We’ve been asked to put up a thread to discuss the violence and political uncertainty currently destabilising life in Bangkok and the economy of Thailand as a whole. Here’s a summary of the the basics from The Associated Press.
Fighting has now killed 31 people and injured hundreds since the Red Shirts, mostly rural poor, began camping in the capital on March 12, in a bid to force out Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva. They claim his coalition government came to power illegitimately through manipulation of the courts and the backing of the powerful military, which in 2006 forced the populist premier favored by the Red Shirts, Thaksin Shinawatra, from office in a coup.
Last week, Abhisit offered November elections, raising hopes that a compromise could be reached with the Red Shirts, who have been demanding immediate elections. Those hopes were dashed after Red Shirt leaders made more demands.
Late Thursday, the army moved to seal off the Red Shirt encampment in an upscale commercial district of the capital. Some 10,000 protesters, women and children among them, have crammed into the area.
Today the police have fired upon the crowds.
Thank you tigtog.
This is a country that I know well and whose people I admire and respect.
The tensions that are boiling over now in Bangkok have been building up over decades.
I do not know how it will end but it will end horribly.
My heart is with the Red Shirts despite their leader Thaksin. He has given them a chance to voice their grievances and now they are doing so.
Thank you tigtog.
This is a country that I know well and whose people I admire and respect.
The tensions that are boiling over now in Bangkok have been building up over decades.
I do not know how it will end but it will end horribly.
My heart is with the Red Shirts despite their leader Thaksin. He has given them a chance to voice their grievances and now they are doing so.
‘They claim his coalition government came to power illegitimately…’
‘Claim’ being the operative word here. It’s not a claim; it’s a fact.
I also can’t recall the authorities or the military being this heavy-handed during the 2006 events. Even though the yellow shirts brought the country to a standstill over 6 months, the military handled whole ‘coup’ from go to woe with an unusual degree of respect and dignity.
After reading beyond all the obfuscating yellow shirt/red shirt spin of recent events, I find that 2006 was the same old scenario of an elected left-wing government (mostly backed by poor rural dwellers) being overthrown by right-wing vested interests (mostly backed by affluent urban dwellers) – which was then repackaged by the Western media and political spin as a legitimate coup against a ‘corrupt’ demagogue. Shades of Chile, Venezuela, Bolivia, Honduras, and even Iran …
Now that the original dispossessed voters are fighting back, it’s now being packaged as a chaotic, angry mob creating a prolonged state of emergency.
‘They claim his coalition government came to power illegitimately…’
‘Claim’ being the operative word here. It’s not a claim; it’s a fact.
I also can’t recall the authorities or the military being this heavy-handed during the 2006 events. Even though the yellow shirts brought the country to a standstill over 6 months, the military handled whole ‘coup’ from go to woe with an unusual degree of respect and dignity.
After reading beyond all the obfuscating yellow shirt/red shirt spin of recent events, I find that 2006 was the same old scenario of an elected left-wing government (mostly backed by poor rural dwellers) being overthrown by right-wing vested interests (mostly backed by affluent urban dwellers) – which was then repackaged by the Western media and political spin as a legitimate coup against a ‘corrupt’ demagogue. Shades of Chile, Venezuela, Bolivia, Honduras, and even Iran …
Now that the original dispossessed voters are fighting back, it’s now being packaged as a chaotic, angry mob creating a prolonged state of emergency.
For anyone else struggle to understand the politics of what is occuring, I found the ANU’s “mainland SE Asia” blog New Mandala to be consistently excellent.
For anyone else struggle to understand the politics of what is occuring, I found the ANU’s “mainland SE Asia” blog New Mandala to be consistently excellent.
Or just struggling to speak English. Apologies.
Or just struggling to speak English. Apologies.
Thanks tigtog. Australians rarely realise how blessed they are to live without having to worry too much about internal disturbances in neighbouring countries. It would be nice to see the Muslim-haters explain the success of the Indonesians in forging a single democratic nation out of such unpromising material, instead of endlessly harping on about the threats posed by Islamic extremism. And it would also be nice to see some acknowledgement that the commies won the Vietnam War and the result has not been the relentless aggressive expansion to the rest of the region that we were told to expect.
Nevertheless the troubles in Thailand remind us that regional peacefulness is not guaranteed, and that we would be smart to take a lot more interest in South East Asia and Micronesia and a lot less in events that don’t concern us on the other side of the world. There must have been 100 words written about the war on insurgents in Iraq, even after Australian troops finally withdrew, for every word written about the endless conflict in the Philippines between the Manila administration and the separatists in Mindanao who have never accepted the treaty between Spain and the USA that declared them part of one Filipino nation.
