This has been a civil protest, and such civility has made the brutal forces by the royalists and military regime, in alliance with the Abhisit administration more evidently uncivilized, inhumane, and barbaric.
Photos: Credits to http://www.prachataiwebboard.com/webboard/id/40881
Villagers blocking military train from transporting killers into Bangkok to kill democratic protestors
This took place in Khonkaen, a large provice in Northeastern Thailand.
Look at the faces of the red-shirted freedom fighters above.
Then, look at the forces prepared to suppress and murder them:
PLEASE NOT THAT THE ABOVE PICTURES OF HEAVILY ARMED SOLIDERS HIDING WITH A FETAL INTENT HAVE BEEN ERASED FROM THE SERVER.... CENSORSHIP IN THAILAND HAS NEVER BEEN FIERCER THAN THIS TYRANNICAL ERA UNDER THE ABHISIT ADMINSTRATION.
Watch the 24/7 Live Broadcast of Red-Shirted Freedom Fighters
See for yourself who these people are, what they do, and whether they are violent.
http://thaitvnews.blogspot.com/2010/03/people-channel-live.html
At this minute, the Abhisit tyrannical government has again ordered the armed troops of soliders and police to kill these bare-handed peace lovers.
http://thaitvnews.blogspot.com/2010/03/people-channel-live.html
At this minute, the Abhisit tyrannical government has again ordered the armed troops of soliders and police to kill these bare-handed peace lovers.
Strife in Thailand
Credit: Prachatai webboard
Strife in Thailand
Published: April 13 2010 20:33 | Last updated: April 13 2010 20:33
Financial Times
What little legitimacy the government of Abhisit Vejjajiva had is evaporating. Until blood was spilt on the streets of Bangkok last weekend, Mr Abhisit could at least claim that his administration was preparing for a peaceful resolution of Thailand’s long-festering political tensions. Now, with 21 people dead, with a discredited constitution still in place and with red-shirted protesters still feeling disenfranchised, that claim looks increasingly thin. What is more, the situation could deteriorate further. The red-shirted supporters of Thaksin Shinawatra, ousted from power in a 2006 coup d’etat, have hardened their negotiating stance. The danger is of worse clashes and an escalating death toll.
That is a tragedy Thailand can, and must, avoid. The army must resist any temptation to do what it has done too many times before: resolve democratic strife through military intervention. Mr Abhisit should call an election as quickly as possible. He must do so knowing full well that his chances of winning are slim. Victory is more likely to go to parties aligned with Mr Thaksin, whose deeply flawed premiership nevertheless revolutionised Thai politics by enfranchising the poor from the north and north-east. That genie cannot be put back in the bottle.
Thailand’s deep political rift will be extremely difficult to heal. The red-shirts must play a part by assuring the government that free and fair elections are possible. Mr Abhisit has spoken – with some justification – of a climate of fear that makes it difficult for pro-government politicians to campaign in red-shirt strongholds. If the opposition is willing to create the climate for smooth elections, Thailand’s more conservative forces must be prepared to abide by the results.
The king could help by calling for all Thai’s to accept the will of the majority. After Mr Thaksin was removed by military force, two prime ministers loyal to him were ousted by what appeared to be a selective application of the constitution. That sense of arbitrariness must end. If Thais can move beyond a colour-coded schism that has seen politics fought on the streets, they might just discover there are as many things that unite as divide them. If they cannot, the future for Thailand looks bleak indeed.
The Queen granting her royal presence at a dead soldier's funeral site, ignoring the deaths of 20 red-shirt protesters
Why did the soldiers dare to kill the bare-handed protesters?
The answer, my friends, is blowing in the wind above the land of fake smiles.
At first the Thai government, Abhisit, came out with a flat lie that the soldiers had never used anything but rubber bullets. Here's the truth revealed by a foreigner witnessing the brutal act by the Royal Thai military.
Human rights abuses by the Thai government and the general decay of democratic values in Thailand since the military coup in 2006
Statement by Thai Democracy group in UK
Subject: Human rights abuses by the Thai government and the general decay of democratic values in Thailand since the military coup in 2006.
We are deeply concerned over the current situation in Thailand, where military-backed Prime Minister Ahbisit Vejjajiva has declared a state of emergency and started a bloody crackdown which left at least eighteen people dead and over eight hundred injured on Saturday the 10th April. This violent reaction by the army came despite assurances from both Abhisit Vejjajiva and Army Commander Anuphong Phaochinda that the army would not use force to deal with protesters and would comply to ‘international standards” of dealing with protests.
