The Shinawatra family in Thailand shares similarities with the Barisan Revolusi Nasional coalition, the successor of the three-party alliance coalition in Malaysia that has ruled that country ever since independence in 1957.
Both champion the cause of the rural poor and as a result both have been popular with voters winning every election which they have contested in their respective countries.
Indeed, both are supported by a group of loyal supporters known as "red shirts" while bitterly opposed by anti-demonstrators known as "yellow shirts" who tend to hark from urban and educated backgrounds in the respective capital cities.
Similarly both have been plagued by allegations of corruption and mismanagement.
In Thailand allegations have included dodgy deals in telecommunications, rice subsidies and breaches of the rule of law.
In Malaysia corruption allegations pertain to 1MDB, the now infamous government investment scheme as well as in recent times many government agencies implicated in myriad alleged improprieties.
Yet as well as the similarities there are gaping differences too.
While the BRN enjoys close relations with and obedience from the police and military, the Shinawatras have been subject to the full force of the law, and now both Thaksin and Ms Yingluck seem to find themselves exiled, convicted and probably subject to jail time.
But which is the better approach?
The iron-fisted control of the organs of state in Malaysia means that despite ongoing investigations in Singapore, Switzerland and the United States, there is barely a mention of 1MDB in the Malaysian press, let alone from internal police and anti-corruption agencies.
Yet this has helped Malaysia retain a level of stability that must be the envy of Thailand.
And while many can rightly say the Shinawatras brought on their own demise, the Bangkok Post has reported that parts of the government may have been complicit in Ms Yingluck's exit from Thailand in recent days.
Further, the turmoil in Thailand in the past decade and a half brought on by the pro- and anti-Shinawatra forces has been not only deadly but hugely wasteful.
So while some may correctly counter that the organs of state have been used too forcefully against Yingluck, many in Malaysia must look on with envy at the intolerance of any wrongdoing. Perhaps both countries can learn something from each other.
SIMON WOOD
Know when to fold 'em
Re: "PM orders hunt for Yingluck, Prawit says she's fled", (BP, Aug 25).
"Phew!" That's probably the junta's reaction after learning Ms Yingluck had fled. By the way, had Ms Yingluck shown up on Friday and left the court in a prison van, I would kiss the ground she walked on.
But she chose to run and I can dig that too. I would have done the same if I were her. It's like playing poker against opponents who were colluding against you, so you say, "Fornicate it! I quit." You fold your cards and walk away.
To dream the impossible dream, to fight the unbeatable foe only sound good in a song. It's better to run where the brave dare to go.
SOMSAK POLA
Samut Prakan
You can't blame her
Re: "Yingluck gets earful as the play goes on", (Opinion, Aug 26).
It is quite amusing that the military-led government which toppled Ms Yingluck Shinawatra keeps saying that if she was not guilty she should have stayed and fought the case.
What a cruel joke! When some of her compatriots have been jailed by the same court for rest of their lives, what kind of justice could she expect?
Irrespective of her role in a populist rice-pledging policy, one can only laugh at the absurdity of the make-believe system. It is well known the current system is controlled by vested interests who proudly keep on chanting words like justice, reform and reconciliation.
I do agree with Kong Rithdee that, in the given circumstances, fleeing from such a bad situation doesn't seem like a bad idea, after all.
Even a chicken would try to fly away.
KULDEEP NAGI
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