The reason these local conflicts don’t grab attention here seems to be that they don’t significantly involve US interests, which is the prism through which global events are filtered in this country. They do however potentially affect Australian interests and it would be good to see greater awareness of the background to them.
Thanks tigtog. Australians rarely realise how blessed they are to live without having to worry too much about internal disturbances in neighbouring countries. It would be nice to see the Muslim-haters explain the success of the Indonesians in forging a single democratic nation out of such unpromising material, instead of endlessly harping on about the threats posed by Islamic extremism. And it would also be nice to see some acknowledgement that the commies won the Vietnam War and the result has not been the relentless aggressive expansion to the rest of the region that we were told to expect.
Nevertheless the troubles in Thailand remind us that regional peacefulness is not guaranteed, and that we would be smart to take a lot more interest in South East Asia and Micronesia and a lot less in events that don’t concern us on the other side of the world. There must have been 100 words written about the war on insurgents in Iraq, even after Australian troops finally withdrew, for every word written about the endless conflict in the Philippines between the Manila administration and the separatists in Mindanao who have never accepted the treaty between Spain and the USA that declared them part of one Filipino nation.
The reason these local conflicts don’t grab attention here seems to be that they don’t significantly involve US interests, which is the prism through which global events are filtered in this country. They do however potentially affect Australian interests and it would be good to see greater awareness of the background to them.
I’ve mainly been following what has been on through a comrade involved with the Young Progressives for Social Democracy Movement, Thailand-YPD. They’re no fans of Thaksin at all but are critical of the Govt.
In terms of the situation she recommended an article entitled ‘It’s Not Just Red and Yellow’ by Joshua Kurlantzick from Newsweek in April.
The last few hours have been pretty scary. The setting up of live fire zones by the military. She’s uploading photos of people who have been shot in Ratchaprarop, one of whom was a 16 year old she knew.
Her latest status update was this:
Especially with what has been going on I’ve been disgusted by the Australian media. Their total focus on Jessica Watson while people are being killed in our own region by their government. It didn’t even rate a mention as the 2nd or 3rd biggest story.
I’ve mainly been following what has been on through a comrade involved with the Young Progressives for Social Democracy Movement, Thailand-YPD. They’re no fans of Thaksin at all but are critical of the Govt.
In terms of the situation she recommended an article entitled ‘It’s Not Just Red and Yellow’ by Joshua Kurlantzick from Newsweek in April.
The last few hours have been pretty scary. The setting up of live fire zones by the military. She’s uploading photos of people who have been shot in Ratchaprarop, one of whom was a 16 year old she knew.
Her latest status update was this:
Especially with what has been going on I’ve been disgusted by the Australian media. Their total focus on Jessica Watson while people are being killed in our own region by their government. It didn’t even rate a mention as the 2nd or 3rd biggest story.
My partner works with a man whose father-in-law was shot dead in the protests a week or two ago. His Father-in-law’s family is very poor and from the reports I’ve heard it certainly seems like the class dimension of the demonstrations is as reported, that is, poor Thais are supporting the red shirts. It also appears that the movement supports its dead, since his family can now expect (at least in the short term) some kind of financial support from the movement, and before the tragedy they were receiving rice and other goods in exchange for his Father-in-law’s volunteer work.
I can’t imagine that they’re spending their lives for a wise cause though. I find it really hard to believe that a political movement of the poor, bankrolled by a multi-billionaire, is actually in the political interests of the poor themselves.
Also, my kickboxing instructor just spent a week in Thailand, won a fight, and flew out again yesterday without any apparent ill-effects of the demonstrations (though the child fighters didn’t turn up – maybe that was related to the demos). It’s hard to imagine life in a city going on as normal on one half, while people are being murdered by the govt in the other half.
My partner works with a man whose father-in-law was shot dead in the protests a week or two ago. His Father-in-law’s family is very poor and from the reports I’ve heard it certainly seems like the class dimension of the demonstrations is as reported, that is, poor Thais are supporting the red shirts. It also appears that the movement supports its dead, since his family can now expect (at least in the short term) some kind of financial support from the movement, and before the tragedy they were receiving rice and other goods in exchange for his Father-in-law’s volunteer work.
I can’t imagine that they’re spending their lives for a wise cause though. I find it really hard to believe that a political movement of the poor, bankrolled by a multi-billionaire, is actually in the political interests of the poor themselves.
Also, my kickboxing instructor just spent a week in Thailand, won a fight, and flew out again yesterday without any apparent ill-effects of the demonstrations (though the child fighters didn’t turn up – maybe that was related to the demos). It’s hard to imagine life in a city going on as normal on one half, while people are being murdered by the govt in the other half.