We view the force used by the army against civilian protesters as excessive and in particular we are worried about reports from a variety of sources that live ammunition was fired at protesters, resulting in many deaths. As more and more evidence surfaces, particularly reports from hospital staff, eyewitness accounts, and video footage on sites like youtube, it is becoming harder and harder to believe the governments’ claim that live ammunition was only fired into the air.
The red shirt protesters have been demonstrating peacefully since Friday the 12th March against a Prime Minister we see as not being democratically elected and having no mandate to rule. We are worried about government attempts to consolidate power and to stifle freedom of speech by closing down opposition media. In general, we feel that there has been decay in democratic values and civil liberties starting with the military coup in 2006 and then continuing with the parliamentary fix that resulted in Abhisit’s Vejjajiva’s military backed government coming to office in 2007
In order to restore peace and normalcy to Thailand and to restore the democratic values, human rights and civil liberties, which our citizens deserve, we call for:
• The immediate dissolution of parliament and free and fair elections
• And end to all forms of violence by the state against its own citizens
• An end to media censorship and the immediate unblocking of the People's Channel
• Recognition of people's right to organize, to protest and to engage in industrial action.
Thai Democracy group in UK, together with pro-Democracy Thais throughout the World, will do all in our power to support the actions of those fighting for democracy inside Thailand. We are determined to see Thailand become a nation where the principles of democracy, human rights, and equal justice are not only espoused but also upheld. As such, we stand opposed to the illegitimate government of Abhisit Vejjajiva and the aristocracy that backs him. We will continue to monitor the situation and protest until full democracy is restored in Thailand.
Thai Democracy Group in UK
10 April 2010
ชชชชชชชชชชชชชช
Watch video clips of the violence imposed the Royal Thai Army
Download at http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=f3bf5b20eaaa85cfab1eab3e9fa335ca39a92d4a5b04aad7
Subject: Human rights abuses by the Thai government and the general decay of democratic values in Thailand since the military coup in 2006.
We are deeply concerned over the current situation in Thailand, where military-backed Prime Minister Ahbisit Vejjajiva has declared a state of emergency and started a bloody crackdown which left at least eighteen people dead and over eight hundred injured on Saturday the 10th April. This violent reaction by the army came despite assurances from both Abhisit Vejjajiva and Army Commander Anuphong Phaochinda that the army would not use force to deal with protesters and would comply to ‘international standards” of dealing with protests.
We view the force used by the army against civilian protesters as excessive and in particular we are worried about reports from a variety of sources that live ammunition was fired at protesters, resulting in many deaths. As more and more evidence surfaces, particularly reports from hospital staff, eyewitness accounts, and video footage on sites like youtube, it is becoming harder and harder to believe the governments’ claim that live ammunition was only fired into the air.
The red shirt protesters have been demonstrating peacefully since Friday the 12th March against a Prime Minister we see as not being democratically elected and having no mandate to rule. We are worried about government attempts to consolidate power and to stifle freedom of speech by closing down opposition media. In general, we feel that there has been decay in democratic values and civil liberties starting with the military coup in 2006 and then continuing with the parliamentary fix that resulted in Abhisit’s Vejjajiva’s military backed government coming to office in 2007
In order to restore peace and normalcy to Thailand and to restore the democratic values, human rights and civil liberties, which our citizens deserve, we call for:
• The immediate dissolution of parliament and free and fair elections
• And end to all forms of violence by the state against its own citizens
• An end to media censorship and the immediate unblocking of the People's Channel
• Recognition of people's right to organize, to protest and to engage in industrial action.
Thai Democracy group in UK, together with pro-Democracy Thais throughout the World, will do all in our power to support the actions of those fighting for democracy inside Thailand. We are determined to see Thailand become a nation where the principles of democracy, human rights, and equal justice are not only espoused but also upheld. As such, we stand opposed to the illegitimate government of Abhisit Vejjajiva and the aristocracy that backs him. We will continue to monitor the situation and protest until full democracy is restored in Thailand.
