State of Emergency in Thailand
Update April 14, 2009
Shopping malls are open and the train station has resumed service. Protestors have been bused home. Arrest warrants have been issued for Thaksin and 13 other pro-Thaksin United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) leaders for violating the state of emergency, which forbids gatherings of more than five people for political reasons. It is worthy to note that that many of the “yellow shirts” that shut down 3 airports a few weeks ago have yet to be charged. Unequal treatment under the law may be what is dividing the country to the extent that it has.
April 12, 2009
With my son and his wife living on Koh Samui and my husband living in Pattaya, I watch Thai politics closely. Two days ago the annual ASEAN conference was prevented from occurring in Pattaya by a bunch of paid (300 to 500 baht a day) “red shirts” who are trying to oust the current prime minister. On Saturday more than 2,000 stormed a regional summit in Pattaya, forcing nine Southeast Asian heads of state to be evacuated by helicopter from rooftops. The hotel where the press and dignitaries were staying is very near my husband’s home in Pattaya.
“Yeah,” my husband says, “this is close to my neighborhood. I have been hibernating the past 2 days because traffic flow is a mess. Now this. Unfortunately it is a black eye for the Thais as the prime ministers of Japan, Korea and China cannot get out of their hotels. But some of the comments on the Thai visa site are highly opinionated and ill informed. The red shirts are Taksin supporters and [supposed to be but NOT] mostly country folks from Isaan. They have as much right to protest as the yellow shirts who got what they wanted by closing the BKK airport; overturning an elected government. The yellows represent the monied and educated of BKK. But both groups hire the protestors to put on the appropriate colored shirt. I would suspect that many of the protesters have a shirt of each color. A new cottage industry in the making…..but I need to go for a little exercise and my gym is in Pattaya might try the back streets…..”
The “red shirts” are supporters of the prior prime minister, Thaksin, who has been twice-convicted of fraud and who purports to support the rural farmers which he threw a few crumbs to while prime minister. Never mind that he bilked the country out of a few billion of tax money by illegally selling his telecom company to Singapore through his children. Thaksin was exiled after conviction and and a silent military coup and has been living in Hong Kong and other places but that hasn’t stopped him from trying to reconstitute his political career by claiming that the current prime minister was illegally installed by the supreme court. The “yellow shirts,” much fewer in number in this go-around, were responsible for shutting down the Bangkok International Airport a few months ago which led to the toppling of Thaksin’s party and the installation of the the current government. In my opinion it’s all just politics as usual.
Now, back in Bangkok from Pattaya, the “red shirts” are continuing to create unrest.
Bangkok Post April 12:
“The premier Sunday afternoon declared a State of Emergency in the capital and five neighbouring provinces. Effective immediately, the state of emergency is imposed in Bangkok, Nonthaburi, Samut Prakan, Pathum Thani, Nakhon Pathom and Ayutthaya provinces because a group of people are inciting unrest. It will be implemented by Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban, Mr. Abhisit said. He said the government deemed it necessary to declare the state of emergency before the situation worsen.
Under the order, gatherings of more than five people are prohibited, the press is not allowed to present news reports which could incite worry among to the public. The order also allows the public to be evacuated from areas considered to be risky.”
My Thai daughter-in-law told me last night on the phone that tourists are not coming for holiday which will devastate the economy already in serious trouble because of the world financial melt-down.
My son who lives in Las Vegas is flying to Hong Kong to visit his brother and then they are supposed to fly to Bangkok where they will meet with their father and then fly together to Phuket for a few days. I hope the tanks are out of Bangkok by the time they get there.
I was in Bangkok during the coup that ousted Thaksin in 2006. Then Abhisit, a 44-year-old Oxford-educated economist, was voted into office by parliament after his party came in second in 2008 elections. He promised to restore political stability to Thailand after a series of short-lived administrations linked to Thaksin, who was ousted in the bloodless coup. Thailand has had four heads of state and one interim military government since then.
Thaksin, a telecom billionaire, is in hiding from a two-year prison term for corruption. The Thai media have been awash in rumors of alleged sightings in Cambodia, the United Arab Emirates, and Africa. Last year, Britain revoked Thaksin’s visa and, more recently, a consortium of Bangkok businesspeople offered a reward for anyone who could bring him back to face justice.
About $2.2 billion in funds held by Thaksin and his family reportedly have been frozen by the Thai government.
Still, Thaksin remains popular with the poor and marginalized rural majority because he is from Chiang Mai and has thrown a few crumbs to the farmers.
And so it goes again.
Tags: Bangkok, state of emergency, Thailand, World Watching And Politics
Zoe
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