The eye in the sky has a sty

Bangkok has seen much political unrest in the past few years, since the coup in Sep 06. I’m not Thai, and don’t live there, but I smell the bullshit all the way from Bangkok nonetheless. What you see in Thailand now is a power struggle between the elite of a country which is leaving the common Thai with the shits.

To understand what is going on, its important to look at the demographics of Thailand. This will tell you why Thaksin and his party (until Dec 2 named the PPP) has gathered so much support even though they have been charged with corruption. Thailand is a country with a majority rural population with only 31.3% in urban areas. Thaksin has done well in focusing his attention on the plight of these farming rural class, and as a result has gained the majority vote. The problem with this, is that the city people don’t really like him, so they got rid of him in the coup in 06. Nevertheless, without Thaksin, the PPP still maintained the popular majority with the support from the rural population.

Now, fast forward to 2008, the anti Thaksin, PAD (people’s alliance for democracy) has forced the court to rule a ban on the PPP, disbanding a formally elected government, Ok, there was corruption and vote buying involved. But which politician is not corrupt? And anyway,I believe the PPP, with their popularity in the countryside, would have still been in power if they didn’t buy votes. Now, do you think all the yellow clad PAD people believe in what they are protesting for. No! I think the party elite have either paid them, or tapped into their monarchical sentiment.Just think about it, who has the resources to feed, clothe and maybe even pay the lost wages of thousands of protesters?

The people of Thailand have been deceived by their own leaders, I don’t think a new government made of anti-Thaksin politicians will make any difference. But that is not for me to say. The main thing is that a democratically elected government has been disbanded due to the coercion of a minority.