Thai Democracy Group in UK
10 April 2010
ชชชชชชชชชชชชชช
Watch video clips of the violence imposed the Royal Thai Army
Download at http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=f3bf5b20eaaa85cfab1eab3e9fa335ca39a92d4a5b04aad7
"No, the army didn't use real bullets," said the tyrannical Abhisit.
Credit: Aj. Mungkorndum (Tomblackdragon)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Exclusive FRANCE 24 footage show soldiers firing directly at protestersBy Mehdi Chebil the 11/04/2010 - 18:19
FRANCE 24’s exclusive footage contradicts the Thai government’s declaration that soldiers only fired live rounds into the air during the Saturday night’s clashes with "Red Shirts" protesters, in which at least 21 people were killed.
A FRANCE 24 team were reporting from the thick of the fighting on Saturday night when the Thai army launched its crackdown on the anti government “Red Shirts” protesters.
Our exclusive footage contradicts the Thai government’s declaration that soldiers only fired live rounds “into the air”. At least 20 people were killed and 800 wounded in the violence.
At 1’25 in the FRANCE 24 video above, Thai soldiers can be seen firing their automatic riffles directly at the protesters.
“We visited different hospitals Sunday morning and we’ve seen several victims with bullet wounds in the head (…) It’s really hard to believe the official declaration that mentions only rubber bullets and troops firing into the air”, says Cyril Payen, FRANCE 24’s correspondent in Bangkok, who was at the scene of the fighting on Saturday night.
According to our team, the clash was triggered by the explosion of a grenade, the origin of which remains unknown.
“The explosion killed seven soldiers and wounded a colonel of the Thai security forces in his head”, says FRANCE 24’s Payen.
While the victims of the explosion were being taken to the nearest hospital, the army retaliated by firing into the crowd, plunging Bangkok into chaos.
These deadly clashes come after almost a month of mass-demonstrations by the “Red Shirts”, who are calling for early elections and consider Abhisit Vejjajiva, head of government since December 2008, as totally illegitimate.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Source URL: http://www.france24.com/en/20100411-exclusive-france-24-footage-payen-show-soldiers-firing-crowd-riot-clashes-violence-demonstration-bangkok-thailand-crack
A year later, Abhisit is now killing the innocent people again!!!!
Thai tyrants use violence to cling to power
The gang of tyrants who run Thailand: Abhisit’s Democrat Party, the Military and the Bureaucratic Elites, can only cling to power through violence and lies. As they use armed troops and tanks against pro-democracy demonstrators in Bangkok for the 5th time in forty years, the tyrants hope that a blanket of censorship throughout Thailand will allow them to do their dirty work in secret. But their censorship is not working and the assembled masses of pro-democracy Red Shirts are resisting. On the 10th April 2010 the army shot dead 17 unarmed Red Shirt protesters and a Japanese camera man in Bangkok in an attempt to crush a peaceful demonstration. Yet Abhisit Vejjajiva continues to lie. He claims that soldiers “only shot into the air” when they were threatened. Many reports from foreign journalists, and the deaths of 18 people, indicate that the soldiers fired live ammunition directly into the crowd.
The Red Shirts want Democracy and want immediate elections, but Democracy and elections are the last things that the tyrants want. They have lorded it over the people for years. They have never won an election and they have never been happy with respecting election results. Abhisit is only Prime Minister because he was placed there by the army. The tyrants are supported in their bloody work by the fascist Yellow Shirted PAD, most middle-class academics and the self-appointed NGO leaders. Together they are contemptuous and fearful of ordinary working people, the poor, the farmers, the citizens.
Since late March the Red Shirts have been holding peaceful and disciplined protests in Bangkok. They have not destroyed anything or held weapons of any kind. Their demands are for the dissolution of parliament. Any weapons that the Red Shirts have taken off the soldiers have never been used and have been safely stored.
The Red Shirt protests are in stark contrast to the Yellow Shirt PAD demonstrators in 2008. The PAD used violence and carried weapons. They occupied and wrecked Government House and seized and shut down the international airports. No one has been punished for these criminal acts. The PAD and their “New Politics Party” demand that the democratic space be reduced because they believe that the majority of the people do not deserve the vote. The Democrat Party has worked hand in hand with the PAD.
The people have risen up against the tyrants. The “refined” mask of Eton and Oxford educated Abhisit Vejjajiva has slipped off to reveal just another tin pot dictator. It is time to clear away all the gangsters and parasites who have held sway over Thai society for too long. No more killing! No to another coup! Down with the Military! Down with the Dictatorship! Power to the people!
