Background on what is happening in Thailand

[grantcart]

For the last several decades there has been a growing split in the country with the urban areas becoming home to more and more middle class and the development of 'more' western style political parties (all parties, including the Democrat Party no 'ict' there - have ties to business interests as well as factions in the military and police).

Eventually the practice of buying votes was eliminated in the urban areas but still persists in poor rural areas, mostly the north and northeast.

During the 70's and 80's a reformist movement was headed by Maj Gen Chamlong Srimuang (he retired from the military very young). Chamlong is a very devout Buddhist lay person who lives by almost all of the same strictures as a monk. He was eventually elected Governor of Bangkok.

As Governor he had a very positive impact on the city cleaning it up and improving services. His private life remained very austere living in a house with no walls and maintain no personal possessions and also remaining celibate with his wife. Even an old TV and car that he used were owned by someone else and just loaned to him. He wore traditional peasant clothes.

In his own time he runs a vegetarian restaurant and manages a foundation that rescues thousands of street dogs that have been left homeless. Eventually he left politcal office but helped start PAD the group that is leading the demonstrations.

Prime Minister Taksin was elected several years ago and is Thailand's "Bill Gates", worth about 20 Billion dollars. He paid for his own party and ran on a 'no corruption' charge. As Prime Minister he instituted a very popular anti drug program that eliminated the huge methamphetimine traffic overnight with, among other things, 'extra judicial killings' the label for police assassinations of 'known gangsters'.

He remained very popular in the rural areas where he ran superficial programs to bring them money but loss favor with the educated urban areas as they saw his administration as more and more self serving. Taksin passed a law that changed restrictions in selling communications companies to foreign countries and immediately sold his communications company to Singapore for sever billions of dollars.

The PAD brought the country to a stand still and the military intervened with a 'people's coup' and after about a year returned the government to Democracy. Meanwhile Taksin and his family have been indicted, he fled the country, returned was arrested granted bail went to the Olympics and moved to Europe.

Taksin's party was outlawed by the court because of its massive vote buying. Elections were held and Taksin poured money into a couple of the old party's bought millions of votes in the rural area and didn't get a single parlimentary seat in the urban areas. Samak, the token Prime Minister (who was Governor of Bangkok after Chamlong but since exposed to the middle class as nothing but a toady of the very rich), lost his PM on a technicality when in the face of massive protests he was found by the court to have violated the ethics rules by appearing on a TV cooking show and receivig $100.

Taksin's brother in law has been 'appointed' PM and the PAD has been maintaining protests for over a year. Mostly very peaceful and very devoted to Thailand's reverred King, the Army and Police are reluctant to move against them and have not moved towards the government, and this stalemate has grown with the Parliment being trapped inside buildings with their electricity cut and unable to function.

Now the protesters have had enough and tens of thouands are going to close down the urban areas, including the International Airport, until this puppet government, bought by Taksin is eliminated.

Basically it is a protest against vote buying and the purchase of governments.

Meanwhile England has revoked Taksin's visa and he will be finding a new home - he has vowed to return to Thailand and take back the government.

[pinto]

1. Thanks for the info.

:thumbsup:

[Barack_America]

2. K&R. Thanks for doing the media's job.

They've been showing the images all morning with zero background.

[judasdisney]

9. K & R Kristi's comment

[annabanana]

3. (and they wonder why people go to the internet for their news)

If it weren't for this place, I'd have little idea what's really going on. So many "news channels".. so little news.

[LeftHander]

4. :sniff: - reminds me of DU's old days....

Thanks....K&R

[Cha]

12. Oh, it'll come

around again.

[Odin2005]

5. Isn't "vote bying" just BS corporatist-speak for welfare?

I often hear Libertarian types accuse welfare as being politicians buying the votes of the poor, so I am suspicious about "vote buying" accusations against politicians.

[grantcart]

6. No it is a $ 10 payment for your vote

I have relatives in Mae Sai Thailand who openly sell their vote every year.


A leader comes by and gives them $ 5 and picks up their ID card before election day. Buses show up take them to the polling spot and they are herded into vote and when they come out they receive their ID card and another $ 5. Technically they could vote for anyone but in fact they like that party because the paid them the money.

The local leader also receives payment after the votes are counted for all of the votes delivered in that area.

[Odin2005]

8. Ah, thanks for explaining that to me!

Looks like my suspicion was unfounded, thanks for clearing that up, because it was really bothering me. I was suspicious that there was neo-liberal hanky-panky behind the anti-Taksin folks, I guess I shouldn't have been so paranoid!

[jberryhill]

7. Thaksin Hiding Assets

In a curious recent development, Thaksin obtained a divorce from his wife in Hong Kong on the day that dang near everything in Thailand was shut down for the King's sister's cremation two days after the lunar new year.

It is rumored that she now has title to his assets and that the divorce was a sham.

The cremation was a major big deal, with ceremonies stretching over three days. She died in January, but the ceremony was put off by the construction of a $6M crematorium and other preparations.

If that wasn't impressive enough, the government ordered the bars closed, and Bang La street in Patong looked like a Thai bar girl sidewalk sale.

[grantcart]

11. Divorces like this are extremely common in Thailand

in order to protect family assets.

[jberryhill]

14. The timing was interesting

The royal cremation was wall-to-wall news, and Thaksin's divorce was practically buried in the Bangkok Post.

[myrna minx]

10. Thank you very much for this background. n/t

[Hanse]

13. How does this compare to the coup from several years ago?

I've got family in Thailand, and the sense I get from them is things like this happen every few years.

But I've got no idea how this compares to previous problems.

[ConsAreLiars]

15. Thank you. I see the corporate media overage and they never even hint

at what is going on or what class interests are at play. Just some clips of tear gas discharges. And a bit of "oh my, how impolite!" attitude. Shitheads.

[muriel_volestrangler]

16. I'm worried by this bit in the BBC's Q&A on this:

The PAD wants to replace Thailand's one-man, one-vote system with one in which some representatives are chosen by professions and social groups rather than the general electorate.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7584005.stm

This seems an admission that the democratic vote will go to parties allied with Thaksin - or the rural poor, anyway, and that they want to stop that.

Any comments?

[grantcart]

17. The PAD wants some constitutional change that would somehow dilute

the vote of the rural poor, because that vote is sold en masse, usually to powerful interests working against the interests of the poor.


Vote buying used to be evenly spread among the political parties all of which are part of an informal oligarchy that just keeps swapping power back and forth.


Taksin just created a monopoly and sucked them all up with a few cheap votes and some populist rhetoric.



The urban activists and tens of thousands protesters have just lost all patience and they are not going to stop regardless of how it hurts the economy.



The problem with all of this and why the PAD will soon be losing support is that there is no guarantee that any new system will really be any different and that eventually vote buying will return.