Thai Politics

In December, Thais will go to the polls for the first free election since the September 19, 2006 military coup. It’s really quite interesting to follow the entire process in the newspaper.

Not only am I witnessing a democracy reborn (again), but U.S. politics is quite tame in comparison. In the U.S. we spend time talking about a few controversial lines in a speech. In Thailand, they have a military coup, murders, vote buying, and even the purchase of professional soccer teams.

Below is a basic timeline of the events leading up to and following the coup.

January 2001

Thaksin Shinawtra, a very successful businessman from Chang Mai is elected Prime Minister. He founded the Thai Rak Thai (TRT, in English it translates to Thai Love Thai) party which espoused populous policies.
January 2005 Prime Minister Thaksin reelected despite controversies about some of his policies and his personal finances.

February 2006
PM Thaksin dissolves Parliament and schedules elections for April 2006. Opposition parties decide to boycott the April elections.

April 2006
Due in part by the boycott, TRT wins the election by a large measure.
TRT opponents challenge the validity of the election. Thaksin announces he will not accept PM position until controversy is resolved, but will act as the “caretaker” PM.

King Bhumipol asks the Constitutional Court to review the election validity.

May 2006
Constitutional Court rules the elections invalid. New elections scheduled for October 2006.

September 19, 2006
PM Thaksin is in New York and scheduled to speak at the United Nations. Army Commander General Sonthi Boonvaratglin stages a bloodless coup, taking over the government. The military 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.

Thaskin would soon leave New York for London. He is currently residing in London, and has purchased the Manchester United soccer team.

September 21, 2006
Coup leaders form the Council for National Security (CNS) and announce the reasons for the coup. The reasons given were:

• Erosion of faith on the national administration and impasse of political differences
• Drastic increase in disunity among the Thai people
• Signs of rampant corruption, malfeasance and widespread nepotism
• Inability to proceed with the reform process as intended by the Constitution
• Interference in national independent agencies, crippling their ability to function properly and to effectively solve the nation’s problems
• Certain substantive democratic elements in the Constitution have been undermined
• Deterioration of social justice
• Evidence of words and actions which have shaken and proven to be against the very foundation of Thailand’s democracy with His Majesty the King as Head of State

They state they plan to restore democracy within a year.

October 1, 2006
CNS appoints new government with General Surayud Chulanont as Prime Minister.

December 5, 2006
Thailand’s King Bhumibol Adulyadej praises the coup leaders. In the immediate aftermath of the coup, it became apparent that the King approved of the coup, and might possibly have had advance notice. The King’s blessing was crucial, as the failed coups in 1981 and 1985 did not have his blessing, while all previous succesfull coups did. (Yeah, they have a number of coups here).

January 2007
Martial law lifted in forty-one provinces. Martial law remains in TRT strongholds in the North.

May 31, 2007
The Constitutional Court bans Thaksin and one hundred and ten TRT leaders from politics for five years.

August 19, 2007
Voters approve a new constitution with 57.8% of the vote. The constituion fared poorly in the North where it received only 40% of the vote.

The constitution was drafted by appointees of the coup. It was illegal to criticize the constitution leading up to the vote, although I seem to remember articles questioning its effectiveness.

September & October 2007
The newspapers are filled with stories about the upcoming election and previous government. There are a number of political parties in the mix. The conservative Democrats are the party most associated with the coup. The Popular People Party (PPP) has taken up the mantle of the defunct TRT party, and its leader, an outspoken former mayor of Bangkok, has promised to contineu TRT policies if elected. The Chart Thai party is another major political party.

While the coup was bloodless, the leadup to the election is not. There have been several political canvassers murdered in the lead up to the election. The PPP party has accused the military of plotting against it to ensure that it does not win.

The Election Committee (EC), charged with administering the election has faced its own challenges. It became embroiled in a controversy around a European Union request to observe the election. The EC refused, in part because many politicians demogogged the issue, rousing national pride and accusing the Europeans of trying to run the elections.

The EC has also stated that it wants to prevent vote buying in this election. This is a tall order, as vote buying is quite common in Thai politics. While they may have some success, they will not eliminate it entirely.

Despite his self-imposed exile, Thaksin shadow looms over the election and Thai politics. The Thai government has charged him with several counts of fraud, and is trying to extridite him from Great Britain. He has challenged the proceedings, claiming that the charges are politically motivated. Great Britain will not extridite for politically motivated charges, so there is a likely court battle ahead.

Thaksin is serving as an unofficial advisor to the PPP party candidates, and many opposing parties have claimed that he is calling the shots. The pro-coup candidates really seem to fear his influence.

In a related story, the King falls ill and is hospitalized for several weeks. Thousands gather outside the hospital to wish him well.

November 2007
Deadline for parties and candidates to register for the election. Election related stories dominate the pages of the paper.

The nearly eighty year old monarch's health is improving. He leaves the hospital and returns to the palace.

December 23, 2007
New elections scheduled.