Record of the Abhisit Government
The Democrat Party took over the Government after:
· Continuously criticising the Taksin Government for using state funds for the poor
· Refusing to take part in the elections of 2006 because they knew they would lose
· A military coup in September 2006
· A military Constitution was introduced in 2007 which decreased the democratic space
· They lost the December 2007 election
· They supported the PAD violent demonstrations which seized Government House and closed down the international airports
· The Royalist Courts were used twice to dissolve Red Shirt parties which won majorities
· Corrupt politicians were bullied and bribed by the army to change sides and support the Democrat Party
--
Giles Ji Ungpakorn
UK mobile:+44-(0)7817034432
UK landline +44(0) 1865-422117
http://siamrd.blog.co.uk/
http://wdpress.blog.co.uk/
http://redsiam.wordpress.com/
see YOUTUBE videos by Giles53
====================
More will be added here to unmask this SOB!
The clip below shows the intention of the army to kill the protesters.
Thank God, some armed bodies stopped them from killing more protesters.
Another clip from the same poster shows the same scene. These soldiers killed protesters a year ago at will, but it seems that this time around some armed men, supposedly a group of people in the military or with a military background came out to save the redshirts, who during the three weeks of their protest had always been non-violent.
The following links are also informative:
BBC NEWS ทหารใช้กระสุนจริงปราบคนเสื้อเเดง
http://www.prachataiwebboard.com/webboard/id/38026
ภาพ ที่ไม่มีในหนังสือพิมพ์
http://lovered203.blogspot.com/p/blog-page_2043.html
ภาพเล็กๆน้อย แถวแยกคอกวัวหลังสงบศึกครับ
http://www.pantip.com/cafe/rajdumnern/topic/P9111539/P9111539.html
<<< ครั้งหนึ่งในชีวิต ที่ได้อยู่ท่ามกลางสมรภูมิรบกลางกรุง >>>
http://maha-arai.blogspot.com/2010/04/blog-post_11.html
The gang of tyrants who run Thailand: Abhisit’s Democrat Party, the Military and the Bureaucratic Elites, can only cling to power through violence and lies. As they use armed troops and tanks against pro-democracy demonstrators in Bangkok for the 5th time in forty years, the tyrants hope that a blanket of censorship throughout Thailand will allow them to do their dirty work in secret. But their censorship is not working and the assembled masses of pro-democracy Red Shirts are resisting. On the 10th April 2010 the army shot dead 17 unarmed Red Shirt protesters and a Japanese camera man in Bangkok in an attempt to crush a peaceful demonstration. Yet Abhisit Vejjajiva continues to lie. He claims that soldiers “only shot into the air” when they were threatened. Many reports from foreign journalists, and the deaths of 18 people, indicate that the soldiers fired live ammunition directly into the crowd.
The Red Shirts want Democracy and want immediate elections, but Democracy and elections are the last things that the tyrants want. They have lorded it over the people for years. They have never won an election and they have never been happy with respecting election results. Abhisit is only Prime Minister because he was placed there by the army. The tyrants are supported in their bloody work by the fascist Yellow Shirted PAD, most middle-class academics and the self-appointed NGO leaders. Together they are contemptuous and fearful of ordinary working people, the poor, the farmers, the citizens.
Since late March the Red Shirts have been holding peaceful and disciplined protests in Bangkok. They have not destroyed anything or held weapons of any kind. Their demands are for the dissolution of parliament. Any weapons that the Red Shirts have taken off the soldiers have never been used and have been safely stored.
The Red Shirt protests are in stark contrast to the Yellow Shirt PAD demonstrators in 2008. The PAD used violence and carried weapons. They occupied and wrecked Government House and seized and shut down the international airports. No one has been punished for these criminal acts. The PAD and their “New Politics Party” demand that the democratic space be reduced because they believe that the majority of the people do not deserve the vote. The Democrat Party has worked hand in hand with the PAD.
The people have risen up against the tyrants. The “refined” mask of Eton and Oxford educated Abhisit Vejjajiva has slipped off to reveal just another tin pot dictator. It is time to clear away all the gangsters and parasites who have held sway over Thai society for too long. No more killing! No to another coup! Down with the Military! Down with the Dictatorship! Power to the people!
