Politics Update

Thailand's politics have been up in the air lately. Prime Minister Somchai's government is still in power, although not in possession of the government buildings.

Back in August, PAD (People's Alliance for Democracy) stormed the Prime Minister's building and have occupied it since. PAD is a pro-coup and anti-Thaksin group. It opposes the government elected back in December 2007 claiming that the party in power, the PPP (People's Power Party) is nothing more than a front for the ousted Prime Minister Thaksin. In addition to occupying government buildings, PAD has also blocked streets with its demonstrations.

A cynic might say that PAD should stand for People Against Democracy. They oppose the government duly elected by the Thai people. They are actively trying to bring down a legitimately elected government using force. Interestingly, the government that the PAD seeks would have only thirty percent of Parliament elected by the people. The other seventy percent would be appointed.

In any case, the PAD can be identified by their yellow shirts and the professed love for the King. A few weeks ago, the police clashed with the PAD, resulting in four PAD members dead and a number wounded. This has causes an uproar with the PAD and its supporters who claimed that the police used unnecessary force to deal with the protesters.

Others, this author included, wonder if the police haven't demonstrated remarkable restraint in allowing the occupation of the government buildings for over two months. Imagine for a minute if Republicans marched to Congress and with the intent to occupy the building for several months in order to topple the government. It just wouldn't happen. They would be arrested.

Of course, part of the reason that the protests have been allowed to continue largely unabated is because the PAD have powerful allies in both the military and the police force. The military has made statements of neutrality in the matter. There are some in the police department calling for an end to the protests.

The pro-coup PAD are not the only protesters in town, nor are they the only one with a uniform. The pro-government and pro-Thaksin UDD (United Front of Democracy Against Dictatorship) have also demonstrated and clashed with the PAD. Fortunately, its easy to distinguish the two groups, as the UDD sport red shirts. That's right, its like an episode of Star Trek with the security force against the officers. Yellow versus red.

Since the UDD actually supports the government, they are not attempting to block commerce or interfere with the business of government. Many of their protests are aimed directly at the PAD. The UDD has created its own security force that has named itself King Thaksin's Warriors. Truthfully, I can't think of a more stupid name than that. Most Thai's love and nearly worship the King. One of the declared reasons for the coup was that Thaksin was not respectful of the Monarchy, and that he might even have wanted to supplant it. A great way to turn the average Thai against him is to make it appear that he wants to be the King.

Unfortunately for PM Thaksin, misnamed security forces might be the least of his problems. This week he was convicted of corruption charges and was sentenced to two years in prison. He and his wife are still in England seeking political asylum and fighting extradition. One bit of good news for his family is that his wife was acquitted of the same charges.

While I am a "neutral" observer of this drama, I do find myself sometimes favoring one side over the other. At first, I was somewhat sympathetic to the PAD side of things. I thought that perhaps there may have been merit to the corruption charges against Thaksin. As things have dragged on, however, I really am starting to believe that they are doing much more damage than they the group they oppose. Political instability does not help the economy or average Thai people. Uncertainty can keep away foreign investors and hurt tourism.

I believe that the protests and the disruption of commerce and government need to stop. The PAD should use the political process to achieve its ends. Its coup allies were the ones who drafted the current constitution in the first place. Or should the Thai people expect that anytime they elect a government that the PAD and its allies oppose, that there will be an attempt to other throw the goverment, and possibly another coup.

Dont' get me wrong. I think the pro-Thaksin side has done plenty of dumb things as well. Part of what galvinzed the PAD and anti-government forces was the PPP's decision to amend parts of the constitution. These proposed changes were widely seen as a self-serving attempt by the PPP to remove sanctions against members of the Thaksin goverment. Putting the colorful and opinionated Samak as the head of the government may have caused some issues. Replacing him with Thaksin's brother-in-law only served to further enrage their opponents.


I'll just watch and enjoy. Maybe one day I'll even go down and try to get some good photographs of some action. We'll see.