Back to normal?
1st things 1st... I'm still ok! (i guess it wasn't too smart y'day to leave that until the very end of the post) Big thanks to everyone who left comments or sent sms, your concern and best wishes are deeply appreciated.
In fact the situation seems much better today. The state of emergency called by the (former?) Primeminister was overruled late last night by the Army, so we are now free to leave our houses as we wish, and the Airport has been re-opened. One of the lighter moments of the day was hearing the deputy-leader of the main opposition party telling a reporter that he had been out for a walk in the centre of Bangkok, and that his children were very excited to have their photo taken next to a tank!
Of course it is still very serious politically - the Constitution has been revoked and Parliament dissolved. Martial Law has been imposed, so roads around government buildings are blocked off, gatherings of more than 5 people for political purposes are banned, and the Northern borders with Burma & Laos have been closed.
But in terms of the security situation things seem pretty fine - when i see what has been happening in Budapest i feel quite lucky! There is no sign at the moment of any public opposition to the coup, either in the city or in the countryside, where Mr Thaksin has very strong support. The concensus here seems to be that things will stay peaceful as long as Mr Thaksin does not try to come back to Thailand, at least in the foreseeable future.
Even so we will move back to Rangsit tomorrow, to our previous house. Pui would understandably like to be with her family right now, and we don't want to be isolated from eachother in case the situation gets any worse. Plus if things do get bad, it is very near to the Airport...
I've also learnt much more about the background to the current situation. It appears there have been allegations of corruption against Mr Thaksin and his government since January. He dissolved Parliament and called snap elections in April, but these were boycotted by the opposition. So in the eyes of many, especially in Bangkok, Mr Thaksin has not been a legitimate Primeminister since then anyway. In that sense the leaders of the Coup have claimed that their action was necessary to resolve the current impasse and install a working government. The Thai people i have seen interviewed on the news have all expressed relief that the situation will now move forward.
Again i think this is very sad though in terms of the messages it sends. What they are effectively saying is that when democratic processes reach stalemate, the only way to reach a solution is to send in the military. I really don't think that is setting a good precedent for the future of Thailand, or for the rest of the region. And as i just heard a BBC journalist ask (more than a little rhetorically...), will a bunch of military generals be able to create in a few months a Consititution better than a large number of civilians created over several years...?
It also raises difficult questions relating to government accountability and responsibility. Regardless of his recent performance, Mr Thaksin is without question the most successful pos-war Thai political leader. But in effect his huge popularity gave him too much power, and the checks & balances that should control the Executive were not effetive enough. This is paticularly interesting to me, given the curent political situation back home, where a government that has enjoyed 3 landslide election victories has now faced many months of allegations of corruption, nepotism and general abuse of power. The Judiciary has overruled the government several times in recent months, but the immediate response of the latter was to promise reform of the judiciary, which it claimed was 'out-of-touch'. In the face of - until very recently - an impotent opposition, and with elections a minimum of 2 years away, who else is able to hold a government accountable?
In fact, is the Thai solution really so surprising...?
In fact the situation seems much better today. The state of emergency called by the (former?) Primeminister was overruled late last night by the Army, so we are now free to leave our houses as we wish, and the Airport has been re-opened. One of the lighter moments of the day was hearing the deputy-leader of the main opposition party telling a reporter that he had been out for a walk in the centre of Bangkok, and that his children were very excited to have their photo taken next to a tank!
Of course it is still very serious politically - the Constitution has been revoked and Parliament dissolved. Martial Law has been imposed, so roads around government buildings are blocked off, gatherings of more than 5 people for political purposes are banned, and the Northern borders with Burma & Laos have been closed.
But in terms of the security situation things seem pretty fine - when i see what has been happening in Budapest i feel quite lucky! There is no sign at the moment of any public opposition to the coup, either in the city or in the countryside, where Mr Thaksin has very strong support. The concensus here seems to be that things will stay peaceful as long as Mr Thaksin does not try to come back to Thailand, at least in the foreseeable future.
Even so we will move back to Rangsit tomorrow, to our previous house. Pui would understandably like to be with her family right now, and we don't want to be isolated from eachother in case the situation gets any worse. Plus if things do get bad, it is very near to the Airport...
I've also learnt much more about the background to the current situation. It appears there have been allegations of corruption against Mr Thaksin and his government since January. He dissolved Parliament and called snap elections in April, but these were boycotted by the opposition. So in the eyes of many, especially in Bangkok, Mr Thaksin has not been a legitimate Primeminister since then anyway. In that sense the leaders of the Coup have claimed that their action was necessary to resolve the current impasse and install a working government. The Thai people i have seen interviewed on the news have all expressed relief that the situation will now move forward.
Again i think this is very sad though in terms of the messages it sends. What they are effectively saying is that when democratic processes reach stalemate, the only way to reach a solution is to send in the military. I really don't think that is setting a good precedent for the future of Thailand, or for the rest of the region. And as i just heard a BBC journalist ask (more than a little rhetorically...), will a bunch of military generals be able to create in a few months a Consititution better than a large number of civilians created over several years...?
It also raises difficult questions relating to government accountability and responsibility. Regardless of his recent performance, Mr Thaksin is without question the most successful pos-war Thai political leader. But in effect his huge popularity gave him too much power, and the checks & balances that should control the Executive were not effetive enough. This is paticularly interesting to me, given the curent political situation back home, where a government that has enjoyed 3 landslide election victories has now faced many months of allegations of corruption, nepotism and general abuse of power. The Judiciary has overruled the government several times in recent months, but the immediate response of the latter was to promise reform of the judiciary, which it claimed was 'out-of-touch'. In the face of - until very recently - an impotent opposition, and with elections a minimum of 2 years away, who else is able to hold a government accountable?
In fact, is the Thai solution really so surprising...?
posted by Rob at
2:54 PM
3 Comments:
glad to hear you're safe, and interested in reading all your "insider"-information!
take care lobbie!
thanks for the frequent updates, much appreciated :)
in a strange way, the politics student in me kinda envies you :)
much love and hugs, as always
Sounds like Thailand is going through what the Philippines went through and partially still going through. Oh I hope they dont end up like us though (politically).
Hugs,
Erica
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