Record of the Abhisit Government
The Democrat Party took over the Government after:
· Continuously criticising the Taksin Government for using state funds for the poor
· Refusing to take part in the elections of 2006 because they knew they would lose
· A military coup in September 2006
· A military Constitution was introduced in 2007 which decreased the democratic space
· They lost the December 2007 election
· They supported the PAD violent demonstrations which seized Government House and closed down the international airports
· The Royalist Courts were used twice to dissolve Red Shirt parties which won majorities
· Corrupt politicians were bullied and bribed by the army to change sides and support the Democrat Party
--
Giles Ji Ungpakorn
UK mobile:+44-(0)7817034432
UK landline +44(0) 1865-422117
http://siamrd.blog.co.uk/
http://wdpress.blog.co.uk/
http://redsiam.wordpress.com/
see YOUTUBE videos by Giles53
====================
More will be added here to unmask this SOB!
The clip below shows the intention of the army to kill the protesters.
Thank God, some armed bodies stopped them from killing more protesters.
Another clip from the same poster shows the same scene. These soldiers killed protesters a year ago at will, but it seems that this time around some armed men, supposedly a group of people in the military or with a military background came out to save the redshirts, who during the three weeks of their protest had always been non-violent.
The following links are also informative:
BBC NEWS ทหารใช้กระสุนจริงปราบคนเสื้อเเดง
http://www.prachataiwebboard.com/webboard/id/38026
ภาพ ที่ไม่มีในหนังสือพิมพ์
http://lovered203.blogspot.com/p/blog-page_2043.html
ภาพเล็กๆน้อย แถวแยกคอกวัวหลังสงบศึกครับ
http://www.pantip.com/cafe/rajdumnern/topic/P9111539/P9111539.html
<<< ครั้งหนึ่งในชีวิต ที่ได้อยู่ท่ามกลางสมรภูมิรบกลางกรุง >>>
http://maha-arai.blogspot.com/2010/04/blog-post_11.html
Thailand turns into Indonesia - and vice versa
Please visit the original version also HERE.
By Peter Hartcher
May 12, 2009
Thailand likes to call itself The Land of Smiles. And for a while after the advent of democracy in 1992 this seemed to be unusually accurate for an official slogan.
Democracy seemed to flourish. Even during the traumatic Asian economic crisis of 1997 the generals stayed in their barracks. Growth quickly returned. The tourists flooded in. Foreign investors smiled on the Thais, who returned the favour.
In the parallel universe known as Indonesia, the picture was more ominous. Its slogan, Unity in Diversity, seemed an exercise in dark sarcasm. Diversity was hammered into frightened unity by its military dictator, Soeharto. When the Asian crisis forced Soeharto out of power in 1998 the outlook only seemed to darken.
A succession of simpletons and underperformers took the presidency. The economy was moribund. Islam woke from its long slumber under Soeharto and seemed to be asserting itself. Its diversity would now be repressed by the Muslim majority, it appeared.
Indonesia's prospects seemed to go from bad to worse. Terrorists bombed tourists in the peaceful holiday destination of Bali. The Petri dish of Indonesian Islam seemed to be breeding a newly virulent form of violent extremism. Investors gave the country a wide berth.
If Thailand seemed to represent sunrise in South-East Asia, Indonesia appeared to be the region's nightfall.
Today we see an extraordinary role reversal. Thailand is now a wreck, suffering a constitutional crisis, emergency rule and an investment strike.
As the Bangkok Post put it last month: "How could the Rice Bowl of Asia, a trade and transport hub of the Greater Mekong sub-region, an erstwhile Asian Tiger and 'Amazing Thailand' in tourism terms … come dangerously close to becoming a failed state?"
Indonesia, on the other hand, is stable and tolerant under a mature and clean president, with better growth prospects than any of the states in the region. The US think tank Freedom House has designated Indonesia for the first time as the only fully free and democratic country in South-East Asia.
As Andrew MacIntyre and Douglas Ramage put it in a paper for the Australian Strategic Policy Institute: "Indonesia in 2008 is a stable, competitive electoral democracy, with a highly decentralised system of governance, achieving solid rates of economic growth, under competent national leadership, and playing a constructive role in the regional and broader international community."
While Indonesia glowed with the success of hosting 189 nations' representatives at the Bali climate change conference in December 2007, Thailand was humiliated last month when it had to abort a summit of 16 national leaders for the East Asian summit.
