Protesting Thaksin in Thailand

There’s a saying in Thailand: ‘The provinces in the northeast bring you the power, but the Bangkok people can kick you out.’

Ron Morris, 2Bangkok.com, in a conversation with Open Source, 3/17/06

Protesters at the Government House, Bangkok [Courtesy of 2bangkok.com]

Over the past few decades, Thais have learned to protest against leaders who have lost legitimacy, and they’ve learned to expect results. Their protests brought the downfall of military regime after military regime since the 1970s. Now that they’ve finally achieved democracy, a system that equates popularity with legitimacy, Thai protesters don’t know where to turn when elections keep returning a corrupt leader to power.

Despite allegations of corruption and immorality, Thailand PM Thaksin Shinawatra is still massively popular by any count, especially in the rural northern provinces. Should the country go back to the polls at a snap vote on April 2, most people expect he would be voted in again by a healthy margin.

I was out in Sanam Luang [a plaza in front of the Grand Palace in Bangkok] last night, as the anti-Thaksin demonstrators gathered for their big rally this morning. It was orderly, noisy, rude (lots of posters of Thaksin as a demon, a lizard, a Fuehrer, etc.), and rather uneasy. The rally organisers were speaking of rumours of their own imminent arrests and/or a declaration of martial law. The headline on the front page of this morning’s Bangkok Post is ‘Fears of Violence.’ Do they genuinely believe this, or is it just another way of demonising Thaksin and ratcheting up the tension? Difficult to say. The streets all around the field were unnaturally quiet. Ordinary Thais, it seems, are cautiously keeping clear of the area, just in case.”

Richard Lloyd Parry, Asia Exile

“What do you do when you know that a democratic election will put a man back into power who will be bad for democracy? There are people who would say this man has taken too much power, he’s gutted the watchdog agencies and hurt the checks and balance system that the new 1997 constitution set up, but the truth is, in a fair democratic election he would win again.”

Ron Morris, 2Bangkok.com, in a conversation with Open Source, 3/17/06

“I hope it will end without too much questioning of the constitution and of democracy itself. From a western perspective it might not look like the ideal democracy, but if you look at the other countries around– Burma, Cambodia, Laos, Singapore, it’s a relatively free-wheeling, wide-open country. With the 1997 constitution Thailand has made great strides. Yes, it’s come back to bite us a bit, but I hope people will feel like we’re building on a constant stream toward this goal [of democracy], that there’s not a complete rupture and that everything doesn’t have to be started anew.”

Ron Morris, 2Bangkok.com, in a conversation with Open Source, 3/17/06