News from the Streets

As some of you, my loyal readers, may have heard, Thailand is going through a period of political unrest. There are constant whispers of an eminent coup, change of government, or royal intervention. When I ask Thai people to explain the reason for this, I never get the same answer, but I am repeatedly told it is "complicated".
Basically the situation is this: right now the People’s Power Party (PPP), the new incarnation of the since banned party of ousted former PM Thaksin, is in power. The current government is coalition of several parties, with PM Samak at the head. He is neither the best nor the sharpest tool in the shed, and is generally disliked. Despite his many faults, what really invokes the ire of the people is that he openly claims to represent Thaksin and the interests of his cronies. Enter the opposition – the Peoples Alliance for Democracy (PAD) – a coalition of anti-government (i.e. Thaksin) forces, who have been staging large protests around Bangkok over the last few weeks. Now don’t be confused by the repeated use of the words “people” and “democracy”, as they have little correlation to the subjects they describe. Rather, they are more palatable then “rich capitalist cronies” or “nationalists”.

In the background of all this, is the beloved Monarchy. There is some bad blood between the monarchy and the PPP, after the King sanctioned (to put it mildly) the military Coup that ousted Thaksin from office in 2006. The big unknown is current relationship between the monarchy, the military and the PAD. Nor is it clear what exactly has changed politically since the elections in December `07 and what all the excitement is really about. In my opinion, Thais just like a good drama, and what constitutes normal, albeit dysfunctional, parliamentary politics is seen here as the end of the world.

As I said, the PAD has been organizing over the past few weeks large protests around the government district of Bangkok, where many government offices are located, including the parliament and the PM’s house. On Friday (June 20), the PAD outsmarted local police and managed to move 10,000 protesters outside the government house, demanding the resignation of PM Samak. This created a new flurry of speculation regarding coups and military crackdowns. Faced with the possibility of a second possible coup, I did what anyone would do, grabbed my camera and headed down to see what’s going on for myself.

After walking past some very relaxed looking policemen, I cam across hawkers selling all the types of food and snacks Bangkok has to offer, which is a lot. I would recommend the fresh mango, but I digress... Beyond the food stands were the protesters.

It was more of a rally then protest, with a large stage, live music and the occasional speaker to get the crowd riled up. It seemed more like the open-air World Cup screening then an “immanent threat to Thai National Security” as one news source called it. Women and children, the old and the young, students and farmers were all present. What was missing however, was the open support of Bangkok's urban middle-class , who set the tone for Thai politics. When I had dinner a few blocks away, people seemed completely oblivious to the several thousands merging on the Government House down the street. Another night in Bangkok…