Coup Thoughts

The Washington Post article: Thai Military Launches Coup


This is troubling. I've been following Thaksin and Thai politics for about a year now and can say that I did not see this coming so soon. The armed forces commanders had turned on Thaksin long ago, but to capture the government like this is drastic and reckless. Although their intentions to oust a greedy, often irresponsible prime minister are good, they are disregarding the fact that Thaksin was elected fairly and is still revered as a populist by Thailand outside of Bangkok. I'm not waving any flags for him, but because of Thaksin, Thai people have a better health-care system than we have in the US.

It is also unfair of the "Council of Administrative Reform" to claim to be acting in the name of the king, who is a proponent of democracy above all else. Last April, the King was asked to resolve the confusion over the elections that re-elected Thaksin amidst a boycott by the opposition parties: the King refused to cast a law-making decision and insisted that the judiciary do its job.

As recently as the ceremonies for the 60th anniversary of his ascension to the throne, the King spoke passionately about his worries that the country was being torn apart by political differences. He favors compromise and cooperation, whether he approves of Thaksin or not, he will certainly not approve of such a physical takeover and I believe we will see him denounce the coup in the next few days and demand a democratic solution. If this does not happen, then I'm wrong about everything.

Also, I can't help but be a little worried about the "Council of Administrative Reform" The title that the armed forces commanders are giving to their group. It sounds just enough like the "State Law and Order Restoration Council" the name of the junta in Burma when it took over the government in 1988. But this is just to explain the vibe that I get from this group, which has acted with the momentum of an energetic and positive movement to remove Thaksin, but has taken excessive, aggressive action. It is also strange that they wouldn't at least wait for the results of the elections this fall.

The next few days will be important.


I'd also like to point out the typical Thai civillian response as it was reported by the AP:

"Hundreds of people gathered at Government House, taking pictures of themselves with the tanks."

...I couldn't encapsulate Thai culture any better.