Demonstrations in Thailand - 30 August

Television news broadcasts from Thailand over the past few days have shown images of massive demonstrations at Government House, the country's parliament building in Bangkok. These demonstrations are nothing new. They have been going on since long before the first time deposited Prime Minister Taksin Shinawatra fled the country.

The demonstrators, loosely organized as the Peoples Democratic Alliance, are trying to bring an end to the government of the current Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej. Samak, a close ally of Taksin, heads a political party that was founded when Taksin's party was ordered dissolved by the courts for illegal activities. It is widely understood that the new party is merely a proxy of the old one.

Early in its administration, Samak's government sought to rewrite the recently enacted Constitution in a way that was seen to favor those in power. The new Constitution was the first in Thai history to be approved by popular vote.

Taksin returned from self-imposed exile barely one month ago, perhaps a part of fulfilling a Samak campaign promise. In past weeks both he and his wife were indicted in the first wave of prosecution of charges of fraud and abuse of power. Taksin took advantage of the opening of the Olympic games in Beijing to skip bail and take refuge in London. This only inflamed the opposition at home. Traffic in central Bangkok was brought to a standstill on August 19th when tens of thousands of demonstrators gathered outside the British Embassy to demand the extradition of Taksin and his wife. Thailand's Supreme Court has issued arrest warrants for both of them and has revoked Taksin's diplomatic passport.

Yesterday, following several days of boisterous demonstrations around Government House, Samak ordered a violent crack-down and the arrest of PDA's leaders. Police resorted to tear gas and riot control tactics, even though the demonstrations had been largely non-violent. Many in Thai society saw this action as excessive.

Leaders of the unions representing 25,000 members employed by government-owned Thai Airways have called for a two-day "sick-out" with 15,00o people stopping work immediately as a protest against the government "attacking the people." Airports in Phuket, Hat Yai and Krabi are closed temporarily after demonstrators blocked entrances to the airports in Krabi and Phuketbecause the airline was forcing its employees to continue operating.

Union leaders at the Mae Moh power station in Lampang have vowed to close the power station down if the Police action continues. The power station supplies 10% of the country’s electricity.

While news reports are somewhat unsettling, visitors to Thailand are in no danger. Unless you happen to be near Government House you would not probably know anything unusual was happening here unless you switched to CNN. There are no curfews, tanks in the streets, or anything else. Numerous privately-0wned airlines operate flights to TG destinations.

Acts of civil disobedience in normally-passive Thailand are unusual. Members of the growing vocal opposition say they are tired of politicians and the elite getting away with murder. They want an end to Taksin's puppet government and want to see him stand trial like any other Thai citizen.

Remember, God hates television and everything on TV looks larger than it really is. The sun is still shining here, the beaches are still beautiful, the food is still delicious, the bargains are still waiting to be had, and Thai people still have the world's biggest smiles.