Thread: The hill billies have come to town

My adopted country is being held hostage by a mob of red clad hill billies in the pay of a multibillionaire convicted criminal.

You might have seen something on the news about supporters of Taksin Shiniwatra protesting against the Thai government. They claim that the current government is illegitimate and that Taksin (please note that in Thailand is is considered polite to refer to people by their first name) should be pardoned and returned to power.

But first a little history. When Taksin was in power he instituted a war on drugs also known as extra-judicial killings, massive corruption, dodgy land deals and on top of all that, sold his controlling share of a major telecommunications company to a foreign power and didn't pay any tax. This didn't make the army happy, so they decided Taksin had to go and it was time for a coup.

The interim government installed by the military invited the Thai people to vote on a new constitution which among other things, made paying for votes illegal. Not that it had been illegal before, but under this constitution, if you get caught paying for votes not only do you get punished, but your whole party gets kicked out of government.

Anyway, an election was held and a government loyal to Taksin was voted in, but they were caught paying for votes and were kicked out of politics. In the aftermath, the Democrats were able to form a coalition government and became the legitimate government under the rules of the constitution.

So then we get to the protests. About this time last year the Red Shirts, aka supporters of Taksin, held a protest against the current government in the form of a riot. This was fine because while riots are dangerous, disruptive and destructive, they are over fairly quickly.

Recently the former Prime Minister Taksin was convicted of massive fraud and ordered to spend two years in jail. However he fled overseas to avoid his jail sentence. Then just last month the court ruled that Taksin's assets which had been held by the state could be confiscated as ill gotten gains and used for the good of the country.

That brings us to this year's Red Shirt protest.
There have been rumors that the protesters have been paid to take part in these protests. There are videos on youtube showing people receiving 2000baht (about $66.00usd) to take part in the protest and rumors of another 2000baht for each day the protest continues.

This time the Red Shirt protesters are calling for the government to dissolve parliament and hold elections. But at the same time they also say they do not accept the current constitution and will not accept the result of an election held under the current constitution.

Apart from gathering and listening to rants from their leaders, other things the protesters have done is throw human feces at the Prime Minister's house and his office, throw human blood (given by the protesters) at the parliament building and also the Prime Minister's house.

Today they formed a 80 something km long procession of vehicles and drove around the major roads of Bangkok, bringing the city to a stand still, in order to gain support from the residents of Bangkok who have been inconvenienced by these protesters.

Hopefully the Red Shirt protesters will realise that they are being used by a mega rich criminal and that the longer they protest the more of them are losing their jobs to Cambodian immigrant workers. I'm waiting for the day when they go home, get back to work, and let this country that I have come to love, prosper again.

ndw76,

Unfortunately, democracy is a VERY fragile creature. The freeedom it engenders can be, and often is, abused by the powerful.

Don't despair, though. Your nation's story reminds me a lot of the early 19th century U. S. during the development of political parties. There was massive voter fraud as politicians bought votes with liquor, food, a scuttle of coal, or a job for somebody. And it still occurs, although perhaps lesss frequently, even today.

Perhaps the current protests will run their course and the democratic equilibrium will be restored--by the people--and not by the military, which established a dangerous precedent by becoming directly involved in your country's politics. Perhaps the Democrats can rally their supporters as a counter-weight to the Red Shirt protestors and thereby confirm their authority to rule by a duly authorized general election that leads to the electoral defeat of Prime Minister Taksin endorsed candidates.

Only time will tell...