I stumbled across this story on Thailand's election in the International Herald Tribune. The Wizard has written on Thailand before and the IHT article largely jibes with what I wrote there. The IHT article sums up the entire political situation in the country quite nicely, to the point where I wish I could have written it. That is the biggest complement I could pay to Mr. Mydans.
It is becoming clear that the election that Thais are holding is not going to solve the question of Thaksin Shinawatra and the problems that Mr. Shinawatra's previous elections posed for the old guard in the country. Thailand as a nation will not make breakthroughs in achieving a truly pluralistic political society until the old guard of the Monarchy, the army, the bureaucracy, and economic elites realize that the country's large population of working poor represent its political power in the Democracy. If you are going to have a Democracy, then that is where the political power lies, not in the privileges enjoyed by the old guard. All Mr. Shinawatra did was cater to the country's vast population of rural peasantry and not to the palace or so much to the army. Until these questions are solved and the answers accepted by everyone, then look for more tensions to come.
Sigh...
Addendum edit: A pro-Thaksin party has won a substantial minority of seats in the 480 member Parliament and will reach out to minor parties to form a coalition government. It also seems the old guard military has passed an "internal security law" which blunts pluralistic progress. And so it goes that the stalemate will continue.
Wizard
Posted by The Mighty Wizard at December 22, 2007 10:45 PM