Thailand Update

Well, although I am here in the U.S., the drama that is Thai politics goes on. Here are a couple of interesting developments.



Bail Jumper



Former PM Thaksin had returned to Thailand to face financial malfeasance charges against him. He was out on bail with his wife, who was awaiting sentencing on her tax fraud conviction, as well as other new charges against her.

Apparently PM Thaksin questioned whether he would receive a fair trial in Thailand and decided to skip bail and go to England. He had spent a considerable amount of time since he was deposed in England where he owns the Manchester City soccer club.

Being a billionaire bail jumper is a lot better than those of more modest means. Instead of hiding out in cheap hotel and looking over his shoulder for Dog the Bounty hunter, PM Thaksin continues to live a luxurious and public life.

Protesters

Some of those involved with deposing Thaksin in 2006 were not happy with the government that Thais elected in late 2007. The People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) have been protesting since mid-May against the current government.


This past week, the PAD protesters stormed seven government agencies in an attempt to shut down the PM Samak government. They briefly took over a government television station, taking it off air for an hour or so.

While protesters have been largely non-violent, they have blocked some streets and caused some disruption. I believe that some of the buses to ISB (my children's school) were cancelled due to streets blocked. The protests were not, however, near Nichada (my neighborhood) or ISB.


The PM is seeking help from the military to end the protests. Of course the last time the military got involved in Thai politics was the coup of 2006. I'm sure that's not what PM Samak has in mind.

Constitutional Changes

The PPP and its allies are seeking to change one section of the 2007 Constitution. There is an article that states that if an MP (Member of Parliment) candidate engages in voter fraud and if the party leadership knows and does nothing about it, that the party will be disolved.

The largest two PPP allies have already had their leadership found to have engaged in voter fraud by buying votes. Additionally, the PPP itself has senior leadership under investigation for voter fraud. Some pundits are saying that the courts will have no choice but to dissolve the parties. Disolving the parties would probably result in the collapse of this government, and likely new elections.

Perhaps not surprisingly, the Democrats, the only party not part of the coalition government, are very cool to the idea of changing the Constitution. While their leadership supports changes for the better of the country, they expressed opposition to changes to help a political party.

There is some concern that the uncertainty about the stability of this government is hurting the economy by keeping foreign investment away. Proponents of the change argue that the true victims of disolving the political parties are the people through the economy. Cynics might claim that those who engage in voter fraud in the first place might not have the best interest of the country in their heart at all.