Word: abhisit
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Dates: during 2010-2019
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...monarch, is commander in chief, although he does not appear to involve himself directly in military affairs. Two months after Prem's speech, the army ousted elected Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra in a bloodless coup. Over the past several weeks, the protesters on the streets of Bangkok demanding that Abhisit dissolve parliament and call new elections have been, by and large, Thaksin supporters, known as the Red Shirts for the color they wear, who want him back. (Read a TIME Q&A with Thaksin...
After antigovernment protesters invaded the country's parliament and stripped military police of their weapons, Thailand's Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva declared a state of emergency in Bangkok and surrounding provinces on Wednesday, April 7. By invoking emergency rule, however, Abhisit has staked his premiership and his political future on cooperation from what may be the most powerful and unpredictable player in Thailand's politics - the military...
...Following Thaksin's ouster, the army clearly has become more involved in politics, despite ceding overt power to elected politicians after little more than a year. It played a key role in Abhisit's rise to the premiership, helping to broker deals among politicians who had been loyal to Thaksin so they would join Abhisit's coalition. The generals also used their troops to break up Red Shirt riots in April 2009 in Bangkok aimed at ousting Abhisit. Among the military's rewards have been large increases in budget allocations under Abhisit's administration and few questions about purchasing irregularities...
...unlikely that Abhisit will heed the protesters' demand for a snap election, not least because every election since the 2001 ballot that swept in Thaksin has favored the reds. At any rate, the Prime Minister has until 2011 to hold polls and doing so right now - in the wake of a global financial crisis and before his own populist reforms have had time to take full effect - would likely mean career suicide. Meantime, his reluctance to travel widely in Isaan - the impoverished northeastern farm belt where Thaksin's support is strongest - because of safety concerns makes Abhisit look even further...
...Thailand will move forward from a seemingly never-ending cycle of red and yellow protest. "It's a deadlocked situation," says Sompop Manarungsan, another Chulalongkorn economist. Plenty of Thais are fed up with both political factions and just want a government that isn't constantly stuck in crisis mode. Abhisit has offered dialogue with the red shirts' leaders, but no amount of talking over the past four years has resulted in any political conciliation. Equally distressing for Thais, King Bhumibol Adulyadej, often considered an arbiter of last resort in Thai politics, has been hospitalized since last September. The 82-year...