Thailand has a funny way of ‘re-educating’ those of us who didn’t grow up here. From opening our eyes to Asian history to shattering preconceptions about race, food and poverty, every day that you live here teaches you something new. Since the continually developing protests have started, I’ve gotten a few emails from friends asking if everything is okay, to which my reply probably sounds a bit lame. The bottom line – unless you’re right down near government house where the protests are centered, you’d be hard pressed to know there was any disturbance at all. Thais have a remarkable resilience to factors that would make the rest of us quake in our boots.
In 2006, when the coup that toppled Thaksin Shinawatra went down, I was nervous. All throughout High School social studies class, the word ‘coup’ was always read in the same breath as ‘bloodshed’, ‘riots’ and ‘torture’. But not here. I phoned a friend while tanks were rolling by not ten blocks from my apartment and her reaction was to just stay inside and don’t worry – it’ll all be over soon, and we’ll probably be better off for it. During the most recent troubles, scenes from around Bangkok show the same enthusiasm for normalcy as always – people eating food, dancing at clubs, watching movies. Business as usual.
Pro-government protesters taking things a bit too seriously.
However, I kind of pity Prime Minister Samak in this current situation. Although he’s regarded by many as a petulant, ignorant, overbearing loudmouth with dubious ties to past violence-wracked political douchebaggery, he is – like it or not – a democratically elected leader (‘democracy’ in this case likely included bought votes, but for Thailand, it’s a baby step toward ‘real’ democracy). He’s in a rough spot.
If he bows to PAD pressure and resigns, it might be good in the short run, but it also sets a precedent that says that if you don’t like your leader, hold the country hostage until they resign. This is not democracy. If he stays on, something’s gotta give, and it’ll probably be the trigger-fingers of the army, which would bring back painful memories of the brutal crackdown in 1976 – incidentally, which Samak was also connected to. Either way, scenes like the one below portend an unhappy resolution, no matter which way it goes.
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