Shinawatra empire.

He also presents the case as an opposition (i.e. Democrat) plot. The content of the charges are treated as totally irrelevant and simply not mentioned. It was just dirty politics or worse. In this presentation, the 1997 Constitution’s idea of independent bodies serving as tribunes of the people by monitoring the tricky activities of politicians and their business friends is turned absolutely on its head. Rather, the independent bodies are the remnants of the old feudal-bureaucratic order who “steal power away from the people” and try to prevent the people having their own chosen leader.

In his Matichon column last week, Kasian Tejapira argued that the conversion of this group from ardent socialism to ardent capitalism makes complete sense. They are people who attracted by the potential of a strong state to change society. They once liked the socialist party state, and now they like the capitalist party state. But there are also signs that, deep down, Surathian has some nagging fears. The back half of the book is all about Surathian’s ideas on business management. It includes this observation.

A successful manager “will capture the hearts of the majority so that all the power and authority will fall completely in his hands to the point it will be difficult for any system to oppose his power or check how it is exercised. Such absolute power has a tendency to eat away at that person’s good qualities. He will have reached a highly dangerous point, half way between a major statesman and a terrible dictator. Then one day in the future, if he is not an excellent manager who always commands respect, he will metamorphise into a bad manager who is a threat to his organisation, and will ultimately have to be driven out.”

Remember, this is an insider account.