Could the situation in Thailand escalate into a French or Russian revolution? The royalty/elite against the proletariat? Lets hope not and that the normally peaceful Thais won't let things reach the point of civil war. However, things are certainly shaping up that way with the royalist PAD backed by businessmen and old Bangkok elite on one side and the PPP with the poor rural, middle class and educated nouveau riche families on the other. Though the PAD have allowed the 88 empty airplanes to leave the airports, there are still 350,000 passengers stranded in BKK. The fact that they abandoned their posts and live broadcast on PAD TV at the Government House (where they allegedly had access to stocks of counterfeit money) may also have seemed like a step in the right direction... but it was soon clear that these protesters were only relocated to the airports to strenghten their position.
So, what happened of the governments plans to deploy the police, navy and airforce to regain control of the airports? Well, the police chief was fired ( it is speculated that he refused to carry out this task) and a new chief appointed. Frankly, his attempt of sending 100 policemen to disperse a crowd of 10,000 angry protesters was feeble and a joke. The army still refused to collaborate with the government in the interest of national security and to rescue a flailing economy. I have learned that the protesters are being paid 500-800 Baht per day (10-15euro) and the security guards up to 1,500 (30 euro). This is a considerable amount of money and pick up trucks full of people are arriving from poor areas to profit from the situation. An absolute absurdity is that the main charity organisation (founded by the Queen - which further supports claims that the royal family is sympathetic to the PAD) are sending blankets and flasks of hot food to the 'poor' protesters as the cold nights are setting in.
The new development is the involvement of the Constitution Court. The PPP government, (whether or not it was an election free of bribery and rigging votes is unclear - though possible as it IS Thailand afterall) is comprised of a coalition of three parties. The smaller of the three, Chart Thai, has been facing charges of corruption in the election process. Despite the fact that the hearing still has a bit to go and over 100 witnesses still haven't given their testimonies, due to the political crisis (and possible pressure from the elite) the courts decided to wrap up the trial and give a ruling in the next few days. It also seems that they are going to rule on the other two parties without there ever having been a defense trial for them. Naturally, this has greatly angered the PPP (red) supporters, thousands of which, led by a new group UDD (United front of Democracy against Dictatorship), have gathered around the City Hall to prevent the judges from entering the building, prompting a decision to relocate the summation session to the Supreme Administrative Court. If the court hands down its expected decision on electoral fraud charges, this would ultimately lead to the dissolution of all three parties. Hence, a Judiciary Coup!! I guess, better than a military one but still the whole thing smells bad - on both sides. The biggest irony is that the military, who have been unbelievably resistant to do their duties in protecting national security at the airports, have become fully involved at City Hall and have been assigned to keep the 'reds' in check and prevent clashes between both groups! This to me reinforces suspicions that once again, the monarchy support the PAD, probably in an effort to remain in power as loyalty towards them among the educated classes has been waning over the past few years.
I spent ages yesterday doing research and speaking to my students (who thankfully are very open and well travelled/educated) to figure out what it is that the PAD want exactly. The first thing is that they want the PM to step down in order to break all ties with former PM Thaksin. In addition, from what I understand, each province has 3 seats in parliament. Instead of each parliament member being elected by the public as is usual in a democracy, the PAD want to reserve only one seat for general election and members in the other two seats would be assigned by a group of university professors, businessmen, doctors and lawyers. The justification being that the uneducated poor (which make up the majority of voters) are too easily led and too ignorant to choose what is best for the economy. Perhaps there is an element of truth here but it screams semi -dictatorship as two thirds of all power would rest in the hands of upper-class society. Such an imbalance of power could only lead to future unrest.
The question is, would it be best for all parties to accept the judiciary's authority, dismantle the government and give the power back to the people and hold a new general election? This may be the only way to quell the uprising.. I just hope that all this can be done fairly....and not a new version of the 'same same'. I hate seeing this beautiful country in such turmoil. One thing is for sure, Thailand will not come out unscathed from this political impasse. Another hope is that we can fly home for Christmas on the 19th!
Lets take the rare celestial configuration of the crescent moon, Venus and Jupiter which formed the shape of a 'smiley face' seen in Bangkok last night as a good omen for the Land of Smiles.