With the Thai Army rendered impotent by surging red-shirted protesters in Pattaya, the leaders of China and Japan were evacuated by helicopter, and other leaders' planes turned around in midair. It was a shocking blow to Thai credibility, unable to host a meeting, incapable of protecting world leaders on its soil.
Consider the same point and counterpoint last weekend.
While about 20,000 red-shirted protesters took to the streets of Bangkok to demonstrate against the violently repressive tactics of the unelected government, Indonesia announced the results of its peaceful parliamentary elections.
What happened? How did these two key states of South-East Asia come to trade places so dramatically?
Thailand's trajectory changed with the decision to mount an unconstitutional coup against the prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, first elected in 2001 and resoundingly re-elected in 2005.
The billionaire businessman was a polarising leader. He was wildly popular with the rural poor and the working class, but bitterly opposed by the urban elites and the army.
The decision to send the army to remove him came from the royal palace.
The last time the king had intervened decisively in politics was to end a violent constitutional crisis. This time he provoked one.
The army and the palace imposed an unelected regime on the country, promising future elections. But Thaksin's supporters wage an unending war of civil disobedience. Thaksin himself, running from a corruption charge, continues to foment protest from abroad. Thai analysts say it is hard to see any resolution. The two sets of opposing forces are roughly equal, and an election would be unlikely to solve the stand-off, they say.
Indonesia's fortunes pivoted on the election of Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, known universally in Indonesia as SBY. The former general has proved to be wise as well as popular since taking power in 2004. He is pro-business and pro-West, and also forcefully anti-terrorism and anti-corruption. Indeed, he has allowed the prosecution of his own brother-in-law on corruption charges.
Islamic political parties have moderated, not radicalised.
Indonesia now has a vibrant free press and a judiciary that is uneven but improving. Democracy has become solidly legitimised - generals and muftis alike compete for power at the ballot box, not in the streets. He is the easy favourite for the two-step presidential election due in July with a run-off in September, if required.
The region is suffering from the global financial crisis. But while the Asian Development Bank forecasts that Thai economic growth will fall from 2.6 per cent last year to minus 2 per cent this year, it expects Indonesia to suffer more mildly, slowing from 6.1 per cent to 3.6 per cent.
The essential difference is that Indonesian power elites universally respect the legitimising power of democracy. The Thais have not. And the leading source of anti-democratic arrogance in Thailand has proved to be the king. So Indonesia has emerged as a model state, a living rebuttal of the notion that Islam and democracy are incompatible. Its diversity has unified behind democracy. Thailand is turning into just another sad, broken autocracy. The smile has become a grimace.
Peter Hartcher is the Herald's international editor
By Peter Hartcher
May 12, 2009
Thailand likes to call itself The Land of Smiles. And for a while after the advent of democracy in 1992 this seemed to be unusually accurate for an official slogan.
Democracy seemed to flourish. Even during the traumatic Asian economic crisis of 1997 the generals stayed in their barracks. Growth quickly returned. The tourists flooded in. Foreign investors smiled on the Thais, who returned the favour.
In the parallel universe known as Indonesia, the picture was more ominous. Its slogan, Unity in Diversity, seemed an exercise in dark sarcasm. Diversity was hammered into frightened unity by its military dictator, Soeharto. When the Asian crisis forced Soeharto out of power in 1998 the outlook only seemed to darken.
A succession of simpletons and underperformers took the presidency. The economy was moribund. Islam woke from its long slumber under Soeharto and seemed to be asserting itself. Its diversity would now be repressed by the Muslim majority, it appeared.
Indonesia's prospects seemed to go from bad to worse. Terrorists bombed tourists in the peaceful holiday destination of Bali. The Petri dish of Indonesian Islam seemed to be breeding a newly virulent form of violent extremism. Investors gave the country a wide berth.
If Thailand seemed to represent sunrise in South-East Asia, Indonesia appeared to be the region's nightfall.
Today we see an extraordinary role reversal. Thailand is now a wreck, suffering a constitutional crisis, emergency rule and an investment strike.
As the Bangkok Post put it last month: "How could the Rice Bowl of Asia, a trade and transport hub of the Greater Mekong sub-region, an erstwhile Asian Tiger and 'Amazing Thailand' in tourism terms … come dangerously close to becoming a failed state?"
