Since Thailand has been, and will be, a surreal ‘island of calm’ until the celebrations of His Majesty’s 60 years on the throne are well and truly over (around June 15), I think this might be a good time to recommend a few good papers to non-Thai readers (or even Thais who are hardcore readers ;)) who are curious about what TIME magazine hails as “Silk Revolution”: a peaceful anti-prime minister campaign that has rocked this country for the past 5 months and led to a political vacuum that is unlikely to be filled until October or even later this year. The conflict is unlikely to be resolved any time soon, especially since caretaker Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has brazenly returned to office after spending a two-month paid vacation on the golf course and taking his wife shopping.
I chose these papers because they present a good summary of the subject without being didactic or too academic. It is not easy to understand what’s going on in Thailand because there are many ‘subtle’ elements in the local socio-political sphere – particularly the king’s significant influence despite being under the constitution, and Thaksin’s systematic encroachment of supposedly neutral organizations, such as the Election Commission, and near-absolute control of TV and radio stations. These nuances can be entirely missed or misinterpreted by outsiders (including such respected journals as The Economist), and even some well-educated Thais who remain unwilling to believe that this government may be as corrupt as its opponents charge (else they hold the untenable view that politicians’ corruptions should be tolerated, as long as the country prospers).
Since Thailand has been, and will be, a surreal ‘island of calm’ until the celebrations of His Majesty’s 60 years on the throne are well and truly over (around June 15), I think this might be a good time to recommend a few good papers to non-Thai readers (or even Thais who are hardcore readers ;)) who are curious about what TIME magazine hails as “Silk Revolution”: a peaceful anti-prime minister campaign that has rocked this country for the past 5 months and led to a political vacuum that is unlikely to be filled until October or even later this year. The conflict is unlikely to be resolved any time soon, especially since caretaker Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has brazenly returned to office after spending a two-month paid vacation on the golf course and taking his wife shopping.
I chose these papers because they present a good summary of the subject without being didactic or too academic. It is not easy to understand what’s going on in Thailand because there are many ‘subtle’ elements in the local socio-political sphere – particularly the king’s significant influence despite being under the constitution, and Thaksin’s systematic encroachment of supposedly neutral organizations, such as the Election Commission, and near-absolute control of TV and radio stations. These nuances can be entirely missed or misinterpreted by outsiders (including such respected journals as The Economist), and even some well-educated Thais who remain unwilling to believe that this government may be as corrupt as its opponents charge (else they hold the untenable view that politicians’ corruptions should be tolerated, as long as the country prospers).
These papers are also listed without commentary under “Thailand related” section of my downloads page (but who goes there, right? ;)). I recommend that readers read them in the following order; it will make things easier to understand:
- Toppling Thaksin [PDF, 33 pages] by Kasian Tejapira (HTML version) – the best summary of the anti-Thaksin campaign that I have seen so far, in both Thai and English media. I especially like prof. Kasian’s application of the term “globalized electocracy” to Thaksin’s regime.
- Civil Disobedience under Thai Crony Capitalism [PDF, 19 pages] by Kosum Saichan – a bit more focus and history of civil disobedience in Thailand.
- The Construction of Mainstream Thought on “Thainess” and the “Truth” Constructed by “Thainess” [PDF, 36 pages] by Saichol Sattayanurak, translated by yours truly – a good “background article” for those who may be wondering why both sides try to stir fervent nationalistic sentiments in their face-off.
So what will happen after this temporary island of calm disappears in a few days once the king’s royal guests bid him farewell? It’s difficult to tell, since Thaksin still wields tremendous power, with a strong national voter base who is willing to rally to his side at call, charges of corruptions notwithstanding. But at least the seeds of Thailand’s first well-informed “civil society” have already been sown. We may not know what will happen, but at least some of us think we know what needs to happen to topple this cancerous regime. As prof. Kasian summarized eloquently in his article (except he should have said “sale of concession to foreigners” not “privatization,” since SHIN Corp. has always been a private company):
“How best should this regime be targeted? One priority must be the fight
for a thorough-going reform and development policy for the countryside that will raise the current miserable living standards without creating widespread indebtedness, and will guarantee a real improvement in rural healthcare. But the immediate task should be to remove the linchpin of the corrupt and criminalized system, who should face the due process of law for the crimes alleged against him—the scores of extrajudicial killings that have been sanctioned in the cities and the South, and the SHIN Corporation’s tax-free privatization of national assets. The malfunctioning constitutional bodies, set up as checks and balances, need to be thoroughly investigated and, if necessary, purged of crony members, as a prerequisite to the establishment of the rule of law—as urgent in the South as elsewhere. Finally, the ambiguities of the 1997 Constitution need to be revisited, and its concentration of executive powers in the hands of a presidential prime minister revised. These would be the minimum legal-political requirements for transcending Thaksin’s globalized electocracy.”