The Global March of Democracy: Thailand
Those of you visiting our site during its first couple of months of existence may be wondering why we have given so little attention to Asia, the continent where the billions of our future masters and overlords now reside. In all honesty, the reason is simple: we just don't know very much about it nor do we hear much about Asia in the North American media. However, one story that took place in Asia that did register a blip on the radar and deserves some attention was the the military coup that occurred in Thailand on September 19, 2006.
Ok, so here a brief rundown of what happened: Thailand adopted a democratic "People's Constitution" in 1997 and proceeded to have the first two relatively honest and open elections in the country's history in 2001 and 2005. A coalition government headed by prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, a populist whose support base is Thailand's rural poor, won both of these elections in a landslide. At the same time, Thaksin was viciously attacked by his conservative opponents as being a dictator, demagogue, traitor, opponent of the popular King Bhumibol of Thailand and, most amusingly, an agent of the devil. This last charge is connected to the destruction of a Bangkok statue of Brahma by a mentally unstable young man who was then killed by a raging mob. Opponents of the prime minister proceeded to claim that "something fishy" was going on and that the government, acting in league with the Dark Side, had conspired to destroy the statue. Shortly after this incident, Luang Ta Maha Bua, a popular Buddhist monk publicly claimed that "This is the big ogre, big power. Atrocious power will swallow our country, bite livers and lungs and aims for presidency." We kid you not; this is what powerful and influential people in Thailand actually seem to believe. It kind of puts our good-old Scientologists, Evangelicals and Mormons in context; at least the Democrats and Republicans have not accused each other of working in league with the devil. Yet.
In any case, by early 2006, the pressure on Thaksin was severe. Several large anti-Thaksin protests (30-150 thousand people) led by urban upper/middle class royalist Bangkokians, dubbed the 'Blue Blood Jet Set' by the Bangkok Post, took place. Even larger pro-Thaksin protests (150-200 hundred thousand people) also took place at this time. In spite of this viscious opposition, or maybe because of it, Thaksin's popularity seemed to actually grow. In the December 2005 parliamentary elections, his party the TRT (Thai Rok Thai, or Thais Loves Thais), won 375 out of 500 seats. In the face of continuing opposition Thaksin (including several impeachment attempts) dissolved the House of Representatives (Thailand's Parliament) and called for new election which would essentially function as a public referendum on his rule. Even though the opposition boycotted these elections, Thaksin won again, with slightly more than half of the total eligible electorate voting for the TNT (with most of the rest simply abstaining). Tensions only continued to be ratcheted up, with the courts, and even the King, getting involved. By June, Thaksin and his allies finally started to indirectly criticize the royal family itself, essentially telling the Thai people to choose between the King and the Prime Minister. In August, an assasination plot against Thaksin was discovered when a car containing 67 kilograms of explosives was stopped near Thaksin's residence. The opposition claimed to have had nothing to do with the plot and asserted that the whole thing was just a government trick.
Finally, on September 19, 2006, all of these petty political squabbles were set aside when a military junta led by general Sonthi Boonyaratglin overthrew the democratically elected government of Thailand. The new rulers quickly cancelled the upcoming elections, suspended the Constitution, dissolved Parliament, banned protests and all political activities, suppressed and censored the media, declared martial law, and arrested Cabinet members. It appears as if the coup had been planned since February. The short and simple statement issued by the Council for National Security (CNS), the current name of the new governing body of Thailand, can be read here. A really strong denunciation of the coup can be found here. The new rulers of Thailand assured the people that this was all necessary and that their rule would be temporary, with power being returned to the people within a year. Thaksin and his family fled to London and were warned not to even think about returning to Thailand.
So what exactly has happened since the coup? Within days of the coup, another general named Surayud Chulanont was named prime minister of Thailand, an appointment that was approved by the king. On October 1, a draconian one year interim constitution was instituted. To get an understanding of what this constitution entails, simply imagine all the freedoms and civil rights that one would expect for a functional democracy and erase them. Maybe the best part of this constitution is that the CNS, which organized the coup, will now be able to pick the people who will write the next constitution. The CNS will also continue to exist even after the restoration of civilian authority. Its kind of like letting a fox that has just broken into the chicken coop and eaten all the chickens design the new security system for the coop and giving it a seat in the barn to "monitor" the functioning of the new security system.
In the immediate aftermath of the coup, the Thai public and especially the people of Bangkok, tired of the constant instability and upheavals of the prior 18 months, reacted positively towards the new regime, with 84% stating their support the coup d'état and 75% agreeing that the coup will "improve politics." Over time, however, this support has continuously shriveled, due in large part to the policies of the new government. As off March 25, 2007, only 12.5% of the people expressed support for the policies of the government (that should put a smile on W's face). A brief summary of these policies, which appear to be to democracy what fire is to wood, can be found here. One particularly instructive development has been the granting of preposterously high salaries to the new rulers of Thailand. The average CNS member now receives roughly $4,000 (120,000 Tb), approximately six times more than the pre-coup politicians had received. Major anti-coup protests took place peacefully in December, with only some of the participants being arrested or detained. In January, martial law was lifted for roughly half of the country. All supporters of the previous regime were quickly eliminated from the media, police, military and civil service.
Violence has also picked up. On the night of December 31-January 1, 6 bombs went off during New Year's festivities in Bangkok, killing 3 and wounding more than 30 people. At 8:45 that morning, a grenade was thrown at a mosque in the northern Thai city of Chiang Mai by a man in a motorcycle. Naturally, the junta leadership blamed the old government for the bombings, an accusation that Thaksin and other TRT leaders have strenuously denied. Other potential culprits include the Muslim guerrilas in Southern Thailand and even the junta itself, which purportedly set off the bombs to frighten people into submission. To date, no one has claimed responsibility. Another minor bombing took place on January 30, when grenades were fired into the car park of Rama Garden Hotel and the Daily News newspaper's head office.
As of right now, that's all for developments in Thailand. What makes this story so fascinating is that it marked the return of the good-old-fashioned "coup d'etat led by a military junta," something that we haven't seen in the developing world all that often since the 1980's. In the words of our Dear Leader and President, "democracy is on the march," directly in the opposite direction of Thailand. It's Still News will keep you posted on developments in this story...