Indonesia, on the other hand, is stable and tolerant under a mature and clean president, with better growth prospects than any of the states in the region. The US think tank Freedom House has designated Indonesia for the first time as the only fully free and democratic country in South-East Asia.
As Andrew MacIntyre and Douglas Ramage put it in a paper for the Australian Strategic Policy Institute: "Indonesia in 2008 is a stable, competitive electoral democracy, with a highly decentralised system of governance, achieving solid rates of economic growth, under competent national leadership, and playing a constructive role in the regional and broader international community."
While Indonesia glowed with the success of hosting 189 nations' representatives at the Bali climate change conference in December 2007, Thailand was humiliated last month when it had to abort a summit of 16 national leaders for the East Asian summit.
With the Thai Army rendered impotent by surging red-shirted protesters in Pattaya, the leaders of China and Japan were evacuated by helicopter, and other leaders' planes turned around in midair. It was a shocking blow to Thai credibility, unable to host a meeting, incapable of protecting world leaders on its soil.
Consider the same point and counterpoint last weekend.
While about 20,000 red-shirted protesters took to the streets of Bangkok to demonstrate against the violently repressive tactics of the unelected government, Indonesia announced the results of its peaceful parliamentary elections.
What happened? How did these two key states of South-East Asia come to trade places so dramatically?
Thailand's trajectory changed with the decision to mount an unconstitutional coup against the prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, first elected in 2001 and resoundingly re-elected in 2005.
The billionaire businessman was a polarising leader. He was wildly popular with the rural poor and the working class, but bitterly opposed by the urban elites and the army.
The decision to send the army to remove him came from the royal palace.
The last time the king had intervened decisively in politics was to end a violent constitutional crisis. This time he provoked one.
The army and the palace imposed an unelected regime on the country, promising future elections. But Thaksin's supporters wage an unending war of civil disobedience. Thaksin himself, running from a corruption charge, continues to foment protest from abroad. Thai analysts say it is hard to see any resolution. The two sets of opposing forces are roughly equal, and an election would be unlikely to solve the stand-off, they say.
Indonesia's fortunes pivoted on the election of Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, known universally in Indonesia as SBY. The former general has proved to be wise as well as popular since taking power in 2004. He is pro-business and pro-West, and also forcefully anti-terrorism and anti-corruption. Indeed, he has allowed the prosecution of his own brother-in-law on corruption charges.
Islamic political parties have moderated, not radicalised.
Indonesia now has a vibrant free press and a judiciary that is uneven but improving. Democracy has become solidly legitimised - generals and muftis alike compete for power at the ballot box, not in the streets. He is the easy favourite for the two-step presidential election due in July with a run-off in September, if required.
The region is suffering from the global financial crisis. But while the Asian Development Bank forecasts that Thai economic growth will fall from 2.6 per cent last year to minus 2 per cent this year, it expects Indonesia to suffer more mildly, slowing from 6.1 per cent to 3.6 per cent.
The essential difference is that Indonesian power elites universally respect the legitimising power of democracy. The Thais have not. And the leading source of anti-democratic arrogance in Thailand has proved to be the king. So Indonesia has emerged as a model state, a living rebuttal of the notion that Islam and democracy are incompatible. Its diversity has unified behind democracy. Thailand is turning into just another sad, broken autocracy. The smile has become a grimace.
Peter Hartcher is the Herald's international editor
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
-
โดนัลด์ ทรัมป์ ดำรงตำแหน่งประธานาธิบดีสหรัฐฯ ตั้งแต่ปี 2017–2021 และดำเนินนโยบายที่มุ่งเน้นให้ “อเมริกามาก่อน” (America Fir... -
ความเชื่อที่ว่าชาวยิวครองโลกหรือมีตระกูลยิวบงการเหตุการณ์สำคัญในโลก โดยมีศูนย์กลางที่สหรัฐอเมริกาและอังกฤษ เป็นแนวคิดที่มาจากทฤษฎีสมคบคิด (c... -
ลองนึกภาพกัมพูชาและประเทศไทยเป็นสองบ้านที่อยู่ติดกันบนถนนสายเดียวในเอเชียตะวันออกเฉียงใต้ บ้านทั้งสองมีประวัติศาสตร์ยาวนานเหมือนพี่น้องที่ทะ...