SINGAPORE -- The different leadership styles of Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi in organizing relief and reconstruction after the Dec. 26 tsunami hold important lessons for managing peace, politics and stability in the region.
Thaksin adopted a hands-on CEO style approach. Taking charge of the relief operations, he was on the beaches of south Thailand within 24 hours after the disaster, comforting both foreign tourists and local residents, as well as overwhelmed Thai relief workers.
Thaksin had the military and police on the job right immediately. Later he took decisive measures, such as exhuming corpses for DNA tests and firing his metrological chief for failing to warn of the tsunami. This approach paid off as he and his Thai Rath Thai Party won an unprecedented victory in elections, gaining control of 376 of 500 seats in Parliament.