There was much to fault in the way Mr Thaksin ran his country,both before and after he fled abroad to avoid a jail sentence for abuse of power.With support from a poor,rural heartland in the north and north-east,neither he nor his sister paid enough heed to the interests of Bangkok's middle classes or the southern provinces.In office Mr Thaksin favoured his own considerable business interests and weakened public institutions.He was a Berlusconi with less of the bunga-bunga.Appallingly,in 2003-04 he ordered an extrajudicail assassination programme that killed thousands of supposed drug dealers. His sister was less authoritarian but also less competent.