THE SUSPICIONS WERE evident long before Thaksin Shinawatra made his public confession earlier this month. In a 45-minute radio address, the Thai billionaire turned Prime Minister said that he wanted his nation to become like Singapore.
For observers, all became clear - the authoritarian moves against critics since Mr Thaksin took power in January last year were based on the type of thinking Thais believed had fallen with military rule a decade ago.
Thais refer to those years as 'the dark ages', a time when the generals held the nation in an iron grip and freedom of speech was limited.
Mr Thaksin said he wanted Thailand to emulate not just the hi-tech ways of Singapore and Malaysia, but also to operate a similar system of government.
There is little new in an Asian leader admiring the so-called Singapore model of development. China's late leader, Deng Xiaoping, said he wanted to use Singapore as a model after a visit in 1978. In 1992, Deng called on his officials to learn from Singapore in ensuring social order by exercising strict management.
Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa has never publicly praised the SAR's biggest rival, but in interviews with American publications he has expressed admiration for its technological and economic advances. He has also identified its first prime minister and now Senior Minister, Lee Kuan Yew, along with Deng and former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher, as leaders he admired.